While the clothing of ancient Greece and Rome has long been familiar to Europeans, scholars have studied the clothing of Africa only for the last 200 years or so. Because the African continent is vast and contains a variety of different environments and societies, the people of Africa dress in many types and styles of clothing, with some basic similarities appearing in the clothing of each region.
In ancient times Berber people inhabited deserts and mountains of North Africa west of Egypt, which was part of the Roman Empire. Some Berber clothing, such as the haik, or cloth drape, is related to the Roman toga. After the Arab conquest of North Africa in the 7th century AD, most Berbers converted to Islam.
Since the Arab conquest, Islamic codes about physical modesty have heavily influenced the clothing of North Africa. Many men in North Africa still wear a full-length tunic, with elbow-length or long sleeves, called a djellaba or a kaftan. The djellaba is made of cotton or wool, and in modern cities it is often worn over a European suit or trousers. A similar type of loose-fitting overgarment is a cloak called a burnoose, which often has a hood. With the djellaba, men traditionally wear turbans, headdresses that consist of a long scarf of linen, cotton, or silk wound around the head.
North African women have traditionally worn veils and scarves to cover their heads, and long robes. Beneath their robes and veils, they wear a long blouse or a second robe with either traditional loose trousers, called chalwar, or a skirt. Alternatively, they may wear modest versions of Western dress. Both Berber and Arab women usually wear a great deal of jewelry, some of which forms part of their dowry (property brought to marriage) and indicates wealth and status.
Nomadic peoples of North Africa, including the Tuareg and the Fulani, have their own special costumes. Among the Tuareg, men, rather than women, wear a headdress and a veil. Fulani women characteristically wear bright robes of cotton, elaborate hairdos, and large gold earrings.
In northeastern Africa clothing typically consists of tunics and wrapped skirts. The Amhara people of Ethiopia practice a very ancient form of Christianity, and their clothing resembles that worn in the Roman Empire during the early Christian period: long tunics, togalike wraps, and, for men, white turbans . In Somalia, Islam has influenced clothing, and many women wear veils after marriage. Both men and women wear elaborate beaded jewelry.
Many nomadic herders live in East Africa. The Masai people live mostly in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Dinka people live in the Republic of the Sudan. Traditionally, the Masai, like other Nilotic peoples, have worn minimal dress, such as a simple cloth wrapped around the waist and legs, and elaborate body paint. They also wear beaded ornamentation in the form of necklaces or collars. Traditional dress depends on age and marital status. Young warriors, for example, wear beaded necklaces and earplugs (thick, cylindrical ornaments worn on the earlobe), with special hairstyles and headdresses. Warriors also wear short skirts of fur or hide, while women wear cloth skirts. Unmarried women go bare-chested and wear a beaded belt with their skirt. Married women traditionally wear cotton cloth body wraps, which come in a variety of colors, with red a favorite.
During the European colonization of East Africa beginning in the 1800s, Europeans were shocked by the near-nakedness of the native nomadic peoples. Traditional African body decoration such as body paint and scarification (patterns of decorative scars) also distressed Europeans. Modern African governments have exerted pressure on nomadic groups to wear modern clothing sufficient to cover the genitals and women's breasts. Dinka men, for example, traditionally wear only a beaded waist corset, the color of which conveys their age. By the 1980s, however, they were legally required to wear additional clothing when they entered a town.
Dress has also been a political issue in Central Africa, where traditional clothing and adornment is seldom seen today. After Rwanda and Burundi gained independence in the early 1960s, their governments required the people to wear modern clothing. During the 1960s and occasionally thereafter, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo discouraged both traditional dress and certain Western styles, such as the miniskirt, that it viewed as immodest. As a symbol of personal freedom, some young people in cities wear modern, European-style fashions as seen in fashion magazines such as Vogue.
Clothing in West Africa shows the influence of Islamic styles imported from North Africa, especially in the extent to which it covers the body. Women usually wear a long wrapped skirt, a loose blouse, and a head wrap. Many of the skirts are made of printed cloth, the patterns of which change from year to year. Men in some areas wear a long robe, called a gandoura, over loose trousers. In other areas they wear Western-style pants and shirts. On ceremonial occasions, tribal leaders and other important men in Ghana wear a garment wrapped like a toga.
In West Africa clothing for people of the highest status is made of kente cloth. Tribal kings traditionally wore this silk material, which is notable for its elaborately woven decorative patterns. Kente cloth (and its imitations) has become an important symbol of African pride among descendants of enslaved Africans in the Americas. Whereas weaving has been considered women's work in most of the world, in West Africa, men weave certain kinds of prestigious textiles. Other well-known textiles of West Africa include mud-cloth of Mali and cotton textiles of Nigeria. Mud-cloth has patterns of gray-brown on an off-white background, which are produced by a special dying process. Nigerian cottons are elaborately decorated with blue dye from the indigo plant.
In southern Africa both minimal and modest styles of dress exist. Among the Himba, a nomadic herding people living in Namibia, men and women wear little more than red body paint and short skirts. These skirts were once made of hide but are now made of cloth as well. The Himba have elaborately braided hairstyles. For protection from the elements and as decoration, they cover their bodies, including their hair, with a mixture of animal grease and red ochre powder. Among the Herero, also of Namibia, women wear full-sleeved and full-skirted long cotton dresses, a style introduced by German missionaries in the 19th century. Among the Xhosa of South Africa, unmarried girls wear short skirts and go bare-chested; married Xhosa women wear longer skirts, cover their breasts, and wear elaborate head wraps. The Zulu people of South Africa, who dress similarly to the Xhosa, also create elaborate beadwork for belts, pouches, jewelry, and other accessories. Zulu chiefs wear leopard skins on ceremonial occasions. Zulu women often wear tall, stiff woven hats.