Clothing

Women's clothing in Dakar is beautiful. It is usually bright and very colorful. Teenagers and young girls usually wear styles of clothes much like the styles worn in the U.S. Older women wear the traditional African dresses. The traditional dresses are usually custom-made by tailors, who have photos of many designs and fabrics from which the women choose. The tailors make their own patterns, and they do the work very inexpensively. Much of the work is very intricate and would be very time consuming to make.
Following is a photo of a tailor shop that is within walking distance of our apartment. You see the entire shop in the photo. Notice that there are no fans and no windows---only the front of the shop is open. It must be extremely hot in there!



In the next picture, notice the contrast between the clothing of an older woman and that of a young girl.

The next woman has on a traditional wrap-around skirt. In some parts of Africa it is called a shatangi, but I am not sure if it is called the same in Senegal.

Next shows some young women who have just come out of a hair salon. (More about hair salons to come in another post)

Many women wear the headscarfs, called foulards. The foulards can be tied in many different ways. The first photo is one of Faith, the preacher's wife.
Following are photos of women from the village church.


Men's clothing varies from the traditional African style to American style. They wear jeans, t-shirts, tie-dyed shirts,etc.
The first picture shows the contrast between two styles of clothes for men. A man will usually own both types of clothes.


Next is a tie-dye shirt.

The next photos show places to buy clothing in the market place. Notice the men's clothing.