Fotografy

African Print!

Sometimes I don't know where to start when talking about African print.
Well... I'm still thinking about where to start.
African print hmmm. While in Ghana, where I was raised, I never referred to African print as "African print." Maybe I'll say traditional wear or something like ntama (the twi word for cloth) but never African Print. I think I have difficulty talking about "African Print" because I don't particularly identify myself as African but Ghanaian. So lets talk about ntama, Ghanaian print, yeah that's more like it.

I'm not sure how the ntama is made but I know it involves ink and designs. Of course! that's common knowledge. While growing up I was accustomed to my mother and grandmother wearing the traditional kabba and slit to church or engagement. It is a very formal attire. The kabba is a blouse made from the ntama and other materials while the slit is a rather long skirt, flowing to the ankle of the woman or sometimes even covering the feet like a wedding gown. I always envied how they sowed it to tailor fit their curvy hips. From my understanding one had to be a grown and mature woman to wear kabba and slit. Because I left Ghana when I was twelve I didn't get the comfort of tailor made kabba and slit. I always had to measure myself and send the measurements to Ghana and they never really fitted how I wanted it. One thing I love about the print cloth is that it can be made into anything, its basically just a cloth(material). A lot more people are using "African print" to make blazers and dresses. I'm  a fan of both the traditional and modern use of the "African Print"

Print material is beautiful and makes me feel different  Ghanaian every time I wear it. It adds some spice to my outfit which is always good. I enjoy mixing and matching traditional with modern style clothes. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Here are bits and pieces of how I and some of my friends spice our lives with some traditional wear. Enjoy !

This "African Print" is the slit (skirt) to my kabba. I didn't like the kabba so I paired the skirt with a peplum white long sleeves shirt. 

This is the whole Kabba and slit business I was talking about earlier. Beautiful!



The headscarf is extra material from my kabba and slit. With the head-scarf, I wore black slacks and a white peplum lace top.

This is not "African Print" just a regular print cloth my mom sowed for a wedding!

left-over cloth from my mother's kabba and slit!

My very first Kabba and Slit!

African Print made into a dress!

African Print skirt with a regular blazer