Today I want to look at the clothing traditions and fashion in Sudan. I found a great article that was written by Pedro Matos who went to Darfur in 2009 to work with a United Nations agency. He was blown away by the beautiful patterns adorning the woman's clothing so he picked up his camera and started taking pictures.
"This gave birth to The Darfur Sartorialist, a project aiming to
show to the world a different reality of this remote part in
Sudan, beyond the usual narrative of suffering and violence.
"The news we usually get about Darfur --
the war, the oppression, the camps --
exists but that is not the only story," says
Matos. "I hope the project can make
people question the reality we see."
(source)
"In Sudan, men's fashion mostly consists of a white jalabiya (arab tunic) with or without a turban and a with or sometimes leopard-pattern shoes. Urban Sudanese men will often wear Westernized outfits with pressed trousers and un-tucked shirts in soft colors." 
For women, "there is a mix of the traditional abaya (arab tunic) and the toub ( many metres of colorful cloth wrapped around the body and head), and Western influenced fashion such as long dressed with tight skirts underneath to cover the skin, or denim jackets and skirts to match the headscarves."(source))
Here is a Q & A that Matos did with CNN:
CNN: How you'd describe the way these women are dressed in a few words?
PM: Colorful -- amidst these deserted landscapes, people dress in incredible colors; unique -- it's extremely difficult to find two women with the same clothes; proud -- there is a pride in the dressing which goes a bit against to what I was expecting to be a conservative way of dressing; fashionable -- a lot of the clothing is traditionally Sudanese but some is also influenced by the Middle East.
The fashion is also influenced by "Sudanese diaspora, the soap operas and all the films from the Middle East where women often dress a bit more Westernized they have dresses, trousers, denim jackets and skirts, so you have a combination of all these things and it's extremely difficult to find two women dressed the same."
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Sources:
photos by: Pedro Matos
I have gotten this information from other sources and I do not claim it as my own. I have cited and credited the original authors and artists above and will provide further clarification if needed. Any cultural concerns or questions can be sent to eakerkb@mx.lakeforest.edu
amazing! very informative!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad you liked it :)
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