African dresses vary from brightly colored textiles to abstractly embroidered robes, to colorful beaded bracelets and necklaces.
There are numerous African dress designs that come in all forms. African dress designs are gaining huge popularity in the fashion world across the globe.
A range of fabrics is used to design African dresses. Among them are Ankara styles, kitenge, kente cloth, dashiki styles, Aso Ebi, batakari/fugu, etc.
Since Africa is such a large and diverse continent, African traditional dresses differ throughout each country.
For example, many countries in West Africa have “distinct dress styles that are the products of long-standing textile crafts in weaving, dyeing, and printing”, but these traditions are still able to coexist with western styles.
I have great admiration for African fashion dresses and have put together pictures of beautiful African dresses….from African print tops, Ankara styles to kente wedding styles.
Ankara styles
Ankara styles are one of the most beautiful and most popular pieces of African clothing.
Ankara material is mostly one hundred percent cotton with very attractive, colorful patterns that are made using a dyeing method called batik.
Ankara fashion can be styled down to fit any place or event. This ranges from; church, wedding, work, red carpet, date, and anything place or event you might think of.
Here are the latest Ankara styles pictures.
Kente styles
Kente is a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips made in Ghana. It is one of the most popular African dresses as we see it in movies such as the Black Panther.
Kente cloth comes in various colors, sizes, and designs and is worn during very important events such as traditional marriage or engagement, graduation ceremonies, and other important gatherings.
Check out kente styles for graduation.
Kente can now be styled into peplum dresses, gowns, Kaba and slit, suits, jackets, and shorts.
Dashiki dresses
The dashiki is a colorful garment for women and men worn mostly in West Africa.
It covers the top half of the body. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored suits.
The word “dashiki” comes from the Yoruba word danshiki, used to refer to the loose-fitting pullover which originated in West Africa as a functional work tunic for men, comfortable enough to wear in the heat.
Recently, it has gained popularity all over the world. We see celebs such as Chris Brown, Rihanna, etc. wearing African fashion dresses.
Check out Serwaa Amihere styles.
I like how you talked about the Ankara style of African clothing and how it’s great for almost any style of event. My wife comes from an African family and I want to show her my appreciation towards her heritage by gifting her some nice clothes for her birthday. Once I find a custom African clothing store, I’ll make sure I focus on the Ankara style of clothing so she can use those dresses anywhere she wants.
Hi vanessa Fennell, is it the print materials you want or the sewn ones? Let me know.
I live in the United States and would like to purchase some of these dress, please direct me to the purchaser
Is it the print materials you want or the sewn .let me know
How to order a cloth?and how long the order takes to arrive?
Hi Makhosi, unfortunately, I don’t sell any of these African dresses.
Hi Makhosi,
If you reside in South Africa you can visit Cresta Mall, there is a shop there selling these cloths and dresses.