For a long time, it is considered a norm for African women to wear a white wedding gown. However, with a continuous change in fashion trends and alluded to the fact that Africa is blessed with bright and colorful fabrics, fashion creativity is evolving in the place of coming of the bride coming out in a grand fashion sense and glamour. Although most people have not been tenacious enough to alter the stereotypical way of dressing like an African bride, it is important to bring to the awareness of every bride-to-be some ways of dressing westerly with a heart of Africa.
It is not a far cry that Africa is a continent blessed with rich culture and tradition, but sadly we are consciously/subconsciously losing this sense of cultural value to embracing the culture that is not ours. Interestingly, there tends to be a glimmer of hope in redeeming our cultural repute if wearing our traditional prints could be chosen over the white wedding gowns. These fabrics range from Ankara, Kente, to animal prints.
Colorful Kente Wedding Gown
African prints are generally beautiful with Kente fabric, not an exception. Kente, originally worn in Ghana and some parts of Cote d'Ivoire is a colorful print characterized by its class and elegance. It is also no news that this fabric has won the hearts of many people across the globe. Some of the features of this gown are the off-shoulder design and the round neckline at the front. Beautified with beaded accessories on your hair to look African, the color mixture of this Kente fabric could be yellow, green, purple, and red.
Lace And Ankara Wedding Gown
There is indeed no limit to what creative designers could bring up when it comes to traditional non-white wedding gowns. This is the case when blending lace with an Ankara fabric to bring out African creativity at its beauty. Here, the gown is made with traditional white lace and the Ankara is used as a big bold flower attached to the base of the gown. The result of this fashion creativity is a stunning sight to behold, as it can also be dub a red carpet dress.
Brightly Colored Off-Shoulder Wedding Gown
Brides are rarely seen wearing brightly colored wedding gowns like yellow, red, pink, etc. It is also difficult to see brides wearing a mix of Ankara with lace as wedding gowns. But there might be a consideration to this beautiful African fashion style, especially wearing a yellow net fabric combined with Ankara. This style can go with an intricate off-shoulder design that will most importantly makes the bride the hour lady.
Sequin African Wedding Gown
A royal blue and gold wedding gown makes the bride exude so much gravitas. This gown is simple, yet elegant. The distinct feature of this wedding gown is its glittering golden sprinkles. The gown in its awesomeness cascades down into a beautiful mermaid gown adorning the bride with an hourglass silhouette.
Conclusion
African weddings come with dressing features nuanced by design, style, and fabric. Although most of these wedding gowns portray the dressing nature of the Western world, it is of our belief that imbibing in the idea of wearing our traditional prints would help in reviving the dousing flame of our cultural heritage in fashion. Also, this will quicken African fashion innovation and cut down the cost and act of importing white wedding gowns outside Africa.
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