CULTURALLY FASHIONABLE- I AM PROUD OF MY SOTHO CULTURE

In the last blog I wrote about the Zulu, Xhosa, Venda and Tsonga/Shangaan cultural wear or should I call it traditional fashion. I am a fashion designer, stylist,  writer and have been hosted a Fashion Expert on a radio show. I love anything that is clothes, shoes, accessories, hats and all that adds to how a person looks. Oh ya I also love interior decor.

Yesterday at our church, Grace Bible Church in Soweto we were celebrating the Sotho (Basotho and Bapedi) and Tswana (Batswana) cultures. All these weeks we have been wearing and celebrating all other South African cultures. This day we had the privilege in showing off our Basotho traditional wear. I saw more people as compared to the past weeks dressed up in the full gear. What a beautiful blessing we have as South Africans. How I wish we could just embrace wearing tradition not only for occasions such as weddings or Heritage month. Me and my hubby are making traditional clothes part of our wardrobe. Watch this space and follow the trend as I post our pictures in coming months.

The Sotho consists of Bapedi and Basotho. These three ladies are wearing the Bapedi dresses:

The Bapedi women's outfit as you can see above is a long or calf-lengh skirt that usually has beed trimmed either with ribbon or embroidery. And then sometimes it has a second skirt that comes from the back and ties in front. It then has a top that looks like a dress or a babydoll top wich is usually pleated. As you can see the difference between the outfits in the two pictures, the picture on the right is the original cultural Bapedi dress and the one on the left with the yellow pleated top is the one it fashionably-evolved in. I never knew that until I saw the one on the right. i have alwaays known Bapedi outfits to be as colourful as the one on the left.

   
As I did mention there was more people dressed in Basotho cultural wear than any other culture in the past weeks. In this pictur above is a mixture of Basotho with Tswana. I will break it as acording to pictures to follo. The young man on the right is dressed like a sheperd (modisana) with his blanket and stick just like Moses in the Bible. The lady in the extreme left is wearing a dress made with a Basotho fabric called Seshoshoe. Her outfit is more mordenized an she accessorized it with woode earrings, neckpiece and bangle.

 

 

This is me and my husband

Above here is me, Faith and my husband Paul Nthoba (yes culturally I am married to him because he has paid lobola for me. All that is left is the signing and church ceremony). He is wearing the Basotho blanket called Seanamarena and the Basotho hat called Modihanyeho. He is holding the stick which in Sesotho(language spoken by Basotho)  it is called Kota. There is a reason for all these he has. The land where Basotho originate is Lesotho and it is a very cold and snowy place hence the blanket/ Seanamarena. The hat/ modihanyeho is for the scorching sun as the Basotho men travel long distances on horses. The stick or kota is for protection and can be for support in old age.

I am dressed like a Mosotho(singular for Basotho) bride with my blnket called "Tjale" and a head scarf which we call "Tuku" taken from the Afrikaans word for headscarf, "doek". I am wearing a Seshoeshoe skirt. Remember seshoeshoe is the Basotho fabric. The "tjale" and the "tuku" are a sign of respect from women. Women's heads and shoulders traditionally are always covered. Do not mind my red heels they are just my ForeverFaith Couture traditional wear.

Some people said I was dressed like a Motswana maiden but the Batswana have their orwn paatern of the skirt and their blaket is also different. I am a Motswana (singular for Batswana) but I have never seen our traditional blanket.

See above the other man, Tumi is holding a different stick.

Picture Perfect

Thato dressed as a Mosotho woman

 

Paul dressed as a Mosotho man

  Thato and Emily above are dressed like  Basotho women with the blankets (Seanamarena), Thato wearing Modihanyeho, Emily wearing a hat made out of seshoeshoe and both ladies are wearing Seshoeshoe skirts