By Angela Okune
Source: http://www.gocollette.com/en/tours/africa/kenya
A few days ago on my way home from work, I stopped into The Junction, one of Nairobi’s many high-end malls to grab a few groceries for dinner. On my way out, I passed two white women dressed head-to-toe in safari gear. It wasn’t that their outfits surprised me so much as the stark disconnect between what they were dressed for and the glossy mall environment. As I passed these individuals, I briefly smiled to myself, recalling the advice and packing list that I had also received when I first visited the continent in 2008 on a summer study abroad program as an undergraduate student.
Source: http://www.africanimpact.com/blog/packing-trouble-we-let-you-know-what-to-wear/
Don’t show your shoulders, don’t reveal legs, don’t wear anything too fancy. Some of this advice is sound – in fact nowadays, I don’t even own a pair of shorts as my own dressing habits have shifted and changed over time. But this advice can also lead new visitors to the continent astray, furthering already existing stereotypes about poorly dressed Africans. In fact, as the following articles indicate, you will want to make sure to bring along professional looking clothes in order to look “sharp” and “smart” (common compliments for looking good in Kenya) and so that you can fit in! Even if you plan to spend the majority of your trip in the company of animals, you will eventually be in some sort of social setting and if so, you don’t want to be the sheepishly dressed tourist in your baggiest khakis while all of those around you are in their Sunday best.
Probably based on the widespread proliferation of and buying into rhetoric of “dressing down to fit in with the African poor,” it is a common stereotype amongst Kenyans and Tanzanians that “wazungus (white foreigners) have no fashion sense.” In comparison, many who visit the continent as highlighted in the following pieces are quite surprised that Kenyans and Congolese are extremely fashionable: “One of the first things I noticed is how completely beautiful everyone is on the street,” said Shayla Harris, a documentary filmmaker and journalist, about her recent trip to Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.
While there may be some unique challenges to maintaining a particular style, we really shouldn’t be so surprised that everyday African residents are well-dressed and put together.
From The New York Times: In Goma, Lights May Flicker but Looks Stay Sharp: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/style/goma-democratic-republic-of-congo-style.html
Kenya Fashionista dares to stand out in Kibera slum: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40012435?ocid=socialflow_twitter
Photography by Brian Otieno. Source: NY Times