Zulu Bridal Outfit: Beauty And Elegance Displayed

Elegance and glamour are the chief characteristics of any gathering, and this is reflected in music, dance, art, and fashion. A popular hub for art, music, dance and culture at large is Zulu in South Africa. The Zulu people are the single largest ethnic group in the province of South Africa and its language the most spoken.  They are known and vast in weaving, craft-making, beading, poetry, music, dance, and hunting. Their bead work, dance, art, and music serve as a communication tool and a great source of unity and relationship.

Clothing characterizes each stage or phase of the life of an average Zulu native, from infant to the umemulo period (a period for celebrating a lady who has turned 21 years), there is equally a special dress for pregnant women called isibamba and a hairnet for engaged women.

Some scholars or writers have this to say about the Zulu people in terms of their clothing obsession ‘‘The females wear a black hide skirt called the isidwaba. Unmarried girls would leave their upper bodies open, while the married and engaged would cover them with a piece of animal skin (isicwaya) or cloth. These young maidens adorn themselves with izincu (beads), worn as anklets, bracelets, knee bands, etc. The married women also wear a cone-shaped hat with a wide end called an isicholo. Although this has been adapted in the modern world as a cap, the shape of this headwear used to be achieved by weaving the woman’s hair with fibre and grass to show her marital status.’’