₦airaland Forum

Aso oke, ofi, and adire are Yoruba traditional cloths. The traditional styles for Yoruba women is iro and buba, gele (headtie), ipele (shawl or the drape across the shoulder, sometimes tied around the waist or bottom). Yoruba men's traditional style is long shirt with agbada, sokoto (drawstring trouser), short agbada, fila (cap), and abeti aja fila. The only other people who have adopted aso oke as their traditional cloth in Nigeria are the Igala or few middle belt people who share some Yoruba ancestry. But even still we know the difference by the colors of the stripes on their aso oke. Buba and iro, ipele, aso oke, ofi, and adire are not Eastern or Northern traditional cloths or outfits. Of recent Eastern and Northern people are incorporating some Yoruba styles or cloth into their traditional outfits. You only need to watch their weddings on YouTube to see. And I'm not talking of multicultural weddings. I've seen on Youtube: using aso oke or ofi for their headtie or adding ipele or wearing agbada or fila or iro and buba is borrowing from Yoruba tradition. Whether you like to admit it or not. They are using Yoruba traditional things and claiming that it's for everybody, but that IS and has always been Yoruba traditional outfit - they don't have any other. Nearly every woman in Africa wears some type of headtie - we know. And nothing is wrong with wearing Yoruba clothes if you like them. But you cannot just be wearing other people's traditional wears and claim it as your own or deny the people's own unique clothing identity. I have yet to see Yorubas wearing George or incorporate Fulani blouse into their traditional outfits. Yorubas wear their own clothes.