stuffworthshowing: The Tribal Bible

Put your hand on the tribal bible and repeat after me...

Hello Tribe,

So today's post is going to be all about tribal fashion and I will share the secrets of how to pull the tribal look off. I personally love tribal, but I know a lot of people are too scared to try it out. I must admit, wearing patterns can be daunting, but if you do it right, it can look show-stopping!

Some tribal history

For a couple of years now, tribal has been creeping into the world of fashion. It started off with subtle fringing, feathered accessories and now full blown native prints. I would love to say that these tribal prints that are taking the fashion world by storm originate from Africa. But sadly not, although I do personally think they have had a slight influence.

These tribal or natives patterns are actually inspired by the Aztec ethnic group in Mexico. That's why some people also refer to tribal fashion as Aztec tends. Traditional Aztec clothing was loose fitting and didn't cover the whole body. Because of their vast trading network, the Aztecs were able to make use of a beautiful array of dyes, creating brilliant colours still seen in Mexico today.

Colourful Aztec materials

Proudly South African Tribal

African inspired tribal wear is also making it's mark in the fashion world, particularly the designs of our very own Laduma Ngxokolo. Laduma, who graduated Cum Ladue in textile design from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University ,designed his Xhosa inspired knitwear range for the young men who are going through the Xhosa tradition of amakrwala (circumcision ritual). It is tradition for these men to wear high quality knits such as Pringle, to symbolise there completion of the ritual and ultimately their man hood.

Ngxokolo has also had the opportunity to sell a few knitwear pieces at the 2011 Heartwear Exhibition in Paris. His knitwear story has also been featured in various publications such as GQ SA, Elle Decoration SA Elle SA, Cosmopolitan SA House & Garden, Design Indaba, Axis (Japan) Fader (United States) and Wallpaper (UK). This story was also shared by various trend websites and bloggers around the world.

Recently Laduma has kick-started his career as an entrepreneur and hopes to continuously grow his knitwear brand. His achievements include winning the Marie Claire Prix D’Excellence De La Mode Best Emerging Designer 2011 award and recently showcasing his knitwear collections via the Ubuntu International Project at the London Fashion Week 2011. (Adams&Adams Attorneys. 2012)

How to wear tribal

I have 5 tips that I am going to share with you on how to wear tribal.

Wear a statement piece: This means wear one statement tribal piece and mix it up with solid, neutral colours.
Mix it up: If you are more 'out there' you should definitely try to mix patterns. Go all out.
Accessorize: When wearing tribal be sure to accessorize with loads of bangles, feather earrings or head piece, beaded handbags, you name it!
Only accessorize: If you are shy, or just want to ease into the tribal feel of things, why not start off with wearing tribal accessories over neutral clothing.
Add texture: Wear different textures with your tribal pieces like leathers, suede's, knits, denims etc.