Chapter 4: Malian Fashion Show

We know you all want to know what we wear every day in Mali...so here is our fashion show for y'all! You are bound to see other outfits too as we post pictures from our lives in PC, but here is a good start of all our awesome outfits we've had made here in country.

(Creeping in this photo is Jeneba on the far left, and Toshi in the middle--our neighbor's kids. They are adorable and hilarious! Toshi deserves her own blog post for the entertainment she provides us.)

Here Cass is wearing a traditional Bamana (Bambara ethnicity) shirt called "bougouni." They grow the cotton, spin the thread, weave it, and dye it with local indigo. It's probably the most locally produced garment you could ever buy!

Below are our "Huit Mars" (8th March) outfits to celebrate International Women's Day, or "Journee Internationale de la Femme." The fabric is available nationally for people to show their support. Fabric like this is great because it can be used for a political statement--there is labor union fabric, feminist fabric, even anti-excision (FGC) fabric! It's a very culturally-acceptable way to show support for things like this year's theme, which is increasing the number of women elected to public office in Mali. Women especially seemed to appreciate that Cass had a full complait (outfit) made of Huit Mars fabric as well.

This is called a "duloki ba," or big shirt. It's just fabric folded in half with holes for arms and head...simple, cheap to make, and extremely loose and comfortable in the heat! Men and women can wear them. Men wear pants under them, and most women wear a tafe, or wrap-around skirt, underneath (shown above in the orange outfit). I opted for pants since they are way more comfortable and mostly covered up anyway, and since we're white, people give us a lot more fashion leeway.