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Clothing

Religion, Climate, Societal influences, and Traditions play a big part in clothing for many Cameroonians. Cameroonians in the north tend to wear clothing that are made with breathable materials to allow air circulation. In the south, the materials can be thicker and layering is very common.

Traditional celebration headpiece

Different types of clothing examples are kabbas, boubou, toghu, and asoebi/material. The toghu and the boubou are traditional outfits that are very popular within different tribal groups in Cameroon. They are usually worn during weddings, wake-keepings, funerals, celebrations, and festivals. The Toghu and boubou are multicolored embroidered outfits, but the toghu is made of black velvet and the boubou is made of a blue light material. Asoebi/material are just the typical african prints that are used to make any article of clothings. Majority of all material being used is multicolored and patterned. Kabbas are dresses worn by women throughout Cameroon and they are made of different print fabrics. The dress typically ends at the knees or down at the ankles

Cameroon Athletics team at the 2012 London Olympics
Kabba on a mannequin
Group in matching aseobi/material

Another popular piece of clothing are pagnes or rapas. Pagnes are large pieces of material/african print. They can be used as a head scarf, turban, shirts, skirts, and even blankets. Pagnes are used primarily by women. They can also be used to tie babies on their backs while working or to put them to sleep.

Different aseobi prints on display
Women with different material print with matching pagnes 

 

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