Dashiki in the Twentyfirst Century
In the early days of the twenty-first century, the dashiki has retained meaning for the African American commu-nitty and a historical marker of the 1960s counterculture. While seldom seen as street wear, the dashiki is worn at festive occasions such as Kwanzaa, the annual celebration to mark the unity of Americans of African descent and express pride in African heritage (Goss and Goss). A 2003 Internet search called up over 5,000 entries for "dashiki," largely from marketers who offer a range of vintage or contemporary African clothing. Vintage clothing retailers market dashikis as "a must for all hippie freaks" and for "wanna-be hippies." Costume companies offer "the dashiki boy" with a classic dashiki shirt, Afro wig, dark glasses, and a peace pendant necklace. Purveyors of African clothing have expanded the meaning of dashiki
Stevie Wonder wearing a dashiki. South African president Nelson Mandela escorts singers Kenny Latimore and Stevie Wonder at his Johannesburg home in 1 998. Although the dashiki's popularity as everyday-wear waned after the 1960s, some African Americans continue to wear dashikis to festive occasions and as a symbol of pride in their African heritage. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.
Stevie Wonder wearing a dashiki. South African president Nelson Mandela escorts singers Kenny Latimore and Stevie Wonder at his Johannesburg home in 1 998. Although the dashiki's popularity as everyday-wear waned after the 1960s, some African Americans continue to wear dashikis to festive occasions and as a symbol of pride in their African heritage. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.
beyond the distinctive shirt to include a variety of African robe ensembles and caftan styles. The dashiki's popularity as a street style has faded, but it continues as an integral part of the African American fashion scene for festive occasions and as a form of dress evocative of the lifestyle of 1960s America.
See also African American Dress; Afrocentric Fashion. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bolland, Rita. "Clothing from Burial Caves in Mali, 11th-18th Century." In History, Design, and Craft in West African Strip-Woven Cloth. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, 1966, pp. 53-82.
Boston, Lloyd. Men of Color: Fashion, History, Fundamentals. New
York: Artisan, 1998. Cobb, William, Jr. "Out of Africa: The Dilemmas of Afrocen-tricity." The Journal ofNegro History 82, no. 1 (1997): 122-132.
Connikie, Yvonne. Fashions of a Decade: The 1960s. London:
B. T. Batsford, Ltd., 1998. De Negri, Eve. "Yoruba Men's Costume." Nigeria Magazine 73 (1962): 4-12.
Giddings, Valerie L. "African American Dress in the 1960's." In African American Dress and Adornment: A Cultural Perspective. Edited by Barbara M. Starke, Lillian O. Holloman, and Barbara K. Nordquist, pp. 152-155. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 1990.
Goss, Linda, and Clay Goss, eds. It's Kwanzaa Time! New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1995. Hilger, Julia. "The Kanga: An Example of East African Textile Design." In The Art of African Textiles: Technology, Tradition and Lurex. Edited by John Picton, pp. 44-45. London: Barbican Art Gallery/Lund Humphries Publishers, 1995.
Lee, Paul. "From Malcolm to Marx: The Political Journey of
Fred Hampton." Michigan Citizen, 18 May 2002. Neves, Irene. "The Cut-up Kanga Caper." Life (16 September
1966): 142-44, 147-8. Rowell, Charles H. "An Interview with Henry Louis Gates, Jr."
Callaloo 14, no. 2 (1997): 444-463. Tucker, Sterling. "Black Strategies for Change in America." The Journal of Negro Education 40, no. 3 (1971): 297-311.
Norma H. Wolff
DEBUTANTE DRESS Once restricted to young women from wealthy families on the social register, the traditional long, white formal dress and opera-length kid gloves of the debutante are more and more frequently also worn by daughters of the middle class. Cultural variations, such as the Hispanic quinceanera, not only introduce a young woman into society but also reinforce ethnic identity. While making a debut no longer necessarily signifies that the deb is looking for a husband—the age of a debutante ranges from fifteen to the mid-twenties—it is still a rite of passage denoting adult status socially.
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