How trad styles have changed over the years

In the '60s, Yorubas took pride in their appearance, the type of clothes they wore depicted their social status/personality and how rich and influential they were. For both male and female, clothings were made from processed cotton done by traditional weavers but then the quality of the clothes and how vibrant and grand the look turned out depended on the occasion.

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Clothing back then signified some sort of 'authority' amongst those who dressed to the nines way back then. Aso-Oke which was hand loomed (and still a hit years down the line) was sewn in different designs, colours and patterns are were infused into looks for the women as 'oleku' iro and 'ipele' and 'gele'.

Vibrant aso-oke with the gele done elaborate paired with striped 'iro (wrapper) and 'buba' (the matching top) was a hit in the '80s.

Aso-oke were in different types including; 'Alaari' a vibrant red typed Aṣọ-Oke, 'Ẹtu' which is a dark blue typed Aṣọ-Oke and the 'Sanyan' which came as a light brown/brown typed Aṣọ-Oke.

1960s were the years that birthed the famous 'Oleku' style which featured a lot damask and lace.

The 'iro' worn under the 'buba' nested just above the knee with mini holdall bags and chunky accessories on the neck and wrists worn as accessories, in this era, the 'gele' was tied piled up in a way on top of the head away from the forehead.

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For the men, 'agbada' (a free flowing 'overall' worn over a 'buba' and 'sokoto' was done in damask for the influential ones while the style was normally a 'dasiki' (that's since been remodelled into present day's style) over matching 'sokoto' (trousers) with a slimfit hem.

In the '70s, the trad style got a bit funkier! The ladies dared a longer 'iro' - this got way past the knee in what's seen today as a 'midi' length. They also infused more of 'Aso-Oke' as 'gele', 'iro' and 'Ipele' (a shawl-like style) as matching pieces where the 'Ipele' is tied over the wrapper in a layered style- this was some sort of flamboyance that indicated the person was some of great social status.

For the men, damask came to play as a solid look where in fact it's worn as co-ord set with a contrasting design worn as 'fila' (cap) done in different styles like notably 'Gobi', 'Tinko' and 'Abetí-ajá'.

The '80s dragged in dramatic flared pants and stylish hats for the men and even more creatively styled 'fila' while the women got in with more vibrant fabrics for 'iro and buba'; this era, the thick stripped fabrics were a hit for women.

The '90s, the Aso-Oke/'Ofi' got colourful in more luxurious styles including the weft woven silk complete with punched holes as designs and fringes! It was a turnaround era for 'Ofi' where a trad look was incomplete with 'ofi' as whatever part of the outfit.

For the men, the style got more of mix and match for men who could wear their 'Ofi' as agbada over 'buba' and 'sokoto' in a softer fabric notable 'lace' or any cotton-like fabric of choice. The '90s rocked for colourful trad looks.

Year 2000 saw gele coming in a 'ready made' even though more vibrant and some with print and design details done in styles that can be worn just as is; without the task of tying it which a lot of people found difficult. At the point, the damask which went away came back for a bit as just 'geles' and in tonal hues.

For the men, 'agbada' came back in full length, matching the rest of the look (underneath it) or mismatched in style.

Till date, some things in the different eras have made their way into present day style from the 'Aso-Oke' to the laces that are now in breathtaking styles; 3D, floral, embellished, stoned and so on, Adire which was featured in the '80 to the '90s also plays strongly in the present day with top modern day designers like Maki Oh and Orange Culture making it the bane of their designs.

The Yoruba traditional look has evolved over the years and glamorously too!