Style is timeless & this short video says it all

olamide olarewaju

October 23, 2017 8:41 AM

The GTBank Fashn Weeknd drags in timeless styles, telling a fashion story with video...

Style is timeless and its evident in the ever evolving stories fashion tell.

Elegant looks and standout pieces were recorded as far back as the 10th Century where ladies and men alike stood out in their chosen get up.

Back in Nigeria, Aso-Oke got the rave back then, the specially handwoven pieces were made from processed cotton done by traditional weavers; where the quality and colour palettes determined how grand the occasion.

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In the '60s, Yorubas especially took pride in their appearance as the type of clothes they wore depicted their social status/personality and how rich and influential they were!

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

As seen in the video, vibrant aso-oke with the gele styled elaborate paired with striped 'iro (wrapper) and 'buba' (the matching top) was a hit in the '80s amongst the ladies with hairstyles ranging from threaded rows on ladies to big afro on men and even woman too; the style then was fun, fearless and just free an essence captured in the 'GTBank Fashion Timelines' video.

Adire (eleko), batik/tie dye were also bold fabrics infused into different looks around the '80's with those coming strictly for funky lots and the affluent again depending on the indigo dye and the style-which easy showed off the amount of quality fabric and design used, standing you out easily as one who is rich or middle class.

ALSO READ:How trad styles have changed over the years

Ankara prints; created originally as batik knockoffs for Indonesians was adopted by West Africa with the vibrant fabric becoming an instant favourite because of its colour richness & versatility.

Ankara has been exported all around the world, Stella Jean's designs are largely influenced by the trend, Duro Olowu also uses the versatile print in his works and back in Nigeria the likes of Lisa Folawiyo, Lanre Da Silva Ajayi have made African print a huge part of their designs.

Stella McCartney faced a backlash just recently after she laced her SS18 collection with five solid print designs inspired by this gorgeous print, safe to say Nigerian fashion inspired a lot of people/countries and brands!

It's no different from the present day where style is still personal, at times mixed with trendy inspirations and bold hues. Fashion evolved into more fierce looks over time, bursting into modern day beaded bustiers, embellished cape detailed jumpsuits, daring co-ords and more body grazing styles.

The makeup looks to complement the styles became bolder and men experimented with colours as well! Style became more personal and a self esteem booster, designers naturally fell in sync, becoming more creative and bolder with styles, colours, patterns/designs and so on.

Fashion had always being a thing, it definitely 'travelled' and evolved over the years (centuries even) but yet still evolving and it gets more interesting by the minute.

Don't you just love that?

olamide olarewaju