Colorful stories

While on my last “Colorful Friday“ (that’s what I call the weekly thrift store tour), I found these gorgeous pants and I was over the moon.

I was impressed by the label, so I decided to do a little research.

I could not find the brand online; it’s probably a small local one. Judging by the name, it’s probably from Ghana or South Africa. As far as I could find, “yawaaba” means “charge”; maybe it’s an old religious term. I think it corresponds to the rest of the text, “Femmes Vertueuses” (“Virtuous Women”, a reference to the Old Testament) – obviously, the manufacturer’s name. I could not find it online either, but it still sparked my imagination. My guess was that it could be a Christian charity providing work for women to help them make ends meet and save them from violence and exploitation, while keeping them away from vice.

I’ve read about such organisations in Nepal, India and Africa; there are similar ones here too. These women live in sheltered housing. They usually sew or craft (jewelry, pottery, etc.), and the produce is sold to meet their needs.

I’ve always loved ethnic fabrics, with their rich colors and patterns. I think traditional African print fabrics are fascinating, so I snatch every bit of them that I can lay my hands on. I collect Dashiki shirts; my favorite is the green one that my friend Jana gave me.

Actually, Jana didn’t have much of a choice. Green is my favorite color, so when I saw her wearing it I knew I just had to have it, and I begged her to exchange it for another one from my collection. She had found it in a thrift shop and she loved it too, but I gave her two blue ones in return, so everyone was happy.

I feel it’s my mission to make the world more colorful, so I often take some of these shirts with me when we go to live music events or festivals. I like to give them to musicians and friends, which creates a festive mood. The shirts make people happy, and the musicians keep wearing them when they play elsewhere. They give them to other musicians too, and then they ask me for new ones to replace those. So, color keeps spreading around! Mission accomplished.

The African wax print fabrics in my stash are a major inspiration for my projects. I use them to make dresses, bags, to decorate denim jackets, etc.

We also made mugs with prints of my collage designs with these ethnic patterns.