Dashiki

A Dashiki is a loose fitting, brightly coloured garment associated with African culture. It is also associated with the counterculture of the 1960s in the United States. The most popular styles cover the top half of the body. It originated in West Africa. A common form is a loose-fitting pullover garment, with an ornate V-shaped collar. It often has an embroidered neck and sleeve lines. There are both casual and formal versions.

 History 
The term "dashiki" comes from the Yoruba language, where it originally referred to a loose-fitting pullover developed in West Africa as a practical work tunic for men. The Yoruba word "dashiki" itself is derived from the Hausa term "dan ciki," which means shirt. Dashikis were worn by both men and women. This garment keeps the wearer cool in the hot African climate. The dashiki was worn as a work shirt in the shorter version. 

 1960s US counterculture 
The dashiki became popular in the hippie culture of the 1960s. Peace Corps members returning from Africa brought back dashikis.Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia, eds. Annette Lynch; Mitchell D. Strauss (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), p. 97 African diplomats to the United Nations in New York were often seen and photographed wearing colorful dashikis. Dashikis were seen as a symbol of support for black racial struggles. Groups like the Black Panthers wore the Dashiki as a symbol of their black heritage.Gina Misiroglu, American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History (Oxford; New York: Routledge, 2015), p. 251 The Afro hairstyle, faded blue jeans and the Dashiki were all popular expressions of the Black is beautiful cultural movement.Katherine Morris Lester, Rose Netzorg Kerr, Dyann Gray, Historic costume: a Résumé of Style and Fashion from Remote Times to the Nineteen-seventies (Peoria, IL: C.A. Bennett Co., 1977), p. 282

 Musical groups 
Many of the rock groups of the 60s and 70s wore Dashikis. But black performers of the 60s 70s preferred the more conventional suit and tie look.Veit Erlmann, Nightsong: Performance, Power, and Practice in South Africa (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), p. 200 But in the 80s several black groups wore the dashiki to show their heritage. One South African vocal group, 'Ladysmith Black Mambazo', wore dashikis extensively. This identified them more as Africans than Zulus.

 References 

 Other websites 

 Dashikis 
 Dashiki

Category:Tops (clothing)
Category:African culture