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Wrapper (clothing)


The wrapper, lappa, or pagne is a colorful women's garment widely worn in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles. The formality of the wrapper depends on the fabric used to create it.

In West Africa, a kaftan or caftan is a pull-over woman's robe. In French, this robe is called a boubou, pronounced boo-boo. The boubou is the traditional female attire in many West African countries including Senegal, Mali and other countries. The boubou can be formal or informal attire. The formality of the kaftan depends upon the fabric used to create it.

In Yorubaland, Nigeria the wrapper is common, called an iro in the Yoruba language, pronounced i-roh. The wrapper is usually worn with a matching headscarf or head tie that is called a gele in Yoruba, pronounced geh-leh. A full wrapper ensemble consists of three garments, a blouse, called a buba, pronounced boo-bah the iro and a headscarf called a head tie in English and a gele in Yoruba. Traditional male attire is called a agbada. A wrapper takes metres of quality fabric. White wrapper sets are worn during wedding ceremonies.

Pagne (French: [paɲ]) designates a certain cut (two by six yards) and type (single-sided "Fancy" or double-sided "wax" prints) of untailored cotton textile, especially in Francophone West and Central Africa. Enormously popular in much of tropical Africa, the pagne cloth's usage and patterns may be used to by convey by the wearer a number of social, economic—and sometimes even political—messages. It is similar—though distinct in size, expected pattern, and usage—to the Khanga, Kikoy or Chitenge of East and Southern Africa. From the pagne any number of garments may be created (the boubou, dresses, or western style suits) or it can be used untailored as a wrap, headtie, skirt, or tied as a sling for children or goods. The word pagne, likely derived from the Latin pannum, was a term introduced by merchants from the 16th Century and adopted by several African societies to identify often pre-existing textiles or garments distinct from a simple cloth. The Portuguese pano for cloth has become the French pagne (loincloth), Dutch paan, and others. It appears to have originally referred to East Asian textiles traded in East and West Africa, before becoming a term for a certain length (a yard, later two by six yards) of commercial printed cloth sold in coastal West Africa.


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