Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Ghanaian and Fashion Trends

There are some days when I have nothing better to do than to sit on Facebook and look at pictures of people. The things I see and read about are enough to make a stranger think Ghanaians are funny people. Ghanaians are the most fashion conscious people on this planet! Don't believe me? Go take a look at Facebook. This is not a recent phenomenon. Ghanaians have been going gaga over fashion or more appropriately fad trends as far back as I can remember.

Who remembers knapsacks?! When those tiny bags with the two long straps appeared on the scene, everybody (with emphasis on everybody), owned one! You just had to go for a GIS bazaar, or the Astek Refresh Talent Camp to see different colours of knapsacks! Looking back now, I wouldn't touch those bags with a ten foot pole!

Then came combat boots!!!!! Now those boots were an eyesore!!!!!!! Yet it seems everybody wanted them. I even wanted a pair but my mother quickly disabused my mind of that notion. Thank you Mummy! You would see boys and girls wearing these great clomping, feet-distorting shoes with the laces undone, and it was considered cool?!
Girls, do you remember the fad that made you go crazy? That had you badgering Mummy everyday until she got you a pair? Jelly Shoes! Now girls loved their jelly shoes! If you didn't have a pair, you weren't hip! I had grey ones with silver speckles and I wore them everywhere!

When those hideous neon-coloured shoes appeared on the scene, the Makola women (no offense) wore the heck out of those! You would see a lady on the street wearing a nice kaba and slit only to ruin it with a pair of hot orange sandals! It got worse! Imagine a lime green outfit with the same coloured shoes! Talk about drawing attention to yourself! The men weren't making good decisions either. Lime green linen shirt with trousers and those ridiculous Aladdin shoes!! Aahba! Ghana fo) beku y3n!

More recently, we have seen the belts and boots. Now the belts I have no problem with, but the boots! Can someone explain to me why Ghanaian girls insist on wearing boots in the hot Ghanaian weather?! Aren't their feet roasting in there?! I am sure that by the time those boots come off, their feet will be giving off a lovely nose-blocking scent!
Whenever there is a new fashion trend, you can be sure that Ghanaians will jump on the bandwagon and strut their stuff like nobody's business. But what we need to realize is trends come and go, some good, some really bad, and it is up to us to decipher the difference. We shouldn't wear just anything simply because it's in vogue. Think about what looks good on you, not what every one is wearing. Looking good is far better than looking like an over-dressed nincompoop!
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This article was written by LSG Staff Writer Frances Marie Oduro and can also be found on her blog.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

'More recently, we have seen the belts and boots.'

....and the boobs.