Wodaabe Hip Cloth

The Wodaabe are a nomadic cattle herding branch of the Fulani people who are widely distributed across the Sahel of West Africa. The Wodaabe are well known for their spectacular annual ceremonies in which young men wearing thick face makeup dance in a row displaying their beauty to admiring women. Intricately embroidered tunics were an important part of the men’s costume, and the hip cloths worn by women mimicked the style. This hip cloth would be worn around the hips with the embroidery on the bottom.

The elaborate designs, which include motifs alluding to aspects of nomadic life such as the layout of camps, stars, and cow eyes are hand embroidered on a strip woven and tie dyed cotton ground.