If you’re visiting the beautiful country of Kenya, one of the things that you’ll instantly notice is the colourful and vibrant clothes of its locals. They are eye-catching and seeing them is like witnessing a festival However, these clothes aren’t just for show as they also represent their respective tribes and culture. If you’re curious to learn more about them, you’ve come to the right place!
Here at Rusinga Festival, we believe that these clothes are part of what makes our spectacular event more magical. Seeing the locals and tribes wearing their respective clothes gather for this festival is a majestic sight to behold and we want people from all over the world to experience this.
That’s why in this blog, we’re going to showcase some of the best Kenyan clothes that the country has to offer. If you want to be amazed by how creative this culture is, keep on reading!
Maasai
Maasai has transcended the world of clothing by becoming a symbol of Kenyan culture as a whole. Although the country is filled with western influences, it’s amazing to see how this traditional piece of clothing is still being worn to this day. Additionally, locals wear Maasai to show their appreciation and pride towards their culture along with rituals and ceremonies.
The iconic status of Maasai even led to it being a tourist attraction itself. People around the world flock to the country to see these pieces of clothing displayed in game parks and other places across Kenya.
Maasai is mostly made up of shuka, a red-coloured cotton sheet/loincloth. The colour signifies the blood that was bestowed upon them by nature. This material is a huge step in evolution as this clothing was originally made with animal skins.
Samburu
Moving over to the relative of Maasai, the Samburu tribe is also one of the remaining ones that retain their traditional pieces of clothing and we’re thankful for that. This is because their traditional style contains some of the most glamorous, colourful and vibrant clothes that you can see in Kenya.
The Samburu traditional clothing shares similarity with the Maasai by making use of shuka. However, it differs itself by adding accessories such as headdresses, necklaces and other pretty jewels. You’ll also notice that almost everyone who wears this type of clothing finishes off their look by wearing colourful bracelets.
Turkana
Turkana doesn’t have the same social structures as the two previous tribes that we’ve mentioned but they’re still one of the tribes that have the most beautiful pieces of traditional clothing.
In this tribe, men colour their hair with a crimson-like dye which they made only from special coloured soil. As for the women, they decorate their outfits by featuring different kinds of jewellery with the most notable one being beaded necklaces.
Visit Kenya today!
These are some of the most beautiful traditional clothing of Kenya. They all offer a unique look that each represent their tribe’s culture making them more meaningful than any normal clothes. However, it’s another experience to see them in person rather than reading about them which is why we encourage you to visit the country, particularly during the Rusinga Festival! In here, you’ll find the best traditional clothes of Kenya being showcased by locals from different tribes!