Documentation Of Traditional Cloth Wrapping Dressing Styles Of The Asantes Of Ghana As Resource For Fashion Designers

Abstract

Clothing generally is an area of great interest to mankind, but its relation to the changing cultural and its significances in the moral drive of Ghanaians generally and the Asante’s in particular, is perhaps the least talked about by researchers and scholars. The desire to link tradition and morality to modern cultural dynamism in relation to its expression in the dress-life of Ghanaian youth is limited. The researcher therefore attempts to assess and document the traditional Asante’s cloth wrapping the changing trends and significance of traditional systems regarding clothing. The moral standing of the cultural system relating to clothing and fashion becomes a yardstick of morality to bring to bear the importance of realizing situations and addressing them correctly, rather than leaving it to the ‘game of changes in fashion trends. To give a firm indication and implication for immediate action to be taken, this dissertation sought to investigate these objectives; (1) To study the historical background of traditional cloth wrapping dressing styles of the Asante’s of Ghana; (2) To identify the trends in traditional cloth wrapping dressing styles of the Asante’s of Ghana (3) To find out the cultural benefits and symbolism of the traditional Asante’s cloth wrapping; (4) To identify and discuss appropriate measures for the preservation of the traditional Asante’s cloth wrapping wearing styles. To help know the trends of events in the history of cloth wrapping among Asante’s, the types of wrapping, names and its moral implications and to link it to changing trends in modern fashion among the Asante’s. The sample size considered for the study is. These areas addressed historical evidences of clothing in Ghana, influence of foreign fashion on the culture and fashion of Ghana, with its inappropriate use of clothing among the youth; morality and modesty in Ghanaian fashion and culture. The findings revealed that, Fashion documentation from the West African sub-region is keen for acquiring a broader perspective of knowledge, understanding and development of clothing in the culture of Asante’s. The picture unveils the types of clothing and mode of adornment that were prevalent among the people of the coast between the fifteenth century and the eighteenth century. Notable among cloth wrapping styles among the Asante’s. The changes which are mainly being influenced largely in recent times by foreign styles of fashion are impacting negatively on the moral and cultural lives of the Akans particularly and Ghanaians in general, contributing to undesirable practices among the youth.