5 Alternative Ways to Showcase African Fabrics
Do you love African textiles and prints but find that your current lifestyle or the climate where you live is not suited to wearing these gorgeous bold prints all day, every day, everywhere? I hear you. I have a lot of beautiful ankara outfits but I seldom have matching-shoe-and-bag owambe (flashy party) occasions to attend. When I do have such an occasion though, it's such a treat to wear one of these outfits!
Living in a cold climate area where we have practically 6-7 months of winter necessitates wearing almost every other type of fabric except cotton for much of the year. The great news is that many African textiles, which are often cotton based, are incredibly versatile and there are easy ways to enjoy them that do not involve clothing.
This post highlights 5 ways you can celebrate African fabrics and designs —ankara, aso oke, adire (batik), kente—any time.
1) Home Decor
African textiles are an elegant and distinctive way to add vibrant colors and patterns to your decor. Ankara or African wax fabric decorative throw pillows with bold colors can serve as powerful accents in any space (home, office, restaurant, hotel), especially one with a neutral color scheme. This is partly what led me to start Lara Threads. And with such a broad array of designs, you could easily switch your ankara pillow cover every season or whenever you feel like having a different look without going through wholesale remodeling.
Not looking for throw pillows? You could also decorate your space with African fabric curtains or small pieces of furniture, including lampshades, chairs, and stools, upholstered with African fabrics or featuring African prints.
2) Office or Hobby Wall Organizers
A wall organizer made from African fabric is a lovely way to add unique interest to an entryway, office, home office, or hobby center. And because organizers like this are so lightweight, hanging one up on the wall is a breeze.
3) Tabletop Decor
Set the table with beautiful table runners, placemats, tea towels, napkins, coasters, and serving trays made from a variety of African fabrics including adire or African batik.
If you either don't have a dining table or you use yours for everything other than dining–like I do–these pieces can be placed on the kitchen counter, side table, or coffee table.
Cloth cocktail napkins are a great eco-friendly alternative to single-use paper napkins and an easy way to impress your guests and spark conversations. They can also be a thoughtful and practical housewarming, host/hostess or thank-you gift for someone who loves to entertain.
4) Functional Accessories
What are these? Accessories that serve a purpose, such as hats, eyeglasses, belts, watches, and lanyards. If you must wear a lanyard to hold your ID card or badge, why not toss the generic rope lanyard and go bold?
You can effortlessly express your discerning taste with pops of color from an African print lanyard. Collect compliments with an array of African print lanyards to complement each suit, shirt, blouse, or dress in your wardrobe.
5) Lifestyle Organizers
Bags, pouches, travel rolls, clutches, wallets—these are all brilliant ways to carry a small display of African print while on the go. Handbags have been crafted in almost every style and with a broad array of fabrics.
A simple, stylish African print essentials zipper pouch is perfect for keeping a larger bag organized, corralling those small items that tend to migrate to the dark corners of a desk drawer, handbag, or glove compartment, or if you want to take just a few things with you as you go about your day. And since a fabric pouch like this is washable, you will be able to get it clean in case of mishap like, well, coffee spilling in your handbag (ask me how I know!).
Finally, the luxurious thicker textile called aso òkè in Yoruba, which translates to “cloth from the up-country," makes a great fabric for something that gets heavy use like a wallet and will definitely show off your distinctive taste.