Inspired Thread: Kaba

Hello my Odies!

Yes, that is the name I have decided to give to you, my loyal readers. Until I find something better 😏

 

Today we continue with our series Inspired Thread by discussing the Kaba Ndongo. 

Women wearing Kaba during International Women's rights day in Cameroon

The Kaba is a maxi dress from Cameroon but is worn all over Western and Central Africa. The story of the origin of the Kaba is somehow funny. Apparently, the wives of the white missionaries who came to Africa in the 19th century,  did not approve of the nakedness of the local women. They asked them to "cover" themselves before attending church. The word cover turned into Kaba with the locals. The original Kaba was a shapeless "dress" made from a fabric used for bags. it only had one hole for the head and two for the arms. The Kaba started to have shape at the beginning of the 20th century when local women learned how to sew. They transformed the shapeless bag into something very feminine but also used imported fabrics. Back in those days, only older women wore the Kaba. But little by little the Kaba became trendy with the younger generation, thanks to tailors who invented the mini Kaba, a shorter version of the otherwise maxi length Kaba.

 

The Kaba must have made its introduction in Senegal in the late 90s. During that era, Senegalese people were highly influenced by fashion from other African countries. On top of our national Bubu or Taille basse, we adopted Abeti and Kaba . In Senegal we call the Kaba "Camerounaise".

A Kaba with ruffles I designed for my brand Sinniature 

 

Nowadays the Kaba is part of us. Women usually have several of them in different fabric such as cotton or Bazin. We also have them in African prints. The appeal of the Kaba is that is it large and comfortable but still maintain a feminine touch due to its structural upper part. The Kaba also fits everyone. 

Kaba Ndongo long dress available at afrikrea.com 

SassyChic Boutique 

As you can tell, I really like the style. I have severals in my closet, and three of them were even featured on my other blog here, here and here). My brother also got me an original in a midi version during one of his trips to Cameroon. I wore it several times for work and to run errands but now it is has become a house dress. I think I will have to design others in the coming months for personal use but also for sale.

The Kaba my brother got me from Cameroon 

This is the second edition of this new series. I hope you like it and will come back for more. Follow me on Instagram and Tiktok to see more videos of my outfits and designs.

Disclaimer: I do not own any pictures here except mine. They were found on Pinterest and Google and used to illustrate what a Kaba is.