The Nation Newspaper

Tag: clothes

  • How to choose the right clothes

    How to choose the right clothes

    PEOPLE who are dieting and self-conscious about their weight and body image often try to make themselves invisible. They will go to extraordinary lengths to hide their bodies away under baggy clothes until they have had some success with their diet and have lost weight.

    It’s true that there’s something comforting about pulling on a big baggy jumper and some jogging pants but this shouldn’t be a daily uniform.

    Instead, you should learn how to tailor your wardrobe to your particular body shape and emphasise the positive aspects. Just because you’re on a diet and haven’t yet achieved your goal weight doesn’t mean you can’t get glammed up and go out on the town and be extremely limiting, and this can make shopping trips a stressful, rather than pleasurable, experience.

  • ‘Don’t hang clothes on highways, streets’

    The Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Tunji Bello has warned residents to desist from spreading clothes on the frontages of homes on major highways and streets.

    “Any house found with such an unhygienic act will be sealed up,” the commissioner warned.

    Bello issued the warning while monitoring the monthly sanitation in Egbe-Idimu area last Saturday.

    He said: “When you go round the state, you will notice in recent times that some Lagosians are in the habit of spreading clothes on balconies of their houses. You also notice security guards hang washed clothes on building fences on highways across the state; this is very wrong. You will also notice along major roads and bridges like Apapa, Carter Bridge, Eko Bridge, 3rd Mainland Bridge, Falomo, Kingsway Road etc, where washer men have turned bridges’ railings to lines were they spread washed clothes.

    “This unhygienic act will no longer be tolerated by the state government, as this act portrays us in the state as people without decency and with disrespect for the environment.”

    To curb the trend, he said, the state government had directed Environmental Health Officials and all the Local Government Areas’ Sanitation Officials, the state waste management authority (LAWMA) Staff and other security agencies in the state, to begin the removal of such clothes and take them to dumpsites as wastes.

    The commissioner also noted that some traders had turned major roads/highways in the state to markets, abandoning their stalls/markets. “A situation where markets are empty and traders have turned our streets and gutters to trading points can no longer be tolerated,” he said, adding: “We have got complaints from motorists and landlords’ associations, that traders have converted drainages and alignments to markets, thereby leading to serious traffic congestion and flooding in some areas of the state.”

    He warned such traders to immediately vacate those drainage paths/ gutters or face the wrath of the law.

    While appealing to residents to cooperate with the state government in its environmental regeneration programmes, Bello said: “All hands must be on deck to ensure that Lagos becomes a state where every Nigerian would be proud of as first-class investment destination in Africa and indeed, the world.”

  • ‘At 95 I still sew clothes’

    ‘At 95 I still sew clothes’

    At an age when most of his peers would be too feeble for the most basic of chores, Pa Amos Iposiola Samaiye can still thread the needle and make clothes, Taiwo Abiodun met with him at his home in Esire, Ogun State, to tap from his vignettes of wisdom.

     

    He is fair in complexion and stands at six feet tall. His thick moustache stood erect, speckled white strands. At 95, he is still agile. He does his exercises by going to the farm, walking several kilometres daily. In his living room is a sewing machine at a corner while his farming boots and other implements are in another corner. For him, there is no dull moment as he still sews clothes, his advanced age notwithstanding. For a man of his age, he has good retentive memory with dates despite his little education. According to him, “I only read Standard Three and you cannot compare the education then with the university products of today, then there was discipline,” he said in a faint British accent.

    Locating the nonagenarian was easy because he is popular and very accessible in Esire, Ogun State. He is referred to as a wiseacre, full of wisdom, while his people go to him for advice and to resolve disputes. Welcome to the world of Pa Amos Iposiola Samaiye, a respected community leader.

    My Raleigh bicycle

    The nonagenarian who said he was called ‘Faworaja’ (Ladies’ man) due to his complexion admitted that “When I was very young I was the darling of all girls. I was handsome, clean and knew how to pose and carry myself. I was always clean-shaven, leaving only my moustache. I take great care of it because it is precious to me. I spend a lot to keep it. You can see that I still maintain it. I was also attractive and this made young girls to flock around me. I must confess that with my Raleigh bicycle then I was a flirt and became a ladies’ man. This landed me into the trouble of having many wives with children from different mothers ; in fact, I am a polygamist !” Asked if he would like any of his children to follow suit, he looked straight into the reporter’s eye and said, “I thank God that I have well educated, civilised and godly children who are in all fields, and they did not wear my ‘shoe’. He denounced polygamy, saying, “I regret it, it is not the best.”

    Pa Samaiye was born in Esire, Ogun State in 1918, four years after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates into one Nigeria. In 1934, he became an apprentice tailor and learnt the art of sewing Yoruba and English dresses. “I still sew. I have at least six machines but you know my children don’t want me to stress myself again, so I only sew for myself. All my children are well- educated and believe the job is stressful. I still sew without the use of recommended medical glasses, I can still walk several kilometres and will not pant like you younger ones. I go to the farm to work for hours. I am as fit as fiddle, and I have been like this for a very long time, but I know one day we will leave all these and go to the last home.”

    He recalled who his clients were: “I used to sew for monarchs, big people, business men and big-time politicians but when I discovered their secret I stopped sewing for them.” Pressed further to tell the secret, he looked at the reporter and the surroundings as if trying to tell a secret and gave a loud laugh and said in low tone: “These so called big people will only pay you advance money to start the job but will not pay you your balance, when you finished the job. In order not to pay your balance, they would complain that there is a mistake in the sewing. They are not sincere. They don’t pay for services rendered. When I discovered this I started sewing for the middle class and the lower class but for the popular and notable ones I did not. “

    Asked to throw light on the meaning of the famous Yoruba proverb ‘Dandogo koja aso a binu da ‘( You don’t purchase a long dress in a hurry ), the old man nodded and said “Yoruba is rich in culture , yes that is how the saying goes, if you want to sew Dandogo you need 36yards , and it takes time to sew. Dandogo is a Yoruba style and it takes time and endurance to sew it.” He continued, “When one Baba Ogunbo, a native saw one I was working on years ago he said he was interested and asked me to sew one for him but he made a U – turn when I told him that he would need 36yards. He screamed and said those yards could sew another 10 different styles ! So it is expensive to sew and it takes time. It is unlike other types of styles. It is a pity that we no longer respect our culture, especially in dressing. But I still have one Dandogo here in my room.” As he said this, he went into his inner room and brought out some old clothes. Displaying them he said, “These are different types of Yoruba traditional styles, Suliya , Saro, Agbada, Dansiki. I have them for posterity sake!”

    On cloths or fabrics in vogue during his time, he said it was Ankara.”Ankara reigned for a very long time in Ijebuland that virtually every Ijebu man had a lot of it. And we said ‘Gbogbo won laju, won di Itsekiri tan! (They become civilised and turned into Itsekiri). We know it is the Itsekiris who are lovers of ankara, they used to sew up and down clothing materials. So the Ijebus turned into Itsekiri when ankara became known and popular among them.”

    Why I left the North

    He is worried at the level of insecurity pervading the northern part of the country now. Going down memory lane he said, “During my time in Borno it was peaceful but I am surprised that it is no longer the case.” According to him, he was in Borno State from May 16,1951till April 5, 1963, “I had many of my children there. I left when the Beriberi were killing the Igbo. One day they beheaded a Yoruba man who was a washer man, and this annoyed me and I left. The Fulani had a lot of juju. Another gave me the antidote of stabbing , no matter how you are stabbed it would not have effect, instead the knife would shrink while whoever attempts to use cutlass on you will bring the hands down empty handed.”

    He gave two reasons why he left the North unceremoniously “When I left the North I did not tell anybody but only the late Pa Adejumo the father of Baba Sala- the comedian. One day I just packed my few things and left my family behind for Ijebu Ode. In later years, I believed my mother used juju to recall me.”

    Growing up

    “While growing up I stayed with my uncle Balogun Dosumu who was a disciplinarian. He was a hunter and timber merchant. Anytime he was going out for hunting, he would give me a bowl of melon to remove the shell , and this was a Herculean task, but I would call my friends who would save time and assist me to remove the shell. And when my brother comes back from the bush, he would be surprised how I managed to finish the assignment and would double it again just for me to stay indoor till he comes back, but my friends would come back again to remove the shell, and when my uncle comes back and saw it again, he would increase it until he gave me baskets of melon to work on. To me then, he was wicked but it was discipline. And what used to amaze him was my magic wand of removing the shells.

    “I had many children, though some are dead, while I don’t even know where some are. When I was in Ijebu Ode, a lady had a girl for me on August 29, 1949.The mother went away with the baby but several years later, when the baby grew up, and got married and had children, somebody spotted her and said she looked like me. In the end, she later came to me at over 40!

    On the secret of his looking young

    He said, “The secret of my looking young is God. I eat what antelope eats (laughs). I eat green leaves, vegetables that animals eat. I would take tea in the morning with a small glass cup of Gordon Gin and by 4:30 pm take my lunch. I do exercise by going to the farm to spend hours working . I don’t know when last I fell ill. I had sex about six years ago. I am healthy and agile. My children and cousins take good care of me. “

    He later took the reporter to his farm where he spent 40 minutes weeding and clearing.

    Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

    Pa Samaiye says he goers to church and reads his Bible daily. However, he got more convinced about God when he visited Jerusalem. “When I got to Jerusalem I marvelled. We visited places like Jesus tomb, River Jordan, and many other places. I rejoiced when I visited there. I wish we could turn our places to tourist attraction centres. No matter how hardened your heart is when you get to Jerusalem, you will marvel and know that God is great.

    “I visited, America about 15 years ago. There, I saw many things, and that was where I celebrated my 80th birthday. It is good to go to America.”

    He spoke of the need to be a philanthropist, saying, “I believe one should do whatever he could do to assist the needy. I believe in the Robert Grellet’s philosophy that , “I shall pass this world but once , Any good that I do or any human kindness I can show to my fellow man let me do it now, let me not defer it for I may not pass this world again,.” That is my belief and philosophy. I have assisted the poor, I am still doing it and I shall do it till I shut my two eyes. I am not afraid of death, I am the only one that remains in the family. My wives are gone, some of my children too are no more while all my friends are no longer on this planet earth. So, I am not afraid of death. I saw one of my younger brothers who was sick and when I visited him he was crying and I asked why he was afraid of death. I told him that it will come and nothing will happen then why should he be afraid of death?”

     

  • Indecent clothes and the youth

    Dress the way you want to be addressed is a popular saying, which is being used to remind people to dress responsibly. As human civilisation evolves through ages, things change in the way we conduct our affairs and express our liberty. The present western civilisation guarantees freedom for all humans, who espouse it. But some have taken the freedom too far.

    In most tertiary institutions today, students are going wild in the way they dress to lecture rooms. Skimpy dresses and sagging are common sights in higher institutions. Students see unAfrican dresses as glamour and style. For female students, the notion is that skimpy dresses make them to look attractive to the opposite sex. For boys, sagging is to show their colleagues that they are current with western fashion code.

    It is quite unfortunate that these young ladies and boys who indulge in this act of indecent dressing fail to realise that it does not add to their beauty neither does it make them look attractive to the opposite sex.

    By dressing shabbily, they have lost their Africaness.

    Fashion, being one of the most fascinating areas of human endeavour, can it be said that its designers and customers are bringing the rest of the world to embrace the western code of dressing? Or are they consciously seeking to return the world to the age when nudity was the order of the day?

    In Africa, people have the belief human society must be governed by decency; every African parent, especially mothers want their kids to be well-behaved and grow up in a morally sound and responsible society. But to what can we attribute the growing trend of skimpy dress in our society? A drift towards immorality and promiscuity?

    It is sad to note that our streets and campuses have been turned into porn-viewing cinemas by misfits whose mode of dressing has brought disgrace to our society. Many parents even help their children to dress indecently and allow them to go to the public half-naked. The most poignant thing to note here is that some parents buy bad clothes for their children.

    This is purely cultural imperialism because our brains have been overwhelmed by western culture. In this regards, the mass media is culpable in spreading the offensive approach to dressing.

    Fashion can help improve appearance and boost self-confidence. The right outfit can help to minimise some physical flaws and enhance beauty. It can also help change how one is addressed by others.

    However, many ladies want to follow the crowd to be in vogue without critically establishing their reasons for dressing shabbily. This is why most ladies that are supposed to be the pride of womanhood walk half-naked on the streets.

    To stem the growing tide of indecent dressing on campus, managements of tertiary institution have established committees to check the act and penalise offenders. Many students have been caught and expelled in various schools.

    Exposure of the body is likened to an advert placement, a notice telling people of the availability of products. Cases of sexual harassment and rape are often traced to the exposure of sensitive body parts. The consequences of indecent dressing are obvious: it debases human beings; it increases crime in the society and attracts insults to the dresser.

    My advice to the youth is that we must return to our African root. We must wear clothes that suit our body and not clothes that look good to our friends. If we dress to expose our sensitive body parts, we would have exposed ourselves to ridicule and embarrassment.

    We have failed to realise that what we see as unfashionable in African dressing style has distinguished our forebears and made our culture to endure through centuries. Generations before us had this inclination to dress nude but we should not forget the curse placed on them in the scripture.

    The government should not wait till rape and sexual assault become the order of the day. The Federal Ministry of Culture and National Orientation should embark on campaign against immodest dressing and show the citizens how such undertaking can be dangerous to our vision and intention as a nation.

     

    Seth, HND II Mass Comm., BIDA POLY

     

  • ‘Shoppers are crazy about fairly used clothes’

    ‘Shoppers are crazy about fairly used clothes’

    Over the years, new clothes have become expensive. As a result, many workers and other individuals now go to second-hand clothing markets where they source their wears at cheaper prices, thus leading to a boost in the sale of such clothings.

    In the past, second-hand clothes were synonymous with poverty; the energetic and optimistic middle class bought their new ready-made clothes from high brow markets or large retail stores. But, today, the downward twist in the Nigerian economy, since the early 1990s, has led to a practical alteration of spending and consumption trend, especially among the working class.

    The sale of second-hand clothes is now a very lucrative business, as many has deserted boutiques which sell new clothes because of the costs. Second-hand clothes can be sourced from virtually every place in Lagos and other towns.

    According to traders, the business is very profitable and enjoyable. “There is money in Okrika business,” said Mr Francis Okonkwo, who has been in the business for 12 years.

    “I make a lot from it. The business does not require an enormous capital to start; you can start picking from traders that open bales, depending on the start-up capital you have or how much you can deposit; the balance is paid after sales,” he said.

    There are people who cannot do without fairly used clothes, as well as those who would never want to have anything to do with it. It is a matter of choice. However, second hand clothes are more popular with most Nigerians and have continued to boom inspite of the challenges faced by the traders.

    Mr Okonkwo explained that the items are brought into the country from Benin Republic. “We go to Coutonou to buy these items. Usually, Tuesdays and Thursdays are market days in Coutonou. On these days, we are sure of getting new arrivals. There is the first grade Okrika which could pass for new ones, that is why some influential people also patronize us”.

    Another trader, Mrs Nwanfor Kalu said as an okirika trader, the newer and finer your goods are the more money you are going to make, because people prefer to buy those that could pass for new. “You know, in this Okrika business you must understand that Okrika pass Okrika.” He said.

    Second hand items that could be gotten for as low as N200 or N250 now go for N600 to N1000, yet people still go for them as if they are going out of fashion.

    As lucrative as the business is to traders who practice it, importation and sale is a risky one in which you gain all or lose all said Mr Poly Maduka, also an okirika trader. “It is not easy at all getting our market into the country. After buying so much, you have custom officers to contend with. For every stop we make at any checkpoint, we pay huge amounts of money so that our goods will not be seized. At the end of the day, you realize you paid almost as much as you used in buying to get your goods home”. He lamented.

    Second hand clothes have continued to find their ways into the ever-growing bend-down boutiques. According to Okirika traders, these clothes are smuggled into the country through the Nigeria-Benin border.