Muraho mwese! Following quickly on the heels of last month's post comes a new one, this time about clothing and how to dress in Rwanda. Rwanda, it is remarked by many upon arrival, is a very clean country, and this love of cleanliness is reflected in how Rwandans dress. The availability of cheap, good-quality clothes at markets, mostly from the U.S. or Europe, means that dressing nicely is accessible to most and perhaps the best comment that can be paid to someone is to say, "wambaye neza" or even, "you look smart". I'll look at what type of clothing is acceptable and expected in Rwanda, including how the West has influenced fashion.
The respect for how one dresses is instilled at an early age, as students in school are required to wear uniforms. The colors of the uniforms differ slightly according to the school, but the basic formula is national: in primary, girls wear long dresses (they're blue at my school) and boys wear shorts and a button-down shirt (both khaki at my school); in secondary, girls wear a long skirt (khaki where I am) with a blouse (white) while the boys wear pants (khaki) and a short-sleeved button-down shirt (white). Occasionally, a school will also have an official sweater that students may wear, and I've seen blue, green, and orange ones, but it's hot enough where I'm at that we don't have such a sweater (even though there has been talk of adopting a rather smart green one). The uniforms are to be kept clean by the students, and they are expected to tuck in their shirts, teaching them at an early age that their appearance should be kept in order.
This early respect for how one dresses carries over into later life, of course, and Rwandans mostly dress very nicely - nicer, in fact, than most Americans, I have to say. In general, men wear nice pants - slacks or good jeans - with a collared shirt and clean, shined shoes. Women, in general, wear long skirts, nice blouses, and clean shoes. There are some differences in the cities: more t-shirts, shorter skirts, women in pants (especially young women), but the essential is that the clothes are clean, no matter what the wearer does.
For people with white-collar jobs, including teachers, nurses, doctors, bankers, etc., the dress is decidedly business-like. Jeans are acceptable, but they should be nice, without holes, and slacks are most often worn by the men. Women have the same option, with the addition of a long skirt. For shirts, men and women in these roles most often wear nice collared shirts, either short- or long-sleeved. As for footwear, it is rare to see a man in a job like this wearing sandals; close-toed shoes are by far preferred. For a woman, however, sandals are the norm, though the feet should be clean. We were told stories during training about teachers shining their shoes during breaks at school, and though I haven't seen that, teachers and others definitely pay attention to the cleanliness of their shoes and will remark on the dirtiness of others who have dirty shoes. For me, I scrub my shoes clean and polish them weekly, in addition to wiping off any dirt or chalk that accumulates on them at the end of each day.
Even people who are farmers or who do other manual labor, cleanliness in their clothing is highly valued. They, too, tend to wear nice pants and shirts for the men and skirts and clean shirts for the women. A farmer or other laborer will more often wear a t-shirt, but they make sure that the t-shirt is as clean as they can make it. In addition, they take their shoes off to farm in order to keep them as clean as possible so that when they leave their field and walk home (perhaps through the village), they can do so proudly, with the knowledge that their shoes are clean.
Finally, there are clothes worn for special events, such as weddings, church, ceremonies, etc. This is when the best, shiniest, smartest clothes one has are to be worn. For men, suits are the top, though I often eschew them because of the suffocating heat and opt for a long-sleeved button-down shirt, nice slacks, and shined close-toed shoes (which are imperative in these situations). For women, they often wear a wrap-like garment, which is a piece of cloth wrapped almost like a toga around the torso, underneath which is worn a tank top and a nice skirt, and they also get away with sandals (the heat is certainly not as suffocating for them!). Of course, some people cannot afford to have a suit or nice close-toed shoes, so they just wear whatever their nicest clothes are. The important thing, again, is cleanliness and order, so clothes should be as stain-free and rip-free as possible. I recall one wedding that I attended at the end of July, the peak of the dry season. It was about an hour walk from our village, and of course our shoes were caked in dust when we arrived. To remedy the situation, we took leaves off of plants along the path and used them to wipe the dirt off and provide a small amount of shine, making ourselves presentable for the wedding. It's all about the details.
All of the clothing options I've mentioned so far are not much different from what one would expect from good dressers in the West (with the exception of the wrap-like garment), and that's because the influence of the West is very prevalent. Most clothes in the markets are used clothes from the U.S. or Europe, and one can find all manner of brand-name clothes - Nike, Levi, North Face, Docker's, etc. - at prices well below what they cost new (1500 RWF or $2.50 for a good shirt and 4000 RWF or $7 for good pants). In my own shopping experiences, I've purchased one pair of pants that had a used Paris Metro ticket in the pocket and another with a golf ball marker from South Carolina in the pocket.
This prevalence of cheap Western styles in the markets, combined with the music videos and films that are seen by young people, mean that a a lot of young hip hop lookalikes are seen, especially in the cities. Women wear tight pants and even short skirts; men wear baggier pants and ball caps perched at weird angles on their heads; and jewelry, sunglasses, and other accessories are all seen as signs of affluence, associated with Western wealth.
Of course, it's not all Western-style wear, and some of my favorite clothing is the traditional clothing of women: a long skirt and shirt made of colorful African fabric (igitenge), often topped with a turban-like head covering. Men, too, can get in on traditional clothing, with shirts made out of igitenge, though even those are often modeled on the Western shirts available at markets.
So, this whole long post can be summed up quite succinctly: Rwandans dress as nice as they can, paying particular attention to the cleanliness of their clothes and shoes. When in doubt, it's best to dress conservatively, even if the clothing choices are becoming more liberal in places like Kigali. Clothing is extremely highly regarded, representing who you are and your wealth. As the saying goes, "The clothes make the man."
Happy birthday this month: Keegan
Next month's post: Children and childhood: games, responsibilities, etc.
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