Mail, just like other African countries, take pride in their diverse culture and traditional attire.
In this post, we are going to be talking about the main wedding attire in Mali, which is called bazin or referred to as boubou for men.
The bazin fabric is a hand dyed polished cotton, which is popularly characterized by its shine. There are two types of bazin/boubou, which are known as the ‘rich’ and ‘basic’ – formal and informal.
The bazin/boubou rich, is the most expensive fabric which is usually reserved for big occasions and are typically worn formally. While the bazin/boubou basic, is worn every day on a more informal basis.
These beautiful pieces, are well known for their finishing, which is the embroidery. These embroideries come in different colours and designs depending on the thread used the tailor.
The bazin/boubous are sewed differently for men and women. The men’s boubou consists of three different pieces of clothing that are the same color (although these days people mix colours based on personal preference). The three pieces comprise of a trouser with a fabric rope to tie it for fitting, a long sleeve chemise top, and a wide open- embroidered sleeveless gown that is worn over everything.
For the women, their bazin is also a three piece, but in a different style. These pieces are a wrapper, which is typically tied around the waist, a blouse, and a headscarf.
For a wedding, a bride is expected to wear the best quality of bazin ‘rich,’ designed just for her for the traditional and religious wedding, and for the civil wedding, she dresses in a white modern gown.
On the part of groom, he dresses in white boubou for the traditional and religious wedding and wears a suit for the civil wedding.
Jewelry
Malian women take a lot of pride in their jewelry which they adorn to go with their expensive embroidered basin outfits.
For weddings especially, they wear gold necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. This is because gold symbolizes wealth, money, and prestige among Malian women.
As they celebrate the union of the new couple, Djeli’s or praise singers, sing to them, praising them for their beauty and respectful family name, the women in turn give money out to the Djeli’s .
