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Big is Beautiful
talk by Magie Relph
An interesting AGM was followed by a fascinating talk on African fabrics by Magie Relph. The talk was called Big is Beautiful and this was clearly illustrated by the size of some of the ceremonial garments.
Some of the trousers were enormous! Magie explained that expensive outfits using massive amounts of fabrics were status symbols and these were often highly decorated as well.
Economy in the use of fabric also developed some interesting garments using left over fabric for patchwork. Many attractive garments were made from woven strips that were easy for nomadic tribes to produce with very little equipment.
Some of the garments were modelled so that we could see how they would be worn in the variety of countries that they came from.
Magie brought her shop with her and a number of us were unable to resist some of the beautiful fabrics, beads and baskets made in Africa.
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