Nigerian Women and Their "Gele"

In the Western Region of Nigeria, women can often be seen in their traditional attire of "Buba", an airy type blouse with long sleeve, and "Iro" the wrapper that's tied on top of the buba. To complete this whole attire, a woman will wear a head wrap (usually in matching fabric). This head wrap is known as 'Gele'.

Gele (pronounced gay_lay) is a Yoruba term for a woman's head wrap. This piece of clothing can be as simple as a scarf-like head-tie or bandana, to being as elaborate as a more sophisticated fabric made specifically for that purpose.

Though the wearing of Gele is common-place for women in the Nigerian Culture, the two cultures that's especially noted for wearing the Gele in both its casual and sophisticated form are the Yoruba and Igbo Culture. Yoruba women can always be seen at home, in the market, at church, and special occasions, such as, a wedding, birthday, and chieftaincy parties wearing some form of Gele as an accessory with their attire.

In the Ibo culture, the Gele is usually worn over george wrapper and blouse. Thus, the Gele has now become a fashion statement. In fact, to wear the traditional yoruba buba and iro without a gele will be considered a fashion 'faux pas'.

Casual Gele - Gele comes in many different forms. The very casual ones are usually the ones made out of the same fabric as the outfit being worn. It can also be a regular polyester scarf or shawl that can sometimes be worn as an head-tie.

Couture Gele - These are Gele made for the fashion conscious, the fashionistas of the Nigerian and other African culture. In this category are the Grand Swiss, Super Jubilee, and Hayes Gele. There's even the Net Gele Head tie (a net-like, see through fabric gele).

These are imported gele made with the African woman and culture in mind. They are usually made in Switzerland and come in both solid colors, with designs or embroideries.

Custom-Made Gele - These are Geles that are made specially for special occasions, such as, traditional weddings, milestone birthday, chieftaincy title celebrations, and other special occasion celebrations. Custom-made Geles are usually made with of Aso-Oke, a woven fabric spurned by hand or machine on demand.

They can be made into the Gele and Shawl (that drapes over the shoulder, or around the waist), or into the complete outfit which consists of the Gele, Shawl, Buba, and Wrapper.

The wearing of Gele by most African culture and by Nigerian women is not a new fad. Nigerian women has been donning the Gele as an accessory that completes the traditional attires since pre-colonial times. Today, the Gele continues to emerge in designs, styles, and uses.

It used to be that the Gele was only worn with either the Voile Lace 'Buba' and 'Iro' (the Yoruba woman traditional attire), or, the Igbo woman's 'George Wrapper and Blouse'. Not any more! Gele is no longer just for Buba and Iro. Today, you can see the Gele being donned on all types of attire, such as, skirt suits, pant suits, and cocktail dresses. The possibilities are endless as the uses of the Gele is still emerging.

The ability to tie the Gele is one of the problem faced by most Nigerian women. Tying the Gele is an art in itself. It takes great patience and precision. I remember as a child always watching my mom tie the Gele for a special occasion and wondering, 'what in the world...?'.Now I find myself doing the same, getting frustrated over tying my geles.

I, on the other hand think I have found just the secret to tying the Gele in less time than most Nigerian women would. Don't ask me to tell you how long it takes.

Let's just say, I pre-tie my Geles weeks, and sometimes months ahead of the special event. So all I do is just put it on like a hat whenever It's needed.

For a lot of women, the time it takes to tie the Gele is a deterrent to wearing this essential part of the cultural attire as it can take from half an hour to hours just to get it right. This can sometimes be a frustrating process. Thus, most Nigerian women have abandoned wearing the Gele altogether.

One Nigerian man noticed this trend (of not wearing the Gele) among Nigerian women. He is well skilled in the art of tying the Gele. His name is Segun Gele. One day, on location at one Nigerian Wedding, an opportunity presented itself, and he sprung into action, tying the Geles of many invited guests for a price. Now, he makes a living doing this at Nigerian gatherings and special occasions here in the USA. (See him at work in the video).

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Comfort Babatola - ©2012