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Copyright: photo included on this website with the permission of the childrens' parents - please do not copy.
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Fashion and Modelling
For information on an Ethiopian Fashion Magazine go to this website... http://www.helmmagazine.com/
Liya Kebede is a world renowned Ethiopian born model. Read about her modelling and aid work at the following websites...
Traditional Ethiopian Clothing
Information from reference and reference and reference
Ethiopian women traditionally wear white dresses, while men wear white tunics over riding pants. The distinctive part of Amharic and Tigrayan dress is a large white cloth worn by both men and women over their shoulders.
This is usually worn on special occasions. Heavy cloth is worn for warmth; it is called a gabby. Light gauz - like cloth is worn for dress occasions; it is called a natella. The natella usually has a very colourful border on it, which is also found near the bottom hem of the women's dress.
Hair – Plaits and Beads
This article is by Lisa Dibb and is included on this website with the kind permission of the author.
The photos are included on this website with the permission of their parents. Please do not copy.
African hair is time-consuming and expensive to maintain but my girls and I have made it a positive. We work together to minimise the disadvantages and we love the time we spend together doing it. Hang in there and be patient you will find the solutions that suit your family. I hope this plaits and beads style will be useful.
Here is a photo of my Ethiopian daughters with their hair plaited and beaded. I do it the way they do it in Thailand by using alfoil (aluminium foil) to attach the beads. This is our favourite style because it looks great and takes a lot of pressure off the family.
How long does it last?
This style looks good for 5 or more weeks. It last this long because the beads distract the eye from the fluff (escaped hair). I have learnt to ignore the fluff as the praise from the general public flows right up until I remove this style. The girls love the positive feedback and I really want my girls to love their hair.
Before you start:
You will need “Pony Beads”. You can get them from craft stores and bead shops. If you can get some unusual beads holes the same size as pony beads (i.e. flowers), they look great.
Alfoil cut into piece of about 5.5 x 3 cm in size. Get the strongest you can get.
Comb for parting the hair. A comb with a tail is best.
If the child is young, you will also need a video/DVD to distract them.
Pick a day when you are relaxed and just try a few for fun to start.
Don’t expect to succeed on your first attempt. Be patient with yourself.
Instructions
1. Plait one thin plait sometimes called baby braids. It is better to be too thin than too thick as it is impossible if you make the plait too thick. Make the plait a little smaller than the hole in the pony bead. I plait their hair damp because both my girls are very sensitive to pain.
2. Place the foil along the end of the plait so that about 3.5cm has hair on it and about 2 cm isn’t. Fold the foil around the hair and then twist it. I get the comment that it is a lot like rolling a cigarette but please don’t smoke it! See the diagram.
3. Thread on three beads and push them a little way up the plait past the alfoil.
4. Fold the shaft of foil you have made, just above where the hair ends. The foil with the hair in it I call the shaft and the rest with just a little hair in it I call the tail. The tail will be about 2.5 cm long.
5. Make a little lump on the fold as this keeps the beads on.
6. Smooth the tail out along the shaft.
7. Push the beads back down to the lump.
8. Push any excess alfoil above the top bead into the hole of the top bead.
9. Don’t worry if this takes a lot of attempts as you will improve. Keep working on it as you will get better, they will stay in better and you will get faster.
Getting Faster
It used to take me about 5 hours but I’ve including the tips that now allow me to do it in about 4 hours:
The parting can be less than exact and still look good. I used to spend hours parting very neatly but now I don’t.
I start parting from the back of the head; making horizontal parts about 3cm wide. I then section vertically to make the correct amount of hair. The size of scalp varies as the hair density varies.
To check that I have the right amount of hair, I twist the section of hair to check how thick the plait will be before I start plaiting.
I cut lots of foil stripes so that I can get on a roll.
I have all the bead set out (about 40 sets of 3 for my girls) so that I can get on a roll. You may need less or more depending on how much hair your child has.
The time you take will be greatly influenced by how much hair your child has. Mine have fine hair but lots of it.
Breaking up the process into smaller steps
I now do all the plaits first which takes about 3 hours. That way if I run out of time or enthusiasm, the child can still go to school looking fine.
I start from the back so that I can put the rest up in a pompom at the top if I run out of time or enthusiasm and this means that the child can still go to school looking fine.
I do all the foiling and beading in one go and it takes about 1 hour.
The negatives of this style
At first you will find it time consuming
At first the beads will fall out until you perfect your technique. Now in 5 weeks, I will only have to fix about 5-6 by re-beading or re-foiling and re-beading.
The hair does dry out in this style and I don’t like to put too much pressure on the roots, I’m still trying different things but I would never put it straight back in. I usually give them a few days in Afro to give the roots and scalp a break. When it is in Afro, I just jush and condition it every day. Jushing is just sculpting it with your hands. I will then de-knot it and corn braid it om-polo (which is corn braid to the top of the head - 1 hour) or pom-poms depending on time. Read on for explanation of pom-poms.
When do I remove it?
Remove it before you see the base of the plait locking (knotting up). Once the base of the plait is locked it will be painful and time consuming to de-knot. To keep the hair in premium condition, it cut the end off each plait before I undo them. I cut at an angle so that the plait does have a blunt end.
How do I get it to last longer?
To make this style last longer, use hair wax to coat the plaits when you have finished or if you plait damp you can also put the wax in before plaiting. I use Alberto VO5 Texturising Gum which comes in a blue metallic tin. This is the first product I have used and I’m happy with it. I’m told that it also comes in a moisturising wax which sounds great. I’m not keen on coating the hair too much as it might effect condition. My girls also sleep in lycra swimming caps and we do find it helps the style to last longer.
To make the style last longer, moisturise it. I really love the Wella’s Hydro Mask which I use for everything – deknotting and putting on the plaits while they are in. It is expensive but very effective. Don’t buy the Wella Power Mask even if the hairdresser recommends it as it bad for African hair as it has protein. I condition it every second day if I can.
To keep it clean, wash and condition it when you feel it needs it. I only do it about every 2 weeks. The rest of the time we just wet it in the bath every few days. Use mild shampoo.
Tips
Don’t be afraid to get a little creative with how you part it to suit the head shape. For example, for one of my daughters I part on the side so that she has a little more height at the top.
I have layer-cut my girls’ hair to reduce the amount of plaiting and knots. It also gives the bead/plaits levels and gives their hair a nice shape when it is in Afro. Afro is really beautiful on my girls – tiny perfect curls if handled correctly. It took a lot of courage to layer it as I do all my own cutting. I layered based on there being no excess hair that wasn’t need for the styles we do.
We do the following styles: 1 pompom on top; micky mouse (2 high pompoms with a part down the middle); corn-braid to top of the head (ompollo); the above mentioned bead style and afro (freedom hair). This means that the back layers are long (longest at the base of the scalp is 25cm) and those near the face are shorter (shortest at the top of the head is about 9cm). I didn’t see the sense in them suffering the de-knotting of any excess hair. It has worked really well as I can keep this amount of hair in amazing condition and any longer than this doesn’t give my girls any benefit as the curls just look bushier but not longer.
I have found that keeping the hair in premium condition is the best solution for African hair so regular moisturising treatments and cutting is essential.
