Boubou (clothing)

This article is about the grand boubou and its variations. For the Senegalese variant, see Senegalese kaftan.

Niger President Mamadou Tandja wearing a grand boubou

The boubou or grand boubou from Wolof mboubou is a flowing, wide-sleeved robe worn across West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa. ^[1]

The garment and its variations are known by various names in different ethnic groups and languages. It is called kulwu in Kanuri, babban riga in Hausa, boubou, mbubb, mboubou in Wolof, grand boubou in various French-speaking West African countries. It has some influence on the Yoruba agbada, but with the later being its own distinct garment.

The Senegalese boubou, also called grand boubou in French described below, is also known as the Senegalese kaftan.

History

Its origin lies with the clothing style of the Wolof, Mande, Songhai-Zarma, Hausa, Kanuri, Toubou, and other trans-Saharan and Sahelian trading groups who used the robe as protection from elements (the harsh sun of the day and sub-freezing temperatures at night) while traversing the Sahara. The babban-riga/boubou or kulwu was often paired with a large turban that covered the entire face, save for the eyes, known as alasho in Hausa, tagelmust in Tuareg, or litham in Arabic. The nobility of 12th and 13th-century Mali, the 14th century Hausa Bakwai and Songhai Empires, then adopted this garment as a status symbol, as opposed to the traditional sleeveless or short-sleeved smocks (nowadays known as dashiki or Ghanaian smocks) worn by ordinary people/non-royals, or the Senegalese kaftan, a variant of the Arab thawb . Its use became widespread among West African Muslims with the migration of Kanuri, Hausa, Fulani and Dyula long-distance traders and Kanuri Islamic preachers in and around Muslim regions of West Africa in the 1400s. It spread even more rapidly in less-Islamized areas after the Fulani Jihads of the 19th century and French and British colonization. ^[2]

Use

Boubou is usually decorated with intricate embroidery, and is worn on religious or ceremonial occasions, such as the two Eid festivals, weddings, funerals or for attending Friday prayer. It has become the formal attire of many countries in West Africa. Older robes became family heirlooms passed from father to son and are worn as status symbols.

Garment

Boubou as a full formal attire consists of three pieces of clothing: a pair of tie-up trousers that narrow towards the ankles known as a ṣòkòtò (pronounced "shokoto" in Yoruba), a long-sleeved shirt and a wide, open-stitched sleeveless gown worn over these. The three pieces are generally of the same colour. The pieces are made from cotton and richly embroidered in traditional patterns. The Yoruba agbada is different and distinct from the babaringa and grand boubou. ^[3] The agbada is produced in various styles including with aso oke, lace, silk, etc. ^[4]

Method of wearing

The etiquette for wearing the grand boubou, primarily to keep the over-gown above the ankles, in keeping with Islamic traditions of avoiding impurity (see Najis ). This can include folding the sleeves over the shoulders, normally done while walking or before sitting down, to ensure the gown does not rub against the ground, or by folding/wrapping each side over the other with the hand, narrowing the gown's space toward the ankles (as done by Tuareg people). Thus, it is rare to see the grand boubou's square-shaped gown completely unwrapped.

Popularity

The boubou was historically the attire of various Islamised Sahelian and Saharan peoples of West Africa, Especially among Kanuri people, but through increased trade and the spread of Islam throughout the region, it gained use among peoples in the savanna and forested regions of West Africa. Through this, the boubou was worn by chiefs of the Songhai of Niger and Mali, Kanuri, Hausa, Dagomba of Ghana, the Mandinka of the Gambia, the Susu of Guinea and the Temnes of Sierra Leone.

Boubou is viewed as fashionable attire among people in West Africa, the African diaspora, and very recently, even among Bantu people in East, Southern, and Central Africa. ^[5]

Gender differences

Although usually a form of men's clothing, women's traditional clothing in much of Sahelian West Africa is of similar construction, though usually worn differently. In some places these are called the m'boubou. In other regions of West Africa, the female formal clothing has been a boubou variant, called a kaftan, and in other places it is the wrapper and headscarf.

See also

• Agbada
• Aso Oke hat

References

1. Mchunu, Khaya (2023). "The Boubou and Post-Colonial African Musical Performances: Ami Koïta, Bi Kidude, and Sibongile Khumalo". Fashion Theory. 27.3: 411–441.
2. Kennett, Frances; MacDonald-Haig, Caroline (September 1995). Ethnic Dress. Facts On File Inc., New York. ISBN   9780816031368.
3. Shelton, Austin J. (1975). "Clothes philosophy and African literature: a mirror for typologists". Transition. 47: 12–16.
4. Blauer, Ettagale (29 October 1999). African elegance. Rizzoli International Publications Inc. ISBN   9780847822249.
5. Loughran, Kristyne. "Le Boubou--C'est Chic: Les boubous du Mali et d'autres pays de l'Afrique de l'Ouest." African Arts, vol. 35, no. 2, summer 2002, pp. 7+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A94010397/AONE?u=anon~5e080185&sid=googleScholar&xid=f475bbd6. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.