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The gele is a traditional head tie and headgear native to the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. [1] The gele comes in specific shapes and designs. It is worn with other Yoruba women's outfits, like Iro ati buba, Komole, and Asoebi.
It is a tied or wrapped piece of clothing styled around Yoruba women’s heads and is used for fashion and special occasions. [2] It has also been acculturated by some other Nigerian and African ethnicities through popular culture. Geles may nowadays also be designed in ready-to-wear styles called Auto-Gele, invented by Funmi Olurinola, which can be purchased to avoid having to tie the gele each time it is worn.
Gele include many designs: some long and flared out, some layered, some fanned out, and some wrapped up and bunched. Gele are made from many types of fabrics, including Aso-oke, Adire, Aso-olona, Damask, Sego, Seghosen, and Jawu. [3] Other types of cloth head coverings in Yoruba culture that are not Gele include Ibori, which is head scarf, and Iborun, which is a shawl; these are all distinct from the gele.
