Wedding

The 40+ Best Ibibio Traditional Wedding Attire

The Ibibio traditional wedding attire is a very significant part of the Ibibio society. On the day of the traditional marriage,the bride and groom appears in elaborate clothing designs.

For the Ibibio bride, you’re sure to find a blouse and Double George Wrapper or a well tailored lace gown, Headtie most commonly Gele or beaded hats), Bridal Fan, traditional Nigerian stilettos, and red & white coral beads. The Groom and his Squad would wear the traditional Ibibio wrapper for men in mint green color and gold patterns.

The entire wedding ceremony of the Ibibios are usually fun and eventful. We pictured some of the top Ibibio traditional outfits that you can recreate to add glam and glitz to your attire for any weddings.

Who Are The Ibibios

The Ibibios are considered the oldest ethnic group in Nigeria primarily located in the South-Eastern region. Despite being the oldest ethnic group in Nigeria, they are not well known when compared to other tribes like Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. Inspite of this, they still maintain the marital rituals and traditions of their ancestral origin. This you can see in their culture, festivities, native wears, and originality of language.

With their rich cultural heritage, the Ibibio people portray elegance and beauty of their women through the mode of dressing and native attires. The stylistic features of their outfits gets even spicier on special occasions like traditional marriages or introduction.

A lot of similarities have been noted between the traditional Ibibio attire and Igbo Traditional outfits. This is because the both tribes are closely located in South East Nigeria and some school of thoughts explain that the both tribes have common ancestral origins.

Nonetheless, several pieces still mark each tribe from the other to give a perfect stunning look. One of these include: The Ibibio men wear Usobo while Igbo men wear Isiagu.

What Is The Name Of Ibibio Traditional Attire?

The traditional attire for ibibio people is known as Usobo. This wrapper is worn by the males at weddings and other special occasions. The Ibibio traditional wedding attire for the couple are somewhat alike, in the sense that the Usobo is similar to the wrapper worn by Ibibio females during the wedding ceremony. This Usobo is also worn by Efik and Oron nations, which are neighbouring communities to the Ibibio people.

Traditional Ibibio Attire for Men

The Ibibio traditional attire for men includes a traditional wrapper known as Usobo, as we have already noted, a Chieftaincy shirt, and complementary accessories.

The chieftaincy shirt worn by Ibibio men is made from simple textile materials. It usually has a long sleeves. The length of the shirt reaches down to the middle of the hips and ends with notches on both sides.

This shirt is not just restricted to the Ibibio man as it is worn by many tribes in Nigeria. If the Ibibio chieftaincy shirt would have shortened sleeves then it would at least reach up to the elbows. Appropriate accessories for the Ibibio groom are hats or traditional caps, canes, and beaded accessories such as necklaces and bangles

Ibibio Traditional Attire For Female

The female version of the Usobo is more like a round skirt adorned with traditional ornaments and accessories. Ibibio dressing for women are very much original to the tribe. To dress an elegant and beautiful bride into the perfect final look, you need long sleeve or short sleeved blouse, double wrapper, and accessories to finish the look. If the lady in question doesn’t want to tie wrappers then she can go for a short skirt. Also when up and down styles are not to your taste as a lady, you can never go wrong with a well fitted gown.