Gele – The pronunciation sounds like ‘gay-lay’

In Nigeria, particularly from the yoruba tribe, gele (aside from other accesories) is an integral part of a woman’s outfit. For big events (which is usually the case) like weddings, christening, inaugurations and funeral – a woman’s appearance is deemed incomplete without one.

On a typical traditional wedding day, the bride’s family could be distinguished from the groom’s family by the different colours of gele they wear – it often depends on the couples’ colour theme. The men usually adorn a cap (Fila) which is made from a strip cut from a gele.

Gele adds colour to any event and gives the country its exotic and rich culture. It often commands a lot of attention and admiration.

However, like every other art, its success depends on creativity and mastery. If tied properly can be a show stopper but if done wrongly, can be a real disaster. And not a lot of people have got the skills. The people who possess this skill have turned it into a moneymaking business, thereby making the whole preparation for an event very arduous.

This video (I am afraid, not the best quality) had been attached to help those who wish to learn to tie it themselves.

Slide shows of different styles of gele can be viewed on the following related websites:

http://www.segungele.com/

More photos can be found here http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=gele&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=B5plSp6lCtHRjAfNtJ2YAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4.