Urhobo traditional attire designs that are gaining popularity in 2024

The Urhobo people occupy a significant part of Delta State in southern Nigeria. Most are deeply rooted in the traditions their ancestors passed down to them. Some of the most fascinating things about the Urhobo culture are the attires they wear to special occasions, specifically weddings. This article shares pictures of the latest Urhobo traditional attire designs to help you understand how classy these people are.

Culture is an important part of the Urhobo ethnic group. Some are Christians, while others are Muslims and traditionalists, but to most of them, culture takes more precedence than religion. As a result, religious and civil weddings are not a priority for most Urhobo couples. Most do traditional ceremonies followed by religious weddings or completely scarp of religious and civil weddings from their plans.

Latest Delta Urhobo traditional attires

The traditional title for the Urhobo kingdom/clan's king is Ovie, while his queen is called Ovieya. The king and queen preside over cultural events involving the entire clan. Meanwhile, community elders and male family members oversee family-related ceremonies like weddings and funerals. Below are some of the latest Urhobo traditional marriage attires for women and men.

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Urhobo traditional attire for a female

Urbobo people wear beautiful traditional outfits during annual community festivals and spontaneous family-related occasions. On top of that, men participate in swimming and fishing competitions, while women engage in dancing contests. Most of their native attires allow them to participate in these contests freely.

Traditional Urhobo men and women value decency. They wear clothes that cover the whole body. Men prefer long shirts and pants, while women wear long skirts or dresses. When choosing Urhobo traditional wedding attires, ensure the colors on the woman's outfit match those her husband will wear that day.

The modern generation incorporates sleeveless, backless, one-hand, off-shoulder, and other Western fashion styles into Urhobo traditional wedding attires. Some add trails on the one side of the dress or at the back, and others drape veils over their traditional headwear.

An Urhobo traditional outfit is only complete with accessories. Thus, you will find women adorning themselves with headwear, beaded crowns, necklaces, wristbands, waistbands, earrings, and ankle bands.

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Urhobo women also complement their wedding outfits with heels, animal tails, feathers fans, and purses. An animal's tail and feathers fans signify strength and good fortune.

There is no particular way an Urhobo woman should wear her beads. Most women from this culture love beads even though their culture doesn't make it compulsory to wear the jewelry. A bride can have beads on her all over her body or not wear them.

Urhobo brides look great in African hairstyles. In most cases, they adorn their hair with red and orange beads. Their beaded necklaces are usually long enough to reach the bust.

Delta Urhobo traditional attire for a male

Since the culture of the Urhobo kingdom/clan revolves around water and nature, these people wear contrasting colors from nature. Urhobo traditional attires have vibrant colors, each with a special meaning. The primary colors of Urhobo traditional attires are green, gold, and blue.

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Green Urhobo traditional dresses and men's attires are associated with life. Since nature sustains all living things on Earth, all the colors they wear are from nature. Blue symbolizes the sky and the blue reflection in the water when the sky is blue.

Most Urhobo couples love having yellow, brown and gold-themed traditional weddings because the community believes these colors represent richness. To them, wearing them to any event is a sign of class and wealth.

Since white symbolizes purity and peace in the African culture, Urhobo couples use this color as the theme for their weddings to represent the purity of marriage. Delta Urhobo traditional marriage attires for men are worn in two ways: a shirt with a waist wrapper or pants.

Men accessorize their outfits with traditional hats, animal tails, feather fans, flat shoes, and matching walking sticks. The groom's walking stick is a sign of leadership, power, and authority as the head of the family.

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The groom's men and community leaders can bring their walking sticks and traditional fans to any occasion. On top of that, the groom's men and bride's maids wear colors that blend with the couple.

Urhobo traditional attire for kids

Urhobo people have gender-specific attires, meaning girls can wear all dress styles adult women wear and boys wear designs adult men wear. Consequently, a mother and daughter and a father and son can wear matching gender-specific clothing styles.

You can modify any latest Urhobo traditional marriage attire for an adult to match the child's age. For instance, a female Urhobo with an off-shoulder design might be too much for a toddler. So, you can add sleeves to your daughter's dress to fit her age.

What is Urhobo traditional attire called?

The woman's blouse is called ewu, and the headgear is called onerho or uriofo. On the other hand, the man wears a waist wrapper, a shirt, and a hat called eru. Alternatively, the man can wear a traditional agbada or dashiki.

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What state is the Urhobo in?

They are a major ethnic group in Delta State in southern Nigeria.

What language do the Urhobo speak?

The people speak the Urhobo language. Their language belongs to the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family.

Is Urhobo part of Igbo?

This autonomous ethnic group is often mistaken to be a sub-group of the Igbos. Urhobos are not part of the Igbo community.

What are the traditions of the Urhobo people?

Urhobo people practice four types of marriages: Esavwijotor, Ose, arranged marriage-in-absentia, and modern marriage. One can still do a traditional, religious, or civil wedding, regardless of their marriage type. These marriages are explained below:

• Esavwijotor is a marriage arranged by the parents of the man and woman. It does not matter if the couple-to-be knows or doesn't know each other. The parents agree on dowry payments and other matters about the marriage and introduce the couple-to-be later.
• In an Ose marriage, the man who offers the best dowry marries the girl. This is common in arranged marriages, and it is mostly the wish of the parents to get a wealthy spouse for their daughter.
• An arranged marriage-in-absentia means someone (sibling, cousin, or friend) stands in for the bride or groom during the wedding ceremony. The bride or groom might be sick, out of the country, or have other valid reasons for not being able to attend their wedding.
• Parents and family do not influence a modern Urhobo marriage. The man and woman meet independently and decide everything about the wedding.

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What are the taboos in Urhobo land?

Most marital taboos in Urhobo land are directed at women. For instance, an Urhobo wife must dress decently to prevent other men from coveting her. She cannot hold hands with another man, let alone allow him to touch or hug her.

Urhobo traditional attires come in many designs and colors, especially for women. Some clothing designs are only for weddings. If you need these attires for other purposes, buy versatile designs that you can wear to other functions, including formal events.

Legit.ng also shared images of popular Igala traditional attires. The Igala community is a Yoruboid branch of the Defoid and the majority ethnic group in southern and eastern Kogi State.

They influence Kogi State's politics because they outnumber other tribes residing in that state. The people of Igala Kingdom are predominantly Muslims and have unique dressing styles. The article shares pictures of some of their latest clothing designs.

Source: Legit.ng