4 posts from May 2008

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Must haves

May 30, 2008
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I found this amazing site yesterday, www.shweshwe.co.za. Based in George on the Garden Route this online store sells only items made out of shwe shwe. They have ladies fashions, cool clothes for babies and kids and home accessories.

But the coolest things in their store, that I absolutely have to get myself a pair of, are the shwe shwe sandals they make.

They also have an interesting link to some of the Xhosa names for some of the popular patterns used and what they mean. Now I know that the fabric I recently purchased that made me think of spiragraphs, is a pattern called Abantu - which means people.

Maggie

May 29, 2008
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I recently started a new job that has me working in Soweto one or two days a week. The perfect place to see some of the most loved shwe shwe outfits, but as yet have not had the courage to stop my car in the middle of Soweto and address the ladies wearing these. At the intersection where I turn off the main road to get to the police station I am working with, there is even a road side trader with a small gazebo selling traditional clothing, including some great shwe shwe.

Here is the first person I have managed to chat to and photograph. Her name is Maggie and she has a lovely patchwork shwe shwe skirt on - similar to the one Elizabeth made at my house last year.

Maggie bought her skirt from a women in the community who specializes in shwe shwe. Her friend who was walking with her was more eager to give me all the answers to my questions before Maggie did.

The reason I was able to take this picture, was because we had organised an event for Child Protection Week and I was actually standing in the street near the police station with my camera out waiting to take photos of the street procession we had organised, when Maggie walked past.

Getting out of my car to speak to people is still a big barrier for me, so perhaps I need to spend some time out of my car in Soweto to get these pictures. A while ago Joan sent me an email telling me she had been on a tour of Soweto and that after stopping at Regina Mundi, the famous church in Soweto she saw many women wearing shwe shwe. I now pass the church on my way in every time, and should really stop there soon and actually go see the church and the historical areas around it

Joburg Fashion Kapitol

May 6, 2008
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I read this morning on the Joburg website that the Fashion Kapitol is almost complete.

This has been a long term project as part of the rejuvenation of the inner city, and I am very excited that it is near completion. I think I was last there two or three years ago when then the project was still getting the momentum it needed.

I was happy to read that Bongiwe Walaza has taken space there, as she has done some wonderful things with Shwe shwe, and will soon be making a trip down town to visit this new fashion hub.

In South Africa at the moment there is quite a bit of doom and gloom, but projects like this , that are so clearly invested in the future really brighten my day.

You can read up more about this exciting precinct here - Fashion Kapitol Almost Complete

Rhodes

May 4, 2008
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hearts_on_a_string.jpg

I have just come back from a wonderful weeks holiday in the little village of Rhodes in the Eastern Cape with some fabulous friends.

I saw quite a bit of shwe shwe wearing in the village, but only managed to get some photos of the ladies at a community enhancement felting and sewing project called 'The Red Barn'.

Two of the women sewing lovely woolen scarves outside the barn in the sun had red shwe shwe skirts on. The scarves were being constructed with such lovely local wool, I almost expected to see some of the sheep in in the fields in town at the end of their balls of wool.

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Outside of Rhodes is another sewing project that several women within the area contribute to. They had several quilts (that would be better suited to outdoor picnic blankets I think), one of them had many red shwe shwe inserts.