Aso ebi
Matching cloth worn by family and friends at a Nigerian celebration.
Also: asoebi
Aso ebi, meaning cloth of the family in Yoruba, is the custom of a host family choosing a fabric and colour for guests to wear at a wedding, funeral, naming or birthday, so that the crowd appears as one. Guests buy the cloth and have it sewn into a style of their choice, the men in caps and agbada, the women in a gele headtie and iro and buba. It is a mark of closeness to the family and of joy shared. Friends form groups with their own matching outfits. Some wedding photographs show hundreds of guests in one pattern, and designers in Lagos make a business from the demand.
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa