#ethiopian fashion

[folkfashion]

Ethiopian Christians devotees, Ethiopia, by Africa Online Museum

[modestaesthetics]

[tryppi]

. ݁₊ ⊹ Aurora Choker ⊹ ݁˖ .

Made this gorgeous waterproof stainless steel choker featuring an iridescent Ethiopian Opal today 🌟 Etsy

[iamtheonlyexodus]

[jujubeanpop]

[ladelbarrio]

eden asia saban on her instagram

[ilromagnollo84]

Liya Kebede

Tom Ford SS 2011

[cooyahclothing]

The Jamaica Ethiopia Flag tee from the Cooyah Capsule Collection. Our vintage designs are screen printed on soft 100% ringspun cotton with a printed neck label for added comfort. Available worldwide at cooyah.com

[nohameen]

Moments in Cartagena, Colombia 🫶🏾

Shot by chollette.com

[dopefiends]

[kimludcom]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Afrikstory (@afrikstory)

[parallellines]

100 years of beauty — 1980's People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

In the eighties, the new genre of disco set extravagant rhythms which fired up the dancefloors of clubs all around the world. It drew inspiration from funk, soul, African beats and the then-burgeoning genre of psychedelia.

[modestaesthetics]

[writingwithcolor]

Naming International POC Characters: Do Your Research.

This post is part of a double feature for the same ask. First check out Mod Colette's answer to OP's original question at: A Careful Balance: Portraying a Black Character's Relationship with their Hair. Below are notes on character naming from Mod Rina.

~ ~ ~

@writingraccoon said:

My character is black in a dungeons and dragons-like fantasy world. His name is Kazuki Haile (pronounced hay-lee), and his mother is this world's equivalent of Japanese, which is where his first name is from, while his father is this world's equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. He looks much more like his father, and has hair type 4a. [...]

Hold on a sec.

Haile (pronounced hay-lee), [...] [H]is father is this world’s equivalent of Ethiopian, which is where his last name is from. 

OP, where did you get this name? Behindthename.com, perhaps?

Note how it says, “Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. Check marks indicate the level to which a name has been verified.” Do you see any check marks, OP? 

What language is this, by the way? If we only count official languages, Ethiopia has 5: Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali, & Tigrinya. If we count everything native to that region? Over 90 languages. And I haven't even mentioned the dormant/extinct ones. Do you know which language this name comes from? Have you determined Kazuki’s father’s ethnic group, religion, and language(s)? Do you know just how ethnically diverse Ethiopia is? 

~ ~ ~

To All Looking for Character Names on the Internet:

Skip the name aggregators and baby name lists. They often do not cite their sources, even if they’re pulling from credible ones, and often copy each other. 

If you still wish to use a name website, find a second source that isn’t a name website. 

Find at least one real life individual, living or dead, who has this given name or surname. Try Wikipedia’s lists of notable individuals under "List of [ethnicity] people." You can even try searching Facebook! Pay attention to when these people were born for chronological accuracy/believability. 

Make sure you know the language the name comes from, and the ethnicity/culture/religion it’s associated with. 

Make sure you understand the naming practices of that culture—how many names, where they come from, name order, and other conventions. 

Make sure you have the correct pronunciation of the name. Don’t always trust Wikipedia or American pronunciation guides on Youtube. Try to find a native speaker or language lesson source, or review the phonology & orthography and parse out the string one phoneme at a time. 

Suggestions for web sources:

Wikipedia! Look for: “List of [language] [masculine/feminine] given names,” “List of most common [language] family names,” “List of most common surnames in [continent],” and "List of [ethnicity] people."  

Census data! Harder to find due to language barriers & what governments make public, but these can really nail period accuracy. This may sound obvious, but look at the year of the character's birth, not the year your story takes place. 

Forums and Reddit. No really. Multicultural couples and expats will often ask around for what to name their children. There’s also r/namenerds, where so many folks have shared names in their language that they now have “International Name Threads.” These are all great first-hand sources for name connotations—what’s trendy vs. old-fashioned, preppy vs. nerdy, or classic vs. overused vs. obscure. 

~ ~ ~

Luckily for OP, I got very curious and did some research. More on Ethiopian & Eritrean naming, plus mixed/intercultural naming and my recommendations for this character, under the cut. It's really interesting, I promise!

Ethiopian and Eritrean Naming Practices

Haile (IPA: /həjlə/ roughly “hy-luh.” Both a & e are /ə/, a central “uh” sound) is a phrase meaning “power of” in Ge’ez, sometimes known as Classical Ethiopic, which is an extinct/dormant Semitic language that is now used as a liturgical language in Ethiopian churches (think of how Latin & Sanskrit are used today). So it's a religious name, and was likely popularized by the regnal name of the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie (“Power of the Trinity”). Ironically, for these reasons it is about as nationalistically “Ethiopian” as a name can get.

Haile is one of the most common “surnames” ever in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Why was that in quotes? Because Ethiopians and Eritreans don’t have surnames. Historically, when they needed to distinguish themselves from others with the same given name, they affixed their father’s given name, and then sometimes their grandfather’s. In modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, their given name is followed by a parent’s (usually father’s) name. First-generation diaspora abroad may solidify this name into a legal “surname” which is then consistently passed down to subsequent generations.

Intercultural Marriages and Naming

This means that Kazuki’s parents will have to figure out if there will be a “surname” going forward, and who it applies to. Your easiest and most likely option is that Kazuki’s dad would have chosen to make his second name (Kazuki’s grandpa’s name) the legal “surname.” The mom would have taken this name upon marriage, and Kazuki would inherit it also. Either moving abroad or the circumstances of the intercultural marriage would have motivated this. Thus “Haile” would be grandpa’s name, and Kazuki wouldn’t be taking his “surname” from his dad. This prevents the mom & Kazuki from having different “surnames.” But you will have to understand and explain where the names came from and the decisions dad made to get there. Otherwise, this will ring culturally hollow and indicate a lack of research.

Typically intercultural parents try to

come up with a first name that is pronounceable in both languages,

go with a name that is the dominant language of where they live, or

compromise and pick one parent’s language, depending on the circumstances.

Option 1 and possibly 3 requires figuring out which language is the father’s first language. Unfortunately, because of the aforementioned national ubiquity of Haile, you will have to start from scratch here and figure out his ethnic group, religion (most are Ethiopian Orthodox and some Sunni Muslim), and language(s). 

But then again, writing these characters knowledgeably and respectfully also requires figuring out that information anyway.

~ ~ ~

Names and naming practices are so, so diverse. Do research into the culture and language before picking a name, and never go with only one source.

~ Mod Rina

[jujubeanpop]

[readyforevolution]

𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗦

In the 1930s, dreadlocks were a fashionable hairstyle among Rastafarians. The Rastafarian movement, which originated in Jamaica, is based on a blend of Christian and African spiritual ideas. Rastafarians believe that their hair represents the power and energy of their African ancestors, and they wear dreadlocks to reflect this belief. Dreadlocks are religious, but they have also become a sign of defiance and counterculture.

In the 1960s and 1970s, hippies and other groups who didn't like mainstream culture liked to wear dreadlocks. People have used locs for a variety of reasons throughout history. The Maasai warriors of Africa, for example, are renowned for wearing long, thin red dreadlocks dyed with red root extracts or red ochre. However, in Nigeria, infants who are born with naturally locked hair are referred to as "Dada" by the Yoruba.

The Rastafari movement thinks that dreadlocks are a sign of the Lion of Judah, which sometimes shows up on the Ethiopian flag. Rastafari supporters believe that Haile Selassie is a direct descendant of King Solomon and Queen Sheba through their son Menelik I and that the Nazarites recorded in the Bible inspired them to wear dreadlocks.

People of all races and ethnicities now sport dreadlocks as a fashionable hairstyle in many parts of the world. While they have religious and cultural value for some, many individuals just wear them as a fashion statement. Despite their rising popularity, dreadlocks have caused controversy and prejudice.

They have been outlawed in several businesses and schools, and some people have encountered prejudice due to their haircut. In the end, the history of dreadlocks is long and varied. They have deep roots in ancient cultures and are still important to culture today.