Out of Africa: THE FASHIONISTAS

KaNyamane Ladies Sewing Club Fashion Show

(I might add it was an event)

Elder Hunt and I were invited to the KaNyamazane ladies sewing club's fashion show. Sister Nobela and her son Bhekisisa have been sewing for the past 5 months with these ladies and at the end of the term there was a fashion show. It was scheduled to go from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. We also had Seminary that day so I decided we would go 30 or so minutes late and leave early. When we got there they had been waiting for so they could start-----duh we were the honored guests.
The Fashion Show begins:

LOCATION

One of the ladies in the sewing club had the event in her front yard. Many yards do not have grass other than the natural grass that comes up during the summer months. In her yard was a pile of junk with long metal things that could have cut off your leg if you rubbed against it. So, it was kinda like a war zone with land mines. They had put up canopies to protect the guests from the sun (bless their little hearts--the sun here is blazing). They had invited their neighbors and others from around the area. They had draped the front of the house in white draperies. They had a nice table with flowers where the MC of the fashion show sat.

It was a pretty festive look!

The Canopies were helpful. In this picture

there is a white man and lady. RARELY have we seen other whites in the township. Mostly just us. But, The lady owns a sewing franchise of some sort from the states and she teaches sewing to some ladies and they go back into their townships and hold these sewing classes. They are not free by any means. Any little cost is pricey to the folks that live here. She was going to be the narrator and he was braaiing for us. At the fashion show they served wors (huge hot dogs), some bread, and juice. I am use to little sandwiches, and cakes at fashion show, so that was a change. But, it was okay.

All of the friends really like the braii. Elder Hunt is in the back of these two pictures of the guests. It was funny because a couple of drunks wandering down the street walked in and sat by him. They loved the braii and the models.

These folks were a great audience. They hooted and hollered and did the tongue click thing. It was fun.

THE ENTERTAINMENT

Throughout the show they had these little dancers. They did traditional dances. They had on little Zulu skirts. The leg kicking is a common thing in this dancing. They will kick so high that they fall over backwards and that is part of the dance. By this time I started too see why the fashion show would last so long.

THE MODELS

The night before the fashion show I was talking to Sister Nobela. She was all worked up because the lady had told them they had to do this pose or that pose. She was terrified and said she did not think she could do it. But, I knew better because these Africans love to pose for their picture. I was right, they were fashionistas and they had it down pat.

Now, it is important to remember that this was a beginning class these ladies had not touched a sewing machine before the class started. They started by sewing some shoulder bags, of which I am the proud recipient of one given to me as a gift by Sister Nobela I was pretty amazed at what they had made. The pictures show them modeling their own clothes that they made.

Bhekisisa Made two pair of pants and two

T-Shirts. This kid is so off the wall and people like him. He is known all over the township. But, he is a bit ADD and it is a hard to believe he was focused enough to do this. But, the sewing ladies loved him. He kept them smiling.

Sister Nobela made her self these jammies, some sports wear, a couple of dresses and some tops. And, her poses were just great. It was fun to see how excited all these ladies were.

The dress to the right is the one she made for her cleansing. I was impressed. In a prior post I talked about the cleansing and there is another picture of this dress in that post. At the time I did not know she had made it. I was impressed.

The models below all made the clothes they are wearing. Some were hesitant, but a few really thought they were models. The was fun. And the audience, what can I say, they whooped it up for their friends.