Something to love about Africa is all of the amazing colors and prints of the fabrics. There are so many and each one is beautiful. Another thing to love is the definition of what matches and what doesn't. It's not uncommon to see someone wearing a skirt that is printed with flowers and a top that is the the same color but striped. That wouldn't match in the U.S. But, somehow here it does and somehow it always looks ok or even like it belongs together.
Another interesting fact about matching is what colors are considered to go together. People can put on any color combination and somehow it always seems to go together.
The longer I live here the more I find myself not sticking to the American color schemes or patterns of matching. For example, today I have on a patchwork skirt that has navy blue, orange, cream, maroon and small flecks of a yellowish gold and light purple. The shirt I am wearing is the same light purple. When I first look at it with my American eyes, it doesn't seem to match. There is hardly any purple in the skirt. I normally would have chosen to wear a navy shirt. Today, the navy shirt is not washed so I grabbed the purple one and put it on. My headband is bright orange. At home I would look at myself in the mirror and determine that I look a hot mess. But, since I am in Uganda, I match and several people have even told me how "smart" (nice) I look today.
So, my conclusion is that although people here are very fashion conscious, it's in a different way that it is in the states. I like it and appreciate it. For those of you who know me well, you know I go more for comfort and considering what I have on today is very comfortable, I'm grateful that it also is appearing very "smart."
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