Z to A countdown: Z for Zulu Maiden Skirt

My Z to A COUNTDOWN

I came across this idea on the thelittleleaf blog and I really thought it was a great way of challenging one’s creativity. The fellow blogger has been kind enough to let me use the idea, and as she said, I too am curious to see how it will turn out:-). Another one of my favourite A to Z project can be found here Twoloves. Twoloves is running the A to Z concept on food. Her posts are really amazing!

I was going to count down from A to Z but I found it somewhat easy to come up with ideas from this side of the alphabet. So I have decided to start from the end of the alphabet counting down from Z to A. I was a bit reluctant but I’m going to give it a shot and I’m excited to see what I come up with.

Z for ZULU MAIDEN SKIRT


I am from what we call the Rainbow nation of South Africa. While Z is not such an obvious alphabet to associate with, the first thing that came to my mind was Z for Zulu. The Zulu nation is the largest ethnic group in South Africa (about 11m of an estimated 50m total population).Clothing in the various South African cultures distinguishes the young (and unmarried) from the old (and married). In the Zulu culture young maidens would traditionally wear such a skirt as this (which I believe was made with cowhide back in the days), adorned with beautiful beads. In the modern day beautifully adorned traditional wear like this would often be worn to celebratory events like weddings.

The skirt is beautifully pleated and would generally have different bead patterns.

This picture was actually taken two or so years back. I was at a flea market shopping for my own Zulu skirt. The seller decided to adorn me with all other things usually worn with the skirt…beads and more beautiful beads.