By Rita Okoye

Have you ever taken a step back to look at where you are presently and where you once were, and then you realize that you have indeed come a long way?

The world is in that position.
Taking a look back at the past, you will discover that the soil you stand on today holds so much history and has gone through different phases to come to what it is today. The earth has seen many deaths, wars, new inventions, and new developments; this carries the mark of the world’s history. One of the beautiful things that comes from these drastic changes is interracial marriages.
It is no longer a hidden fact that for a long time in the history of the world, there was an issue of racism. This issue led to many deaths, racial discrimination, and segregation. No one knows why the world is a colourful place filled with people of different skin complexions, however, for a while, there was a tug of war to decide which race was superior, and this was majorly between the ‘whites’ and the ‘blacks.
Some scientists have attributed different skin colours to location; some attributed it to heritage, while others attributed it to melanin. In essence, it’s a phenomenon beyond human control. However, this caused a lot of issues in the past when it came to marriages.
As they say, you find love where you don’t expect it. Young men and women in the past fell in love with people of different colours but were not allowed to marry them. This led to suicides and forced marriages.

However, in the year 1614 the first-ever biracial marriage occurred between Pocahontas, the daughter of the Powhatan chief, and a white English settler called John Rolfe. Although some versions of the story say it happened way earlier in the 1600s. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting story that eventually got portrayed in a popular Walt Disney animation film called ‘Pocahontas”.

Another milestone was achieved with the second interracial marriage that happened 200 years later when a white slave trader known as Zephaniah Kingsley married an enslaved girl called Anna. Despite these happenings, interracial marriages still took close to two centuries before becoming acceptable.

Today we have Ghanaian-Japanese, Korean-Nigerian, Cameroonian-Canadian marriages, etc. Despite these, biracial couples still struggle during their wedding preparations when it comes to choosing culturally appropriate clothes.

African brides who are confused about what to wear to give that cultural front they desire to their foreign in-laws; this article is for you. You will be a part of stories talked about in the history of biracial marriages, so you have to do it right. And to do it right, you have to choose Fabric Etcetera: The Bridal Affair.

When it comes to promoting African culture, Fabric Etcetera takes the front-roll seat in ensuring it celebrates the art of fashion through high-quality hand-woven fabrics.
Olamide Afsat Adams, the founder and Creative Director of Fabric Etcetera , brilliantly created an eccentric bridal collection to satisfy the needs of that African bride and in-laws. This collection encompasses elegant and flamboyant outfits that will keep your foreign guests and ‘oyibo’ husband glued to you.

This beautiful look was created with the alluring combination of a hand-woven fabric (Aso Oke) and a handwoven Ghanaian Kente fabric, made into a bridal dress.

This outfit is an ankle-length dress with the upper bodice created with a two-toned Aso Oke fabric heavily beaded with spiral off shoulder exaggerated sleeves and a beaded crisscross rope strap, while the bottom part focused on the beautiful Ghanaian print, which had the Aso Oke colour infused into it.
The designer’s inspiration for this look was derived from an iconic representation of an occurrence in Nigerian history popularly known as the “Ghana must go” saga. At that time in history, Ghanaians were forced to exist Nigerian because of their rising populations. Using that history as a pilot, Olamide created this eccentric design to represent the mixture of this indigenous heritage. She attributed the dress to representing strength, bond, and togetherness that both nations formed way before their separations.

This look was made for brides who cherish and identify with both cultures and appreciate the spirit of togetherness.

Dress Mariam
This dress features a heavily beaded bodice at the top with a structured cape shoulders and a see-through Chantilly long sleeve. The bottom part is made with floral pattern beading details to enhance that feminine look. The originality of the look gives you that stand out feature that most brides aim to achieve. This beaded Aso Oke dress was specially made for brides who love glitz and glamour well interwoven with culture.

The Dress Mariam can also be paired up with cultural beads and classy heels to accelerate the overall look of the outfit. Overall, the attire is an inspiration for brides who appreciate modern aesthetics with a dash of traditional originality.

Dress Rose
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine your beautifully decorated wedding reception background. Then envision yourself as the beautiful bride making an entrance in this elegant dress.
How do you feel? Elated? Fulfilled?
That’s what you get with the Dress Rose by Olamide. This dress is the exact model of classy, sassy and stunning. It’s an unconventional red Aso Oke dress; a contemporary dress for brides who like to be extra and love to think outside the box.
This Aso Oke dress features many modern aesthetics that make one forget that they were ever crafted from a hand-woven fabric.

The skin tone high-neck mesh is embellished with hand beadings and luxury crystal, followed by the beaded extending sleeves and long side shoulder bead droplets. While the bottom part of the dress has a wrapped open thigh-high slit at the front with a flowing back. This feature was added to aid movement and command elegance. 

All of these beautiful elements make the entire outfit a highly sorted after-wedding party dress, suitable for receptions and engagement parties.

Dress Fola
The name of this dress can be traced back to the Yoruba heritage. ‘Fola’ represents ‘Glory and prestige’. It can also be identified with someone who is deemed honorable.
Dress Fola is made for simple and classy brides – brides who don’t want to ‘do too much’ but still stand out.
This chic design is made out of Aso Oke fabric in two shades of blue: sky-blue and royal blue.
Dress Fola is an ankle-length dress that features a mono-strapped portable crafted structured sleeve, with simple hand-beaded details running from the single sleeve to a section of the upper bodice. The royal blue fabric was intentionally added to accentuate your feminine features by a little addition of the fabric to the waistline and the hip.
This look is suitable for the family introductory phase, a second outfit change for a traditional wedding event or even as a premium party guest.

Dress Moremi
Are you ready to get your groove on?
Bride Moremi is the bride who loves to party. She is the life of the party; she is bold and elegant.
Dress Moremi is a peach/ nude laser-cut faux wrap dress. It was made to retain the traditional Aso Oke style of the Yoruba culture. This was done alongside some infusion of modern touches.
This dress is an ankle-length dress with an open V-neckline coupled with long sleeves. It is designed with laser cuts around the front of the upper bodice of the cloth extended to the shoulder line, side, lower part of the sleeve, and at the lower bottom part of the dress. This dress also features a beaded design along the laser cut patterns on the shoulder, burst line, sleeves, and bottom part of the skirt.

This style was inspired by the Yoruba traditional attire, “Iro and Buba” (A top and wrapper). However, this was made into a wrapped dress, giving off the vibe of Iro buba, for brides who love the Owambe style – the Nigerian signature look for ready-to-party.
Dear beautiful African brides, stay chic, stay classy, and unleash your style with Fabric Etcetera Ng’s Bridal Affair – the collection that makes a happy bride.