Garifuna Clothing
Most Garifuna wear modern Western-style clothing. Even among the older women, very few still wear the traditional costumes trimmed with shells. But they do wear brightly colored full skirts and kerchiefs, making them look very different from younger women, who wear jeans, tee-shirts, and tight skirts, much like young women everywhere.
The men also wear jeans, and the traditional straw hats have been replaced by baseball caps. Young people’s clothing has been influenced by the places where their parents have settled.In the towns one can see some young people in the latest fashions from New York, paid for with money sent by relatives living abroad. Garinagu can boast of a precious wardrobe of clothes: ten different wears to suit different occasions. First is the Arabutu, which is the gown used by women as common working clothes. The men on the other hand, would wear a khaki shirt, long or short sleeve and long pants. However, today men wear jeans pants and other common fabric materials for shirts.
Then there’s the Baramuda or daily wear usually worn at home after the day’s hard work.The Douguo is used for normal dressing. This can either be a skirt and a blouse or a regular one- piece dress, floral or plain. Men’s formals wear is black or dark colored pants and a white shirt, Guayabera or dashiki style. At pregnancy, the women wear a loose fitting gown, sometimes a skirt and blouse nicely sewn with pleats on the skirt or on both garments. For weddings, the woman wears a white dress with her bridesmaid holding the end or tail of her long dress. On the other hand, the man wears dark-colored pants and a white long sleeve shirt, a necktie and black shoes.
After the death of a loved one, the men and women are expected to mourn for an entire year depending on how close their relationship with the deceased was. For mourning purposes, women and men wear what is referred to as Second Mourning; full black and white. More distant relatives wear polka dots or some floral material. There is also the head tie and the head and neck wrap known as Gafamelu, which is worn during the colder weather by both children and adults. There’s also the manda or shawl, worn by elderly women while at church or for similar occasions.Lastly, at the Dugu Ritual, the deceased ancestor, Gubida, will reveal in dreams to children or grandchildren, the color and style of clothing to be worn throughout the ceremony. Usually both men and women use Manta Cantel Dacron or cotton- checkered big or small of various colors.
Afunahoutinya are the special chosen ones to be dressed in red and stay in the ancestor’s immediate vicinity in the Temple. These have to abide by the rules given by the Buyae (spirit helper) leader in the Dugu ceremony,
