Rocking a Mushanana, Rwanda's Elegant Traditional Dress

I am usually intrigued by several things when I have the opportunity to travel. I recently visited Rwanda for the second time around, the famous Rwandan traditional outfit caught my attention. The traditional dress is known as the Mushanana. Rwanda is among the African countries that have retained their identity through music, dance and clothes like the Mushanana.

In my opinion, a traveler is interested in the way of life of a new place, the food they eat, their traditions, the way they talk and which street offers the best parties. Although I missed the partying bit in Rwanda, I did get to learn a lot and in the fashion aspect, I tried a mushana.

A mushana is a traditional dress worn by Rwandese women . It's consists of a skirt, a tank top and a sash that is draped over one shoulder. If you attend a Rwandan ceremony, say a wedding, you will definitely see the young and old women alike rocking the Mushanana and boy do they know how to rock it.

I really wanted to rock the Mushanana so I asked Joyce, a hostess at the Retreat Hotel to rent one for this Rwandan event I had planned to attend later on. She was kind enough to rent one for me at 4000 RWF (this is roughly 5 USD or 500 KES). If you plan to rent one, please have a local or a friend in Rwanda rent one for you. You can choose to purchase a mushanana as opposed to renting . A mushanana will cost you at least 100 USD.

Here are pictures of me attempting to rock the Mushanana without the accessories usually worn with it.

Also, do Kenyans have a traditional dress that I do not know of?

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