Somali culture

[Yaquub]

I feel like somalis are loosing their culture slowly. I mean we don't name our children with somali names, we rarely dress up in white traditional attire like our ancestors did on special occasions. Which in my opinion looked extremely classy and culturally superior to regular clothing. Why did we stop wearing white? at the very best we should wear them on national holidays like eid or on special occasions.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

It’s 2019 sxb.

My son getting named abdi curry

And he finna be wearing bape, supreme and many other designer brands.

You can keep your lame ass clothing. Your son gonna get roasted when he pull up to school wearing those robes.

 

[Crow]

Our politicians should wear Somali cultural clothes like the Saudis do in their country.

Instead they dress like this.

This is how our leaders dressed in the old days.

 

[Qabille]

I feel like somalis are loosing their culture slowly. I mean we don't name our children with somali names, we rarely dress up in white traditional attire like our ancestors did on special occasions. Which in my opinion looked extremely classy and culturally superior to regular clothing. Why did we stop wearing white? at the very best we should wear them on national holidays like eid or on special occasions.

First it was European colonialism, then communism and then salafism.

 

[Lilafrombole]

Our politicians should wear Somali cultural clothes like the Saudis do in their country.

Instead they dress like this.

This is how our leaders dressed in the old days.
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I am sorry but i am having trouble telling the Saudis apart from old days Somali.

 

[A_A]

I also see a lack of knowledge of our customs and traditions. For example most people don’t know what a xirsi is, traditional necklaces that enclosed texts from the Quran.

Nowadays wearing this would be seen as pagan or backwards.

 

[NFD]

I agree it would be nice to modernize (since you can't wear it everywhere) that clothing in some way.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Our politicians should wear Somali cultural clothes like the Saudis do in their country.

Instead they dress like this.

This is how our leaders dressed in the old days.
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Cheetah king always got the drip.

 

[Yeeyi]

I feel like somalis are loosing their culture slowly. I mean we don't name our children with somali names, we rarely dress up in white traditional attire like our ancestors did on special occasions. Which in my opinion looked extremely classy and culturally superior to regular clothing. Why did we stop wearing white? at the very best we should wear them on national holidays like eid or on special occasions.

Bro, cultures evolves all the time from outside influences to independent innovations.
Instead of bringing back the old culture, we should stop with the massive western influences and let it evolve with a mix of indigenous ideas and outside influence

 

[embarassing]

I also see a lack of knowledge of our customs and traditions. For example most people don’t know what a xirsi is, traditional necklaces that enclosed texts from the Quran.View attachment 64494
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Nowadays wearing this would be seen as pagan or backwards.

Most Somali Habro still have this style of necklace. Its usually gold and worn during weddings and special occasions, no Quran inside it though.

 

[Yeeyi]

I feel like somalis are loosing their culture slowly. I mean we don't name our children with somali names, we rarely dress up in white traditional attire like our ancestors did on special occasions. Which in my opinion looked extremely classy and culturally superior to regular clothing. Why did we stop wearing white? at the very best we should wear them on national holidays like eid or on special occasions.

Anyways, this nomad cloth is what poor people used to wear. If I going to wear something traditional, I'm going to wear high-class Majeerteen Kingdom era cloth

 

[Crow]

I am sorry but i am having trouble telling the Saudis apart from old days Somali.

No one asked you.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Do any of y’all wear macawiss out in public?

 

[embarassing]

Anyways, this nomad cloth is what poor people used to wear. If I going to wear something traditional, I'm going to wear high-class Majeerteen Kingdom era cloth

It wasn't what poor people wore, it's what nomads wore... which was the vast majority. Its beautiful.

Crow shared what leadership wore.

 

[Qabille]

Do any of y’all wear macawiss out in public?
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I wear mine around my dorm and to the student union shop. It's blue white and red with flowers.

 

[Yeeyi]

It wasn't what poor people wore, it's what nomads wore... which was the vast majority. Its beautiful.

Crow shared what leadership wore.

most of the nomads were poor, those that could afford it (merchants, leaders,etc) wore different attires.

 

[Lilafrombole]

No one asked you.

Just saying the pics OP posted looked more Somali then the other guy's pics.

I thought you guys were talking about your autenthic culture and not one adopted from Arabs via Islam.

 

[4head]

First, we should abandon Islam and then come back to Waaq if we want to preserve our unique culture. Otherwise, i'll promise that the "Somali culture" will be fully Arabised in 2050.

 

[Crow]

Just saying the pics OP posted looked more Somali then the other guy's pics.

I thought you guys were talking about your autenthic culture and not one adopted from Arabs via Islam.

Both of them are our authentic culture. The white robes are nomadic clothing. That isn't all we had. City dwellers and nobility wore different types of clothes.

We had a variety of different styles for people in different walks of life.

 

[macaan]

most of the nomads were poor, those that could afford it (merchants, leaders,etc) wore different attires.

@embarassing is right. The vast majority of Somalis wore the nomadic style, whereas suldaans/chiefs, sheikhs and merchants wore similar to what the OP posted.

Here is a mid-19th century description of Sharmarke Saleh, a Habar Yunis merchant turned ruler of Zeila, Berbera & Tadjourah: