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Celebrating African Fashion… Main St. Emancipation village offers clothing galore
76-year-old Yvonne O’Donoghue (right) works on one of her knitted pieces. Her teacher Meagan King looks on
As Guyana prepares to celebrate 179 years of Emancipation on Tuesday, Main Street, Georgetown has been transformed into a shopping arcade of specifically afro-centric clothing and accessories.
Since last week Monday, seamstresses, craft producers and vendors erected tents to sell clothing, beaded jewellery and African-Guyanese food and beverages.
Seamstresses came out with tie-dyed and African print materials to create head wraps, dresses, skirts, shirts, pants and even swimwear to entice buyers.
There were also distinctively patterned fabrics significant to African countries on sale.
Persons who were not eager to purchase sought advice on how to create head wraps and how to secure accessories for clothing they had already.
Then there were others who purchased matching outfits for their wives, husbands and children.
Beverly, a seamstress, had some unique garments on display.
She sews the majority of her clothing and even offered to sew a top on site for a young lady who wanted something to go with a pair of leggings. The woman explained that although sales were not good, she was pleased with her efforts thus far.
Her outfits were reasonably priced. A woman could have got an entire outfit of either a dress, jumpsuit or skirt suit for $6,000.
It was observed that sellers exchanged contact information with shoppers who desired authentic garments and hand-painted fabrics.
Shoppers requested contact numbers from seamstresses just in case they required someone to sew a desired piece of clothing.
It was evident that 76-year-old Yvonne O’Donoghue was enjoying her first experience. With a bright smile, Ms. O’Donoghue, a knitter and seamstress related that she specializes in hats, tote bags, swimwear and much more.
Meagan King, the owner of King’s Creation, explained that Ms. O’Donoghue is one of her students who she began training about a year ago.
Juliana Hughes from ‘JAH Works’ had a collection of necklaces made from natural seeds on display. She said that the company is co-owned by her husband, Wesley James, and they are on a mission to make Guyana’s natural resources marketable. According to Hughes, “Natural resources are not just what are under the ground. We have a lot of natural resources that are above the ground.”
Hughes disclosed that she was out there to impart her craft to the nation and explained that some of the items she had on display were made respectively from velvet, buck bead, flamboyant, stinking toe and locust seeds.
While Hughes loves working with seeds, she said that it is much more difficult since the process involves a lot of drilling.
She however related that this aspect of the work is done by her husband.
Hughes tries to keep her work as natural as possible and said that she rarely incorporates painting.
She has also worked with natural fibres to create crochet necklaces.
“In this period it is noticeable that a lot of the choker and Egyptian collars are being worn. So I am imparting by crochet ability in that area.”
In 2010, Hughes received a UNESCO Award of Excellence for handicraft.
Most of the vendors said they were satisfied with the revenues earned and that they will continue vending during the morning hours of Emancipation Day to cater for last minute shoppers.
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