Yoruba people

== Dress ==
{{Further|Yoruba women's clothing}} 
<gallery class="center" mode="packed" heights="180" classes="center" caption="Some common [[Yoruba culture|Yoruba cultural]] wear">
File:African Lace VLM 31.jpg|Simple [[Yoruba women's clothing|''Iro'' and ''Buba'']] with [[Gele (head tie)|Gele]]<ref name="Esogwa C. Osuala 1988">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfbTAAAAMAAJ&q=%22iro+and+buba%22|title=Fundamentals of Nigerian Marketing|author=Esogwa C. Osuala|date=1988|publisher=Pacific Publishers|isbn=978-978-2347-29-9}}</ref>
File:A Yoruba man garbed in traditional clothing (2).png|''[[Agbada|Agbádá]] àti Fìlà''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzAqd4vGphoC&q=agbada+and+fila|title=Yoruba Dress: A Systematic Case Study of Five Generations of a Lagos Family|author=Betty Marguerite Wass|date=1975|publisher=Michigan State University. Department of Family Ecology|isbn=978-978-2347-29-9|pages=143–183}}</ref>
File:A Yoruba woman garbed in traditional clothing.png|''Iro and Bùbá'', with ''[[Gele (head tie)|Gele]]'' and ''Ipele''. Blouse, [[Wrapper (clothing)|wrapper]] and [[Head tie|headgear]]<ref name="Esogwa C. Osuala 1988"/>
File:A Yoruba man garbed in traditional clothing.png|''Bùbá àti Kèmbè''. Agbada top with short baggy pants<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n1AuAQAAIAAJ&q=kembe|title=A Handbook of Nigerian Culture|author1=Frank Aig-Imoukhuede|author2=Nigeria. Federal Ministry of Information and Culture|date=1992|publisher=Department of Culture, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture|isbn=978-978-31316-1-3|page=134}}</ref>
File:A Yoruba woman garbed in traditional clothing (2).png|''[[Yoruba women's clothing|Iro and Bùbá]]'', with ''[[Head tie|Gele]]'' and ''Ipele'' made from [[Aso Oke fabric|Òfì]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bH5djwEACAAJ|title=Aso Oke Yoruba: A Tapestry of Love & Color, a Journey of Personal Discovery|author=Tola Adenle|date=February 2, 2016|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|isbn=978-1-5234-9522-1}}</ref>
File:A Nigerian man from the Yoruba ethnicity dressed in typical outdoor event attire.png|[[Pakaja|Kájà]] and Kẹmbẹ, A [[toga]]-like style. Kájà is thrown over the body as [[Pakaja|Pakájà]]
File:A Yoruba woman garbed in traditional clothing.jpg|''Ìró'' and ''Bùbá'' with gele<ref name="Esogwa C. Osuala 1988"/> 
</gallery>

The Yoruba take immense pride in their attire, for which they are well known.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}  Clothing materials traditionally come from processed cotton by traditional weavers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/a-close-up-on-aso-oke-of-the-yoruba/KgKC6Y0ZViQKJw|title=A close-up on Aso-Oke of the Yoruba - The Centenary Project|website=Google Arts & Culture}}</ref> They also believe that the type of clothes worn by a man depicts his personality and social status, and that different occasions require different clothing outfits.
[[File:Nigeria, yoruba, tunica, da okuku, 1916-34 ca.jpg|thumb|right|An older traditional ''[[Agbada]]'' clothing historically worn by Yoruba men.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oXxBAAAAYAAJ&dq=agbada&pg=PA12|title=A Vocabulary of the Yoruba Language|author=Owen Emeric Vidal|publisher=Seeleys|date=1852|isbn=978-1-9765-8921-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jCE7AQAAIAAJ&dq=agbada&pg=PA266|title=The Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society|author=Manchester Geographical Society|page=266|date=1889}}</ref> This exhibit was obtained in the town of Òkukù.]]


[[File:Nigeria, yoruba, copricapo, da okuku, 1916-34 ca.jpg|thumb|left|An Àkẹtè, outdoor cap that tapers off at angles.|145px]]
Typically, the Yoruba have a very wide range of materials used to make clothing,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NA8LAAAAIAAJ&q=yoruba|title=Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue|author=Great Britain. Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, Robert Ellis (F.L.S.)|publisher=Spicer Brothers|page=953|date=1851}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ajila|first1=K.O|title=An Appraisal of Traditional Woven Fabric Production in Southwestern Nigeria|journal=European Journal of Sustainable Development|volume=5|pages=63–76|date=2016|doi=10.14207/EJSD.2016.V5N1P63|s2cid=55621472|doi-access=free}}</ref> the most basic being the [[Aso Oke fabric|''Aṣo-Oke'']], which is a hand loomed cloth of different patterns and colors sewn into various styles.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Makinde|first1=D. Olajide|last2=Ajiboye|first2=Olusegun Jide|last3=Ajayi|first3=Babatunde Joseph|title=Aso-Oke Production and Use Among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria|journal=The Journal of Pan African Studies|volume=3|number=3|date=6 September 2009|url=http://www.jpanafrican.com/docs/vol3no3/3.3AsoOke.pdf|access-date=1 May 2014}}</ref> This comes in very many different colors and patterns. Aso Oke comes in three major styles based on pattern and coloration;
* ''Alaari'' – a rich red [[Aso oke|Aṣọ-Oke]],
* ''Sanyan'' – a brown and usual light brown Aṣọ-Oke, and
* ''Ẹtu'' – a dark blue Aṣọ-Oke.

[[File:Benin, yoruba, braccialetti, anelli e altri monili.JPG|thumb|right|Yoruba metal bracelets and jewellery of old. Collection of The [[Afro-Brazilians|Afro-Brazilian]] museum of Salvador, Bahia|145px]]
Other clothing materials include but are not limited to:
* ''Ofi'' – pure white yarned cloths, used as cover cloth, it can be sewn and worn.
* ''Aran'' – a velvet clothing material of silky texture sewn into Danṣiki and Kẹmbẹ, worn by the rich.
* [[Adire (textile art)|''Adirẹ'']] – cloth with various patterns and designs, dye in indigo ink (Ẹlu or Aro).
Clothing in Yoruba culture is gender sensitive, despite a tradition of non-gender conforming families.  For menswear, they have ''Bùbá, Esiki'' and ''Sapara'', which are regarded as ''Èwù Àwòtélè'' or underwear, while they also have ''Dandogo, Agbádá, Gbariye, Sulia'' and ''Oyala'', which are also known as ''Èwù Àwòlékè'' / ''Àwòsókè'' or overwear.  Some fashionable men may add an accessory to the Agbádá outfit in the form of a wraparound (Ìbora).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-types-styles/agbada-clothing|title=Agbada Clothing|author=Babatunde Lawa|work=Beauty and Fashion|publisher=Lovetoknow|access-date=10 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqkYAAAAIAAJ&q=Agbada+Yoruba+men%27s+fashion+clothing|via=Scribner library of daily life (Gale Virtual Reference Library)|title=Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion (Vol. 1: Academic Dress to Eyeglasses)|author=Valerie Steele|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons (University of Michigan)|pages=31–32|date=29 December 2006|isbn=978-0-684-31395-5}}</ref>

They also have various types of ''Sòkòtò'' or native trousers that are sewn alongside the above-mentioned dresses.  Some of these are ''Kèmbè'' (Three-Quarter baggy pants), ''Gbáanu'', ''Sóóró'' (Long slim / streamlined pants), ''Káamu'' and ''Sòkòtò Elemu''.  A man's dressing is considered incomplete without a cap (''Fìlà'').  Some of these caps include, but are not limited to, ''Gobi'' (Cylindrical, which when worn may be compressed and shaped forward, sideways, or backward), ''Tinko'', ''Abetí-ajá'' (Crest-like shape that derives its name from its hanging flaps that resembles a dog's hanging ears.  The flaps can be lowered to cover the ears in cold weather, otherwise, they are upwardly turned in normal weather), ''Alagbaa, Oribi, Bentigoo, Onide'', and ''Labankada'' (a bigger version of the Abetí-ajá, and is worn in such a way as to reveal the contrasting color of the cloth used as underlay for the flaps).

[[File:Kwarastatedrummers.jpg|thumb|right|[[Yoruba music|Yoruba]] [[drum]]mers, wearing very basic traditional clothing<ref>{{cite web |title=Melvin "Buddy" Baker|url=https://www.flickr.com/people/58034970@N00}}</ref>|200x200px]]
Women also have different types of dresses.  The most commonly worn are ''Ìró'' (wrapper) and ''Bùbá'' (blouse-like loose top).  Women also have matching ''Gèlè'' (headgear) that must be put on whenever the Ìró and Bùbá is on. Just as the cap (Fìlà) is important to men, women's dressing is considered incomplete without Gèlè.  It may be of plain cloth or costly as the women can afford. Apart from this, they also have ''ìborùn'' ([[Shawl]]) and ''Ìpèlé'' (which are long pieces of fabric that usually hang on the left shoulder and stretch from the hind of the body to the fore).  At times, it is tied round their waists over the original one piece wrapper. Unlike men, women have two types of underwear (Èwù Àwòtélè), called; ''Tòbi'' and ''Sinmí''.  Tòbi is like the modern day apron with strings and spaces in which women can keep their valuables. They tie the tòbi around the waists before putting on the Ìró (wrapper).  Sinmí is like a sleeveless T-shirt that is worn under before wearing any other dress on the upper body.
[[File:Aso Oniko.jpg|thumb|left|Finished ''[[Adire (textile art)|Adire]]'' clothing material|175x175px]]

There are many types of beads (''Ìlèkè''), hand laces, necklaces (Egba orùn), anklets (Egba esè) and bangles (Egba owó) that are used in Yorubaland. These are used by both males and females, and are put on for bodily adornment. Chiefs, priests, kings or people of royal descent, especially use some of these beads as a signifier of rank. Some of these beads include ''Iyun, Lagidigba, Àkún'' etc. An accessory especially popular among royalty and titled [[Babalawo|Babalawos / Babalorishas]] is the ''Ìrùkèrè'', which is an artistically processed animal tail, a type of [[Fly-whisk]]. The horsetail whiskers are symbols of authority and stateliness. It can be used in a shrine for decoration but most often is used by chief priests and priestesses as a symbol of their authority or [[Aṣẹ|Ashe]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.templeoduduwa.org/the-orisha/orisha|title=Orisha|website=Oduduwa|access-date=10 June 2015}}</ref> As most men go about with their hair lowly cut or neatly shaven, the reverse is the case for women. Hair is considered the ' ''Glory of the woman'' '. They usually take care of their hair in two major ways; They [[Braid|plait]] and they weave. There are many types of plaiting styles, and women readily pick any type they want. Some of these include ''kòlésè, Ìpàkó-elédè, Sùkú, Kojúsóko, Alágogo, Konkoso'', Etc. Traditionally, The Yoruba consider [[Yoruba tribal marks|tribal marks]] ways of adding beauty to the face of individuals. This is apart from the fact that they show clearly from which part of Yorubaland an individual comes from, since different areas are associated with different marks. Different types of tribal marks are made with local blades or knives on the cheeks. These are usually done at infancy, when children are not pain conscious. <ref>{{cite book|last1=Lefèber|first1=Yvonne|author2=Henk W. A. Voorhoeve|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Y0bCWpg-U8C&pg=PA53|page=53|title=Indigenous Customs in Childbirth and Child Care|publisher=Guinevere Van Gorcum|year=1998|isbn=90-232-3366-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pqn2oJC5GXEC&dq=%22tribal+marks%22+yoruba+blade&pg=PA177|title=Intermediate Yoruba: Language, Culture, Literature, and Religious Beliefs, Part Ii|author=Abraham Ajibade Adeleke|date=February 3, 2011|publisher=Trafford Publishing|isbn=978-1-4269-4908-1|page=177}}</ref> Some of these tribal marks include ''Pélé, Abàjà-Ègbá, Abàjà-Òwu, Abàjà-mérin, Kéké, Gòmbò, Ture, Pélé Ifè, Kéké Òwu, Pélé Ìjèbú'' etc. Not everyone back in the past had tribal marks and sometimes it was given to first borns of an household or for some reason or the other. So, many did not have one. This practice is near extinct today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.africa.uga.edu/Yoruba/unit_06/cultureunit.html|website=Africa UGA|title=Traditional Clothes: Clothing and Fashion|access-date=10 June 2015}}</ref>

The Yoruba believe that development of a nation is akin to the development of a man or woman. Therefore, the personality of an individual has to be developed in order to fulfil his or her responsibilities. Clothing among the Yoruba people is a crucial factor upon which the personality of an individual is anchored. This belief is anchored in Yoruba [[proverb]]s. Different occasions also require different outfits among the Yoruba.