About a week or two ago, television personality Minnie Dlamini-Jones broke the internet when she announced that she was expecting her first child with her hubby Quinton.
“I had so many ideas of how I wanted to reveal my pregnancy and as usual I was looking for something that hadn’t be done before.” She wrote. “In the attempt to pay respect to my culture, I did some research on how a Zulu pregnant woman looked like back in the day. ”
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After doing some research, Minnie found out that there are so many symbolic meanings behind the way people dress in the Zulu culture. For example, when a woman wears a hat, it simply means that she is a married woman. “Our culture is so rich with amazing clothing, patterns, colors and designs, all of which have symbolic meaning. For example the hat a woman wears symbolizes that she is a married woman.”
The sports television presenter further explains that the patterns on a dress even explains the gender of the baby if the woman is pregnant. “The clothes she wears symbolizes whether she is a girl, a woman, a wife, or a mother to be. The patterns on a maternity apron determine many things, among which is the sex of the baby.”
The star also revealed that the image from her pregnancy reveal was shit in her backyard. “In this image shot in my backyard, to represent where my child will be raised, I’m dressed in a bespoke Zulu pregnancy apron called “Ingcayici” hand made and beaded by @asandamadyibi.” She further explains. “Historically the hide would have been a gift from my father in law from a hunt. The beadwork and design would have been handand & gifted to me by mother in law with messeges and symbols of the family liniage almost like the western family crest.”
Minnie is proud to off her culture and wants to show off the creativity thereof to the rest of the world. “I’m so proud to show off my culture in a time where so much creativity and evolution has made us look at the art instead of the rich cultural meanings behind the items we fashionably wear today. I am and always will be a proud Zulu woman.”