Malawijska moda / Malawian fashion

English below

Streszczenie: poniżej są zdjęcia malawijskiej mody na różne okazje. Ogólnie rzecz biorąc, Malawijczycy ubierają się do biura elegancko. Panie chętnie przychodzą do pracy w szpilkach, choć często je zdejmują i chodzą po biurze boso. Moda w miastach jest bardziej zachodnia, a na wsiach - bardziej tradycyjna.

While preparing for the placement I was seeking for advice on Malawian dress code, especially for work. I found  a great article on this topic at the Muli Bwanji Y'all blog. I confirm: Malawian women do dress beautifully. Yet I didn't find answers to my questions: how long below the knie does a skirt need to be? What is the fashion (skirts', shirts' and shoes shape)?


So what's the Malawian dress code?

You can see some examples of the urban fashion in the post about Mzuzu.

Note: in Lilongwe and Blantyre you meet more people dress in a more Western style - young girls in skirts above the knee and in jeans pants are more common. In Mzuzu I've seen some young ladies in jeans pants, but very rarely in skirts above the knee.


Whoever goes to a rural area, he or she might find useful to look at pictures from the post Mazamba: wizyta w terenie / field visit.

If you're a tourist with backpack, you can dress in a regular touristic style, but I recommend to wear something that hides your knies or at least is not shorter than just above the knees (this applies to both sexes).

In a disco or a club, Malawian men dress more or less like Western men and Malawian women tend to wear jeans pants or shorter skirts (if the skirt is short, then they often add longer black leggins). Because Malawian men see so many woman in skirts and dresses and so few in pants, they consider pants for women to be more sexy than skirts or dresses.

If you're a woman: don't overdo with sexiness. If you have a non-African look, Malawian will hook up on you no matter what you wear (expect marriage proposals). If you're a man - beware: my male co-travellers complained that the most Malawian girls they met in discos or clubs were prostitutes.

Below are pictures of people dressed properly for office.

Note about ladies' shoes: flip flops and high heels are most common but other types of formal shoes area also common.

Leah in a proper costume for an office. Don't look at the gentleman - he's properly dressed for a work as a vendor on a market or street.

Malawian men also dress neatly for the office.

The gentlemen are all dressed very properly. Jenipher wears jeans pants, which is against the office dress code, but ladies wear it sometimes, especially when it's cold (or when you're a foreigner). As a reader may remember, coats are an integral part of clothing (you don't normally take them off inside). I'm not the best example to look at when determining what Malawian fashion is. I took with me to Africa two skirts well below the knie but when I reached Mzuzu, I noticed immediately, that a skirt just below the knie would be much more in place (and even a knie-long skirt would also be fine).

This is how a fashion aware young man is supposed to look like in the office. My dress is more suitable for rural areas.

Another fashionable male in his office outfit

An appropriate dress for office for a lady

Traditional Malawian wear. You can wear it at work, but it gives you a slightly unprofessional look (because it is mostly used for a church visit, weddings etc., so it suggests that you are not in a mood for working, but for more traditional activities). Yet the Malawian president Joyce Banda wears always traditional African wear. If you're a foreigner, Malawians will be delighted to see you in such a dress.

Leah in traditional African wear, Nancy in a more modern outfit.

Teachers. The lady wears a scarf because the day was chilly (even for me)

Social events - meeting with friends:

Various styles are allowed: pants, neat dresses, romantic long dresses, traditional chitenges. Naturally, a coat in winter is always proper and matches any style.

This dress would possibly also be appropriate for the office and definitely for a wedding (in both cases - probably with a jacket or a coat)

More pictures from the party above are in the post Kotlety i kruszonka / Chops and crumble.

Social events - wedding and reception:

Leah is the one you should look at - I was underdressed and the kids din't belong to wedding guests

This couple would fit to an office as well

Malawian classic - appropriate for most formal ocasions: work, wedding, parliamentary debate etc.

You can find more pictures from this event in the post Wesele / Wedding.