A digital archive showcasing the extensive collection of jewellery and adornment images shared on the former Ethnic Jewels Ning site over the years. These images have significantly enriched discussions on cultural adornment and its global dispersion.

Malian bride - 1

A Cousin of my husband just got married (in Mali), here are some photos of the bride. She wears a traditional Sonrai - Tuareg headdress and jewellery, as it is usual in North Mali, while the Dress (White colour) is probably inspired by modern times. Traditionally it can be any colour, mostly gold and yellow.
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Comments

  • As always, wonderful photos!  One of the things that I learned in Tunisia is that at the Berber villages there the bride always wore black.  Black is considered the color of fertility because it is the same color as fertile earth.  In the cities, however, the brides wore bright colors with lots of gleaming gold and silver threads.  Is there a difference between what they wear in the cities and villages?

  • @Thank you Edith. I must admit, I never heard this about the black colour. In Mali modern brides tend to wear White Western wedding gowns (usually they have two gowns, a White western one and a coloured traditional one, and they Change after some time), while in villages, they wear colours, but mainly soft colours (like Gold, light green)´, Pastell colours). It depends on their financial possibilities. If they are very poor, they just wear simple clothes, all they Need to do is go to the Imam. Nowadays, they Need to also Register their mariage in the mairies (City halls or Registration offices?), but I am not sure if all do this in the villages....but I have never seen a bride in black in all Mali. Many women in the North (desert) wear black - but everyday. Possibly some get married in black too - but I have never seen it.

  • Forgot to mention, it all depends also on the ethnical Background. I must admit that I have no idea how a Dogon bride Looks, or what she wears....I only know the Sonrai brides, Tuareg brides, Peul brides, Sarakollé brides... but there are ethnies I did not have Close contact, so I cannot tell about These.

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