What are the traditional Zulu costumes like?

In the past few decades, the Zulu costumes have undergone tremendous changes. Zulu people traditionally sew skirts with animal skins. However, with the prohibition of hunting, hides are no longer available. Zulu people in rural areas must make clothes with modern fabrics. Zulu people in most cities have modern dress styles, but they still wear traditional clothes on special occasions.

Traditionally, Zulu men do not cover their upper bodies. They wear very short skirts, with large and small animal skins in front and soft calf leather in the back. Long animal skins called "Ingebo" are sometimes worn on the hip bones. Men will also wrap the ox tail above the elbow or below the knee, which will make the muscles stand out.

Traditionally, unmarried Zulu girls wear short grass skirts. Nowadays, Zulu girls' skirts are made of various fabrics. Girls will decorate their heads with beads when they are old enough to talk about marriage. The engaged Zulu girl decorated a red skirt with a bib. Married Zulu women wear long skirts, which are traditionally made of animal skins and dyed black with charcoal. Pregnant women wear antelope aprons, which Zulu people think will give the baby elegance and strength. And the baby only wears a string of beads.