Although 'aso-ebi' is derived from Yoruba Language, the concept, as it has become known today, is not peculiar only to Yorubas. All Nigerian tribes are known to have a uniform fabric worn during [family] celebrations.
But because Nigerians are generally known to take parties and partying seriously, the practice of choosing aso-ebis is linked to them. And one place where the most elaborate aso-ebis can be found is at a wedding party.
The significance of the aso-ebi is to show support for the person [or people] celebrating as if to say, he or she is my personal friend, family member or an associate.
The history of aso-ebi
The earliest origin of aso-ebi is the age grade meetings popular in the Yoruba communities.
However, what we know as aso-ebi today came with colonization. Sometime around the early 1900s, the incursion of the area later named Nigeria by white people and the importation of foreign textiles like hollandaise, lace and George fabrics made aso-ebi popular.
From then, aso-ebi became a status symbol, an ostentatious display of wealth and a way for people to show that they belonged to high society.
The wealthiest people used the most expensive lace fabrics while the poor were stuck with cheap fabrics.
The Yorubas see the party as an avenue of wealth display. The more expensive the fabric is, the more highly placed you are in society.
My mother - a complete Yoruba woman - once told me, “You know how highly placed a person is in the society by the number of people and cars that come to their children’s wedding.”
Aso-ebi in the modern day
With Nigeria leading the pack in the world’s poverty index, the price of these aso-ebis and the cost of attending weddings does not make a lot of sense.
For many newly-weds, the aso-ebi can be used to raise extra money for the wedding - but is it worth the stress?
The process of procuring and dispatching the material is as expensive and stressful as an actual business venture. Yet, people still decide to make aso-ebi an integral part of their wedding and refuse attendance and souvenirs based on aso-ebi.
Meanwhile, aso-ebi has become much more expensive than designer clothes bought from the boutique.
After paying a minimum of ₦15,000 for the fabric, even though some aso-ebi materials could be as expensive as ₦50,000, a lot of money is spent sewing the clothes. The amount spent on tailoring is between ₦10,000 - ₦15,000.
Celebrities pay way more for theirs: about a hundred thousand naira or more for theirs, but that is a story for another day. The cost of sewing aso-ebi is high because aso-ebi styles are typically avant garde and elaborate.
Many women have to buy new shoes and purses to match the colour of the aso-ebi. That would be about ₦20,000 to ₦30,000.
There is also the cost of doing professional makeup. The least expensive makeup is ₦5,000 and cheap makeup is becoming extinct, so let’s say about ₦15,000 for makeup.
There is the cost of fixing nails and even transportation (by private cab) which should be about ₦15,000. Attending a wedding as a big girl is not easy.
At the end of the day, one has to question the logic in spending over ₦100,000 for a wedding that is not yours neither do you have any stake in the marriage.
Imagine if you have five of your closest friends are getting married in a year, would you spend that much for every wedding?
Should the idea of aso-ebi be jettisoned?
If you ask an average Nigerian woman, she would tell you that the traditional wedding is the real wedding. It is a time for display of culture in all its flamboyance. The white wedding gown is drab in comparison to a nicely made aso-oke from Deola Sagoe or any traditional attire by Tubo.
However, the need for good optics and Instagram show-off is driving many wedding guests to penury -- which makes you wonder if this is a problem with our wedding culture or individual interpretations of that culture.
While there are aspects of Nigerian wedding culture to scrap, Asoebi is surely not one. It is a brilliant, resplendent practice passed down from several generations of Nigerians and should be preserved. The concept itself is not fundamentally repulsive or bad, so it'd be silly to expect to have it jettisoned.
However, doing too much to partake in that culture is what needs to be checked. Sure, it looks amazing when you see beautiful women in lace, George and other fabulous outfits, but it is not necessary.
When the money is there in abundance, go for it. But considering the current economic realities in Nigeria, aso-ebis are luxuries that have become unaffordable for some people -- and no one in that class should pressure themselves to get asoebi by force.