To put it bluntly, Cameroon is
taking a toll on my wardrobe. I packed my suitcases up with all of the clothes
that I thought I would need for two years, and in America, it probably would
have sufficed. But life here is hard on clothing, and my wardrobe is actively
transitioning from things I brought with me to things that I bought or had made
here. The most common reason for clothing retirement is excessive staining; between
the dusty dry season and the muddy wet season, there doesn’t seem to be any
clean season. This wouldn’t be too much of a problemif my hand-washing skills
were up to par. I’m constantly impressed by the skill displayed by Cameroonian
mamas (and their children!), but my former dependency on a washing machine
means that I’ve still got a ways to go. Luckily, it’s quite easy (and cheap) to
get new clothing here. There are two main ways to go about it-hitting the
fripperie, and having clothes custom-made.
My preferred method is to abandon
Western clothing and go the custom-made route. This is a two-step process:
first you must go to the market and purchase your desired fabric (usually
African-made pagne) and then you take
it to the tailor and give instructions about what form it should take. This
sounds simple and in theory, it is. But a trip to the fabric section of Main
Market is one of the more overwhelming experiences that I’ve had so far in
Cameroon. There are easily thousands of patterns to choose from, and over two
dozen stalls selling them. Pagne comes in pieces measuring six yards, but I
often try to convince the merchant to sell me a two yard piece, which is all
that most clothing articles require. Two yards will run you about 2,500 francs,
or about $5.
I’m lucky in that Titus, my tailor,
has worked with Peace Corps Volunteers for many years. He’s used to dealing
with Americans and other foreigners and is well versed in the types of clothing
that we tend to request. I had never had a piece of clothing custom-made before
I came to Cameroon, and I’m still not over the novelty of it. It always fits, and you get to decide exactly
how you want it to turn out! What could be better? Tailoring for a given
article of clothing usually costs between 2,000-5,000 francs, depending on the
complexity of the pattern. Added to the cost of the fabric, you’re looking at
about $9-15 for a custom-made item of clothing. That’s a lot more money here
than it is back home, but I usually think that the end result is more than
worth the cost. An unexpected bonus aspect of having custom clothing made is
the potential to get matching outfits with friends or for special occasions.
It’s quite common to see groups of people heading to a particular event all
dressed in the same fabric. As my brother can attest to, I’m always down to get
matching outfits. It hasn’t gotten old yet, that’s for sure.
But as fun as it is to wear pagne,
this blog post was supposed to be primarily about the joys of
“fripping”-shopping at the fripperie. I
haven’t been to the frip in a while, but I was inspired to write this post
after seeing a video that a group of Cameroon PCVs made entitled “Frip Shop”
and set to Macklemore’s Thrift Shop. You’ll have to excuse the semi-dated
reference, as most of us haven’t been in America for a while. But the parody works
quite well, as the frip is a general term for an outdoor used clothes market
here. Every city and town has one, although the size varies with the population
of the area. Bamenda’s frip is huge and completely overwhelming, as it is (in
keeping with the general theme of the country) fairly chaotic and full of
possibilities. Potential buyers paw their way through the giant piles of
clothing that sit on the floor, and prices vary widely. Most items found in
piles can be purchased for less than 500 francs ($1), and some of the nicer
things that are hung up on display can go for anywhere between 1,000-3,000
francs. Of course it’s important to remember that these are prices that I’ve
been faced with; it’s anyone’s guess how much I would pay as a Cameroonian.
Price negotiation is alive and well at the frip; I’m lucky that bargaining was
one of the few topics that I remember from my Pidgin classes back in training.
The Bamenda frip is large enough
that I haven’t gotten to know any of the sellers that well. In a smaller
village though, it’s a different story. One of my friends is such a regular at
her local frip that the mamas selling there pick out things that they think
she’ll like. More often than not, they’re right. If you ever want to try out
being a celebrity, go join the Peace Corps. Although I don’t have any personal
shoppers in Bamenda, the quantity and variety of clothing that I’ve seen here is completely staggering. If a type of clothing was
ever in style anywhere in the world, it’s currently being sold on the streets
of Bamenda (and likely the rest of Africa). It’s a lot to take in.
And if you’re interested in what
Cameroon PCVs do when stuck in the Yaoundé case, check out the video here. I found
it amusing, but my new postmate Lexi thinks that you have to be here (or have
been here) to appreciate it. I guess you
can be the judge of that.but it
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