With the sole exception of Italy, I’ve never been to a country as fashion-conscious as Kenya. Kenyans (or at least Nairobians) are for the most part uncommonly sharp in their dress and bearing, men and women alike. Combine this with a national propensity for youthfulness (the average age in Kenya is a staggeringly-low 19), tall frames, high cheekbones and flawless complexions, and you end up with an entire population of potential supermodels.
I see businessmen in smart, perfectly fitted suits alongside garden-workers in slacks and pressed dress shirts. Obviously the grunge movement skipped Kenya entirely. The women, whether in western, traditional, or Muslim attire, more often than not seem to have walked out of the pages of a fashion catalog. Nowhere in America or Europe have I seen such a uniformly well-dressed city.
So far I’ve only been in Nairobi, which is big and fairly cosmopolitan. Things may be different out in the Kenyan countryside and in the smaller towns and villages. After all, there’s a big difference in America between the typical dress code in Manhattan and that of Poughkeepsie. It’ll be interesting to see as we venture out into the rural areas over the next couple of weeks if the fashion-culture holds true.
Stay tuned…
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