Show me a male native wear that exudes so much class and style and I’ll show you the latest Kaftan styles for men. This African attire is the perfect outfit for men who love to look suave yet Afrocentric in all their doings.
You can wear them to your place of worship, work, dates, weddings, and any casual or formal outing. In fact, it’s the most popular native wear for contemporary men. And if I should take a guess, it’s why you’re on this page, searching for trendy kaftan styles for your next outing.
I understand. And just so we don’t waste so much of your time, let’s dive into it.
Why Wear Kaftan Styles for Men?
These styles are on-trend. They’re the African version of suits. If I am not mistaken, almost every man has at least one kaftan in his wardrobe. They come in handy for casual, semi-formal, and even formal events.Â
And thanks to the superb designers we have today, many styles abound. So if you get bored of the regular kaftan designs you’ve been wearing, you can always switch things up by sewing any of the styles in this post.
As you’ll soon see, we carefully curated them to suit to reflect the trends of the 2020s.Â
Is there a Difference Between Kaftan and Senator?
While some argue that kaftan and senator aren’t the same, others think they are. And this is because most people in Lagos refer to senator outfits as kaftans. Whereas others perceive the outfit to be Hausa kaftan popular among Northern people of Nigeria.
So, in the Nigerian sense, kaftan and senator styles for men have come to be the same. The names have become synonyms for a two-piece ensemble comprising a pair of trousers and a long shirt that almost touches the knees, stops just below the waist or extends to the legs.
So yeah, for most Nigerians, male kaftans and senators are the same. But if you’re referring to the Asian, Moroccan, or Senegalese kaftan, then it’s no longer the same as the Nigerian senator wears. Instead, it’s a robe or tunic popular among Asians, Arabs, and Nigerian Northerners.
Suitable Fabrics for Making Kaftan Styles for Men
The most popular fabric used for making senators is cashmere. Some come as plain while others come as a combo of plain and pattern. Besides cashmere, you can also use Atiku fabric, cotton, Ankara fabric, Isi agu, etc.
What to Check for When Buying Fabrics for Your Kaftan
If you want to be sure you’re buying a great quality cashmere or any fabric you’ll be using for your senator suit, check for these:
Texture
The feel of the fabric should neither be too soft nor hard. If it’s too hard, it may not give the perfect results for your caftan suit. And if it’s too soft, well, that might just be low quality.
Go for something in between. And be sure you touch or feel the fabric before you buy.
Color Bleeding
Imagine spending money on a piece of so-called quality fabric only to sew it, wear it once, wash it, and find out the color bleeds.
Heartbreaking, right? True but such might happen to you if you don’t check to confirm if the fabric bleeds or not.
How do you do this? As a designer, my go-to hack is to ask the fabric vendor to cut a part of the fabric and then I test it with water (and sometimes a little detergent) while in the market. I most times rub the wet fabric on a piece of white cloth and if the color transfers to the white, I know better than to buy it.
That’s kinda difficult, eh? I know, especially as you can’t be walking about with water or detergent in the market. So if you can afford to skip this process and avoid checking for bleeds, feel free. But once you realize your kaftan fabric bleeds, use the tips we shared on how to stop color bleeding in clothes. It’ll help.
Elasticity
Quality cashmere has a bit of elasticity. That is, it should be able to stretch, contrast, and relax when pressured. Check for this when next you want to buy any fabric for your senator.
How to Style Your Kaftan
Once your senator outfit is ready, don’t just wear it and get going. Take some time to style it with the perfect accessories.
For instance, you can wear a neck chain or bracelet and add pocket fillers or a brooch and to the shirt. You can also add a walking stick to your look and pair with a native cap or hat and sunglasses too.
Furthermore, the shoes you pair with your outfit also matter. If you don’t wanna pair it with dress shoes like loafers, you can pair your kaftan with palm slippers, sneakers, etc.Â
To help you better, we wrote a guide on how to combine men’s shoes. Do check it out and learn more about it.
Urbane Kaftan Styles for Men that’ll Suit You
Now here comes the most anticipated moment. Choose from any of these styles and head to your tailor’s.
Short-Sleeved Kaftan Styles for Men
If you wanna flaunt your biceps, this is the style for you. Besides showing off your arms and hands, it’s also airy as you won’t sweat while rocking it.
Long-Sleeved Kaftan
On the other hand, if you don’t want your arms in the open, long sleeves are what you need. But just know they’ll consume more fabrics compared to the short-sleeved style.
Monochrome Caftan
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This style involves using one color of fabric to make your kaftan suit. It could be in neutral tones such as navy blue, black, grey, white, brown, beige, etc., or any solid-colored fabric.
Bright Pieces
You can also use bright-colored fabrics to make the latest latch styles for men. Bright colors pop you out from the crowd and add a color lift to your wardrobe.
Mix and Match
Imagine combining your plain fabric with a striped one or mixing three colors in one senator outfit. The result will be a fashion statement you definitely won’t want to miss.
Statement Kaftan Styles for Men
Who says men can’t add pleats, drapes, tails, ruffles, and whatnot to their senator suits? That person probably hasn’t met statement kaftan outfits.
Rocking statement outfits are the fastest way to stand out. You can even infuse details of Agbada into your kaftan outfit as the picture above shows. You’ll surely get eyes staring.
Other Kaftan Styles for Men
From short sleeves to long sleeves, monochrome, neutral, bright-colored, and statement pieces, kaftan styles abound.
We curated the best for you besides the ones you’ve seen earlier in this piece. Scroll down and use your screenshot button when you find the ones that catch your fancy.
