Beads are important jewels many Nigerian women wear especially when dressed in a traditional attire. They are decorative accessories that are worn for mainly beauty and fashion. However, some beads serve as protection (amulet) while others symbolise royalty. They give a Nigerian woman’s native attire that detailed look of completion. Furthermore, beads aren’t for women alone; men wear beads too although not as common as women. So if you are a man reading this, there are beads to spice up your native wears too.
Nigerian beads make a bride stand out during her traditional marriage ceremony. Many ladies pair their Aso ebi with beads to different weddings and other occasions that require native attires. In addition, beads also go well with African fabrics such as Ankara, George wrapper, Aso Oke, lace and other native attires for both Nigerian men and women. To get inspired on the right beads to spice up your native wears, keep reading as this article will do justice to that.
Beads to Spice Up Your Native Wears
Just like other jewels, beads come in various forms. For example, they can be long necklaces, chokers, earrings, bangles, waist beads, etc. Also, you can as well find them in different shapes and colours.
Coral Beads
This is one very popular Nigerian beads. Coral beads are made from red corals usually gotten from the Mediterranean sea. In some states in Nigeria, they symbolise royalty. The popular colours are red and bright pink. Since most times, Coral beads are imported from Italy and Singapore, they are quite expensive. They can be made into earrings, bangles and other jewelry. They can as well be worn as a decorative piece on the hair. Also, apart from traditional marriages and cultural events, most Nollywood epic movies include coral beads as one of the costumes for royalty and important villagers.
Glass Beads
These types of Nigerian beads can be gold or silver in colour. They have been dated back to Roman times and are also of different types depending on the method used in making them. Basically, the types of glass beads include drawn glass beads, wound glass beads and molded glass beads.
Pearl Beads
Pearl beads can be used in making both traditional and modern jewelry and even other accessories. They are available in different shapes and sizes such as rice-shaped, oval, round, potato-shaped, etc. To spot good pearl beads, put it in your mouth and roll it over your teeth. If you hear a squeak then you know it’s original. You can as well check for the shape of the holes as real pearl beads usually have concave holes.
Seed Beads
These types of beads to spice up your native wears are tiny yet of different sizes and shapes. They could be square, tubular, triangle, oblong, etc. Seed beads are made from cutting glass pipes into tiny seeds. They are very much affordable and come in different designs as well. They are usually used in making the African waist beads
These Nigerian beads make up the jewelry needed to complement your traditional attire. You can always get the ones that not only suit your pocket but also suit your outfits. While you think of the perfect Ankara styles to that wedding or the right Gele to pair with your Iro and Buba and the makeup to flatter your looks, you should also think of the beads to spice up your native wears to give you the complete look of an African woman.
