R6129/13 Wax Print Dress

Blue and yellow dress with ruffled shoulders and peplum waist in a floral wax print fabric

Women’s Wax-print Top and Skirt (Museum Accession Number R6129/13)

This wax print dress is actually a matching top and skirt. The outfit was made for African American collector Saundra Lang by a tailor based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Saundra spent several months in and around Abidjan in the 1980s, and remembers: ‘One of my friends recommended her tailor, M. Bah. He made many wonderful items for me and on subsequent trips, I would always have him make something.’ The wax print fabric, also called ‘pagne’ in francophone countries, was produced in Côte d’Ivoire. Collected as part of the Fashioning Africa project.

Creator: M. Bah

Place: Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, Africa

Date: 1985

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