KNOW THE NAMES OF YOUR FABRICS

We all love our beautiful Ghanaian wax prints but how well do we their origins?
Whether it's the beautiful pattern or the blend of amazing colours or even the particular style we have in mind,we all tend to like and appreciate one fabric or the other.
Some say it's not African print because it was the Dutch who brought it to our shores. So what were we wearing before they did? I would have to find that out. But what I know is that most of these prints have a story behind the designs. 
Some of these names were coined out of events,lifestyle or even names of popular individuals. This dates back to the time of our great great grandparents and possibly before.
With the recent proliferation of wax prints, like the GTP NU-Style, High Target just to mention a few, it has become rare to see these old fabrics around.
Out of a little research some of these old fabrics and their names have been put together for us to learn.
See them below:

 SUGARCANE
It is very clear that this fabric has an art that looks like a sugarcane. It is said that whoever gives you this fabric has a message for you which is "I love you like sweet sugarcane"

 Ansan /Akɔmfɛm

Ansan stands for Guinea Fowl, the bird which is obviously displayed in a color-blocking pattern on the fabric. This fowl is a fantastic delicacy in Ghana found in soups and sauces but more popularly recently; grilled as a side order. Its a shame its so lean. Sigh!

 GRAMOPHONE PLATE
This beautiful one ids the Gramophone plate which actually resembles the vinyl disc used with the gramophone player to play music long before most of us were born. This definitely shows how old this fabric design is.

Akyekydeɛ akyi

 This literally means 'the back of a tortoise'. Most people would have never known that this is how the back of the tortoise looks like. It is one of the common and retro prints around.

Nsubra

An Akan word for well. The tiny dots which are in a spiral form resemble the ripples made in a well after water is fetched from it or when a stone is dropped into its depths. This is one of the trending fabrics in Ghana and worldwide and can be found sewn into a dress, shirt, shorts, etc. Its varying colors and bold print renders it versatile and confident.

 HIGHLIFE
 This genre of music we know is the backbone of Ghanaian music and were enjoyed since the time of old.
Thanks to this fabric for serving us this memory.

Sika Wo Antaban

Money has wings is the translation for this fabric. Money indeed flies where it wants to go. If you don't handle it well, it will fly from you. I thought it would have had a name of a bird like a swallow or Okpo!

S3 wo b3 ka me hu as3m a fa akonya tinase (Stool)

The stool symbol is the key feature of this fabric and its name simply implies that, ‘if you want to talk about me, take a stool and sit down.’ African proverbs are laden with humorous sayings but which nevertheless have deeper meanings. If you want to talk about someone, don’t just stand around talking. Its better for you to sit down and take your time and say what you have to say.

Now you can state why the elderly would not trade their fabric for anything.