When a lesbian friend of mine announced that she would be getting married to her girlfriend, many of us immediately started talking about what we were going to wear to the wedding. Since this was an interracial couple, one Xhosa woman, and one English South African woman, we all wondered what would be appropriate and what would work best. The conversation of what to or what NOT to wear at weddings can become rather stressful for some of my friends because you want to look fresh but you don’t want to upstage the brides. The brides were very relaxed and told everyone that they should feel free to wear whatever they want. This was good, but it still doesn’t mean you must rock up in a Vera Wang.
Since the couple was a mix of cultures, I decided that my outfit needed to reflect that. So I commissioned the people at Mali South, to make me a suit but with Umbhaco design on it, also with Umbhaco design. I decided that it had to be yellow because it was a celebration, dark skin looks good on yellow, it was a summer wedding, and most importantly I love yellow. So the suit was a three-quarter pant, I wanted my ankles exposed. The pant was paired with a yellow jacket. The pant had the quintessential Umbhaco WesiXhosa black lines at the bottom of the pants, and also at the edges of the jacket. The designer at Mali South also decided to give the jacket big black lapels. I wore the suit with chunky ankle boots, a black bow ties, and a big boutonniere on the jacket lapel. The outfit was bright, fun, and festive. Weddings are made more fun by people getting into the spirit, and this outfit brought the spirit. It was a fantastic wedding. We listened to beautiful speeches. We drank bubbly all night, and we danced like there was no tomorrow. This wedding reminded me why I love weddings so much.
