I am a northern girl in Nigeria. We have a special style of fashion that is called “Arewa”. Aarewa means “North”. For the ladies, our outfits are made from Ankara fabrics, also called African prints. These fabrics usually carry bold, beautiful and unique prints on them.
You don't only get to select a type of design print that you like, you can also give it to your designer to sew your outfit based on your preference. You can add your own twist on a fashion trend. That way it is hard to find two styles that look exactly the same. and
That being said, the cost of getting these amazing designs and styles can be outrageous sometimes. For instance I had a dress done by a fashion designer and it cost me NGN 9,000 for sewing alone.
Meanwhile this dress was a very simple gown. The tougher the style is, the higher the charges would be.
For instance, this gown cost more because of the style. I paid NGN20,000 for it.
It took time before I realized that these designers don't charge this high because of the items they use in sewing, most of it is their gain.
This made me consider learning how to sew, so I registered in a fashion school and within months, I understood the concept of fashion designing.
Fashion designing as a business is really gainful. It is also less expensive when you're able to make your own designs. You get to own them and customize them to your taste at a lesser amount.
Let me break it down a little.
First dress required an addition of
36 inches of lace which costs NGN2,500.
72 inches of lining costs NGN1,000
Thread used NGN200. And of course the style didn't consume the entire thread. Cost of production summed up to a total of NGN3,700.
Although I understand that fashion designers need to include other costs like shop rents and of course, find daily bread. I do not condemn anyone for their charges in any way, but the minimalist in me thought “why on earth should I pay such outrageous prices when I am very capable of doing the same thing in my own taste and style for a far lesser amount of money?”
Also, I get to make designs for my family and friends at lower prices as well.
