The various print techniques that make African prints so attractive for male shirts.

The main attire that covers the upper part of a man’s body happens to be a shirt. Shirt is universally accepted across the globe in every country irrespective of their traditions and culture as the main garment. Trousers, on the other hand has yet to gain that popularity and in many parts of the world there are different kinds of styles and cuts the cover the lower part of the body though it is always paired with the shirt. In civilized countries a man’s wardrobe will have different kinds of shirts for different occasions. They can be formal for office wear, informal shirts for leisure wear, and snazzy designer shirts for party wear and so on. One kind of shirt that is gaining steady popularity is male African print shirts which are colorful and vibrant in nature and adds a dash of vivacity to the otherwise drab male cupboard.

When it comes to dressing up, modern men are no more behind and are almost catching up with their counterpart, the ladies. The designers are also increasingly concentrating on male fashion and it is through them that African motifs, colors and prints are making an in-rod into the Western fashion world. But to actually understand the uniqueness of the African appeal we will have to take a look at their traditional attire which in its modern avatar is making such a splash all over the world. Shirt happens to be one of the oldest garments that in different forms have evolved through the ages. If we look at the African continent also, we will get tom see that long before they already had clothing that closely resembles today’s’ shirt. Therefore, it is no great surprise that male African print shirts are being adopted enthusiastically by the Western people. There are several kinds of men’s clothing that can be found in Africa, which covers the upper part of the body much like a shirt does. They can be in different forms and shape, sometimes like an unstitched piece of clothing which is worn in a drape, sometimes tailored much like a shirt, and sometimes like a collarless version of the shirt with colorful motifs and embroideries.

When we talk about African print shirts for men, we should study the different printing methods that they have been following through the ages and which makes their prints unique and attractive. Mostly natural dyes were used as colors and they were usually made from the amazing mineral peats and soils dug from deep within the ground. Brilliant indigo, deep pepper reds and amazingly vibrant saffron were put in huge vats and the white cottons were immersed in these for dyeing purposes. For the print effect the stones or shells were tied in knots within these cotton fabrics which resisted a part of the clothing from getting dyed, therefore, forming a unique pattern which is still followed in the modern world and goes by the name of tie-dye. For printing purposes hand carved wooden blocks with intricate patterns were used for exclusive designs and prints that reflected their natural surroundings, including the animals also like birds, fish, flowers and trees. All these were then hand printed onto the fabric which used to be mostly cotton. Male African print shirts are generally a mixture of interesting color combinations like black, white and hot pink; or yellow, orange and blue; or grey, black and red brown. Such colors on a man’s shirt sounds quite bizarre but when the designers work with these combinations they create absolute magic that can be treat for the eyes, which actually suits the masculinity of a shirt better than it sounds.