Marriage Divorce Cloth

This purple, red and blue cloth is a sly visual commentary on the social situation of marriage and divorce in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). From the 90's, the bold pattern is of rope, with the knots of marriage and the broken threads of divorce. Men and women both wore this type of material that was made into clothing by tailors with foot pedaled sewing machines.

Women wore full length skirts with matching blouses, with as many ruffles, pleats, and embroidery decoration as possible. Men (the husband) often wore the same material as a shirt, and the joke was, one knew who were the couples by what they wore. Additionally, as the joke continued, if one (or the other) became too inebriated at a social gathering, they could locate each other by finding the matching design.