The multiple bracelet craze

Aug 15, 2011

IT first came to the fore when celebrities, especially Mozey Radio of the dynamic singing duo, Goodlyfe, donned them. But today, wearing multiple bracelets is fast catching on as a trend, especially among young people, writes <b>Stella Nassuna</b>

IT first came to the fore when celebrities, especially Mozey Radio of the dynamic singing duo, Goodlyfe, donned them. But today, wearing multiple bracelets is fast catching on as a trend, especially among young people, writes Stella Nassuna

The bracelet craze is here in Kampala and spreading like a wild fire! It is now trendy to wear as many bracelets as you can at ago! Almost everybody regardless of gender, culture or age, right from the ordinary person to celebrities, is wearing them adventurously and daringly. They are usually made from colourful beads, pearls, silver, gold, bronze, rubber, leather or glass.

Who is wearing what and why?
For guys, wearing bracelets made from coloured rubber silicone, commonly called wrist bands or gel bracelets, is becoming very stylish. These bracelets were popularised by Nike, a renown designer sports label, and former US professional road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong during the “Livestrong wristband” campaign in May, 2003.

In Uganda today, many companies and organisations are dishing out these colourful gel bracelets either as a marketing tool or as part of certain awareness campaigns.

Hip guys often blend gel bracelets with two or more traditional bracelets (Rastafarian or Masai) or with just the modern guy bangle bracelets made out of silver, copper, bronze, leather and gold.

Ladies
Females seem to be more adventurous and daring compared to their male counterparts! Their wearing scope is wider and varies, especially according to age. The youthful sisters often wear almost every kind of bracelet that complements or highlights their attire (day, evening, costume or office). These range from colourful bangles made from glass, pearls, beads, gels or just the glimmering silver, gold, bronze, cooper, in-thin line diamond (tennis bracelets) and linked bracelets.

This creates a glamorous and rainbow-like look that spells freshness, fun and style. The older ladies, on the other hand, often wear one type of bangle bracelet either in gold or silver, denoting elegance and style.

History
The trend of wearing many bracelets at ago is believed to have originated from India. The married young women customarily wore as many bangles as possible to show their marital status.

In Punjab, the bride was given very slender and delicate red and white bangles made from ivory to wear in multiples of fours. Pregnant women were also encouraged to wear as many bangle bracelets made out of glass, silver, conch or shells to ward off evil spirits from the mother-to-be and the baby.

In the 20th century, the trend of wearing many bracelets at ago in India shifted from just wearing them for cultural reasons to wearing for fashion, especially among young women.

In Uganda, bracelets date back thousands of years. Different tribes and cultures wore them for various reasons, but they were normally worn in singles and made of local material. It was only during the Arab and colonial age that the trend of wearing many bracelets at ago began, especially with the introduction of the thin silver wire bracelets. These bracelets were first exchanged between the colonial masters and the royals of various kingdoms. The royal women often wore them in twos, threes and more.

Later, the wire bangles were sold by Indians during the 1970s. In 1980s and 1990s, the bracelets become thicker and more bold, but still made from silver. In the same period, new bracelets were introduced in form of black rubber commonly called ‘entuga’ in Buganda culture, but in thin bands that were normally worn in twos, threes or more by young women. Shortly after that, plastic bangles also got on to the market in various colours, to the present-day pearls, beads, gold, leather and precious stone bracelets.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});