Venda Traditional Dresses

The modern Venda traditional Attire remains relevant to the cultural significance of the Venda traditional culture and its’ rich history. Designers have creatively incorporated the age old Venda traditional clothing style  into the modern Venda dress designs.

Originally, Venda clothing was made mainly from animal skins which were obtained by hunting.

The Venda people believe that ancestors live with the living, so the clothes that represent these ancestors are believed to be sacred. A series of beads and amulets may be worn around the neck of a Venda woman, these beads are often very old and each associated with an ancestral spirit. Passed down through generations as a sacred trust, they are usually associated with an ancestral spirit and it is strongly believed that to part with one is to risk immediate retribution from the ancestral realm.

Tshirivha is a traditional goat skin apron worn by married women. the Tshirivha typically covers the womans back and front. Married women wore a “gwana”  on special occasions, this was a ceremonial back apron made of sheepskin, these days women wear a similar garment made of ‘wenda cloth. Young females wear narrow strips of cloth over a girdle in the front and back. hanging between the legs “Maredo”. Venda females also wear vhukunda, these are bracelets and necklaces of twisted grass mainly for decoration. Young women also wear pieces of copper round the ankles and wrists, The copper is twisted round a string of cotton, called thuthu or shedo.