Gomesi

This is beautiful Teopista wearing her handmade gomesi.  This is the National dress for women in Uganda and it takes exactly 5.5m of fabric for her to make one, irrespective of shape or size.  The sash, always worn low on the hips, is 3m of folded silk.  All the women here wear such a dress to ceremonies.

The most distinctive (and funny) part of the gomesi is the varying heights of the puffed sleeves.  I saw some women today with points of fabric rising off their shoulders right up to their ears.  I asked if it were a status symbol (like the cod piece), but Teopista just said that the bigger the puff, the more fashionable the woman!