The hairstyle known as ‘threading’ was originally a West African practice that has become common in parts of East and Central Africa. It is achieved by partitioning the hair into various sections and using black thread that is tightly bound around each section of the hair. The end result is a stiff but beautiful protective hairstyle as seen above.
If you read the About page you know'll already know I lived in Nigeria for 10 years. I remember threading my hair like it was yesterday. I recall our live in nanny and I walking in the neighborhood to a particular house, walking down the long corridor and sitting on a brown wooden short stool waiting my turn to get my hair threaded.
My mom and sister were convinced that it made your hair grow. Not sure how true that was but I liked getting my hair threaded because it was very easy take out. One tug of the thread and it spun around your hair like a pinwheel.
Look at what I found!
Gotta love my mom, she has had these thread for 15+ years!
This is the thread used to thread.
This is the thread used to thread.
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| A closer look |
9 comments:
Ahh, threading! I remember this as well!
precious-curls.blogspot.com
Oh wow! I've not seen those threads in like forever. Nostalgia. I've not seen threading anywhere recently oh. Is it becoming a lost art??
Adiya
wowwwww,I haven't seen them in a long whileee,they look so cute,I used to make them a lot and today my hair is as long as???I hope africans retain it,it's not just for Deeper life :D.
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Xoxoxo
I remember threading...as a girl, it was my favourite hairstyle cos it did not hutr and was easy peasy to take out. I really wish it would make a come back. There are so many creative hair stylists out there that could update it and give it a new lease of life. Come on ladies!
This definitely takes us down memory lane.
[at[ Gretel, now following you but you aren't following me yet hun :-(
I am following yhu,didn't see a follow link,but I followed thro email,that was the only way.
I'm biracial with a Nigerian dad and an Engish mum born in the UK. When I was 9 yrs during the 70's my dad move the family from UK to Warri, Nigeria. My sister and I had long hair and it was hard for my mum to keep it controlled in the humidity. Everyone recognizes what is beautiful and we all loved the amazing threaded hair styles all the Nigerian girls and women had back then, everyone from school and house girls to professional women. We wanted to copy them so badly but our hair texture was a little different so we were told it wouldn't work very well on us. After enough begging by my sis and I, my dad finally had his sisters, (our aunts) take us to get our hair threaded. It was sometimes a little hard for the hairdresser to get the thread to grip our hair at the roots but once they got that accomplished it was easy for them to thread the remained of our hair. Our hair "tubes" would be so long and the dresser would make amazing twists for us. My dad loved having his little girls parade their very Nigerian hairstyles around..... me and my sis loved it too. Our school principal was happy as we fit in nicely with all the girls. It became the normal way for us to wear our hair, my mum was happy as she didn't have to keep trying to control our manes. Threading makes your hair smoother, grow faster, and stay tidy as its not affected by humidity. Only downside for me and my sis was that the styles lasted a little longer on full Nigerian hair due to its different texture. It is a method that is chemical free, natural and an excellent method to showcase the beauty of African hair.
I view it as an art form and it should be brought back. I feel lucky to have had that beautiful Nigerian tradition growing up. It feels royal, like wearing a crown that can be repositioned in the morning if it gets squashed :-). Great memories!
Thanks for sharing emosheshe!
Very few people continue to thread their hair. I have seen it mostly amongst older women in their 70 or 80+. As the rest of the world moves from trend to trend, Nigeria is not too far behind these days :-)
Where do I find this same thread?
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