Wrapper (clothing)

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The wrapper is a colorful women's garment widely worn in West Africa. It has formal and informal versions and varies from simple draped clothing to fully tailored ensembles. Traditional male attire is called a dashiki.

A wrapper takes metres of quality fabric. It is generally worn with a matching head tie, a headscarf or turban tied in an intricate manner and usually covering the hair completely.

The wrapper gained popularity in the West following the black pride movement of the 1960s. It is enjoying a resurgence thanks to African immigration, and the formal wrapper is frequently worn at weddings, graduations and other special occasions.

In the West, a wrapper is also an older term for an informal house garment. Today, words such as housecoat and bathrobe (US) or dressing gown (UK) are usually employed instead.