Woman's Wrapper

This woman's wrapper comes from Oumé, a village in the Gouro region of southwest Côte d'Ivoire, and is intended for everyday use. Oumé cloth, pagne, is characteristically embellished with indigo tie-dyed patterns, or plangi. Indigo dyeing is a highly specialized skill and the preparation of pagne for dyeing is an art form in itself. The strips may be prepared for dyeing in one of two ways. In some instances, the patterns are tied into narrow strips of cloth and the cloth is dyed before the strips are sewn together. Another method involves sewing the strips together first, then the pattern is tied or sewn, and the cloth given to the dyer.