The Relevance and Symbolism of Clothes within Traditional Institutions and Its Modern Impacts on the Ghanaian Culture

Abstract

Traditional institutions in Ghana present themselves with Clothes that are symbolic and portray the culture values and heritages of the country. However, there is concern as to what extent modern influences through clothes can be embraced within the cultural and traditional setting of systems that are mandated to hold fast to these indigenous beliefs and practices. The study was designed to find out, the extent to which modernity influence clothing lives of Ghanaians within the very core of tradition and what the impacts on the sustenance of traditional costumes are. Cluster sampling techniques was used exclusively with descriptive approach to collect data among six ethnic settings in Ghana. The result emphasized that, African clothes are symbolic and are not just for their aesthetic purposes. They are however, facing tremendous modern influences resulting largely from trade liberalization, entertainment industry and advancement of technology within the textile and fashion industry which local artisans are not matching up to. Generally, striking a balance between traditional and modern forms of clothes is vital to the total development, growth and forward match of Ghanaians to promote national unity and reflect our common identity.

Key words: Traditional Institutions, Culture, Clothing, Ghanaian Identity and Modern Influences