COVER STORY

Accessories for Modern Youth

By Bartholomew Boaz

Youngsters have developed a zeal for wearing trendy clothes. In the urban as well as semi-urban areas, competition for the youth to look fashionable is as crazy and impressive as one can imagine.
The modern youth is seen as ‘real youth’ if they put on fashion accessories. The idea of fashion has undergone a tremendous sea change, thanks to modern technology. The fashion consciousness of the modern youth is very evident.

Handbags and Canvas

Fashion Accessories
Fashion accessories are costumes usually made in style or following a trend that is short-lived, only fashionable for a short time and thereafter cast aside for something else new.
There are as many fashion accessories for the modern youth as we can suffocate to mention them. For instance laces, hair ornaments, umbrellas, bandanas fall into this category.
The most commonly found and used fashion accessories for the youth are hats, caps, belts, handbags, shoes, jewellry, earrings, gloves, bangles, shawls, sunglasses, scarves, necklaces, and the list refuses to end. These accessories are either made from natural or synthetic materials.

Boys’ accessories
The modern man is one who manages to wear hats, caps, good snickers, sunglasses, good belts and scarves. These different accessories are worn during different occasions, and the prices also vary.
Nowadays you find many a young man wearing cowboy hats. These are the kind of hats that protect one from the sun heat. Mostly they are worn casually, especially when going out during weekends. They come in different colours and have a string that goes behind the chin. On average it costs about MK1,200.
Caps, snickers and sunglasses are also casual wears that are mostly put on when people are going out just to relax. Scarves are often wrapped around the neck during winter when it is chilly. To every man, a good belt is a must. One has to have a belt of his size also in good match with the pair of trousers.

Lady in Jewellry

Ladies’ accessories
Many fashion shops are flooded with ladies’ accessories more than men’s. Some of these accessories are sun hats, ladies’ belts, shawls, and jewelleries.
Ladies match most of these accessories at once. Ladies’ sun hats are soft and flabby. As the name suggests, they are worn to protect themselves from sunshine. One can part away with not less than MK1,000 to get one.
Ladies’ belts are of different sizes. They have a big strap mostly with some decorations. They can be more expensive than men’s because one belt can cost MK2,000. Instead of putting on scarves during winter as men do, most young ladies put on shawls. They come in different designs and colours.
The other fashionable accessory the modern young lady dies to have is Jewellry. jewelleries include earrings and necklaces. Most of the times, ladies match the two to look even more fashionable. These jewelleries suit any occasion and as such they wear them anywhere. A pair of earrings cost a cool MK1,200 on average, so do necklaces. These jewelleries are either metallic or wooden.
Bangles also have become fashionable for both young men and women. The most fashionable bangles are those made of wooden material.

Fashion, way of life
For the youth it is natural to be fashionable because they always want to outshine others. Nobody, including the author himself, wants to look old-fashioned. Almost everybody feels comfortable to wear clothes, which are attractive and fashionable. However a word of caution should be: in trying to be fashionable we should not go overboard. It is good to blend tradition with modernity.

Successes of prison reform
Adoption of public relations policy can be described as a milestone in the history of prisons in the country. The past few years have seen the prisons department have spokespeople who can relate what is going on in the prisons to the publics. This has helped clear some of the misconceptions about prison life.
Training programmes for prison staff is also one of the major successes of the prison reform strategies. Now there is a Malawi Prison Service Training College. In order for them to understand the inmates better, there is need for the wardens to be fully aware of their job and its challenges. Now the prison authorities know that their role is not just to punish but rather to correct the offenders so that they should come back reformed people. The training is also of more importance in the implementation of rules and regulations for behavioral change.
Realising that it cannot fulfil each and every requirement of the inmates, the prisons department has opened its door to outsiders to assist where they (the prison authorities) cannot tread. The Health in Prisons (Hip) programme which used to be run by Banja la Mtsogolo is one of the successes in ensuring that prisons are free of diseases. There are also other non-governmental organisations and religious organisations which have helped in the livelihood of inmates in the country’s prisons. This has been achieved by the open-door policy adopted by the prison authorities.
The prison reform has also been successful in the imparting new skills to the inmates so that they should engage in better activities when they go home other than involvement in criminal acts. Some prisons have introduced programmes like bee-keeping, carpentry shoe-making tailoring among others. This has also been a source of funds for the prisons since the inmates are able to generate some money which can afford them other needs for their life in prison.

Fashion & Relationships “Fashion and courtship go hand in hand,” says Andrew Mukhuwa. Like birds, which grow shiny and luscious feathers during the mating period, humans too need to look beautiful if they are to court a member of the opposite sex. “Whenever I am meeting my lover, I try to wear a new look,” says Andrew. He says new looks create surprises, which in turn cause favourable effects on the partner. “Surprise gifts cause unexpected joy to a partner, so does a new style in a beard,” says Andrew. “During the early stages of a relationship people are more conscious about what they will wear when meeting their partners than in the advanced stages of a relationship,” says a Lilongwe lady who did not wish to be named. The girl says dressing and fashion plays “a very great role in keeping a relationship and people are very keen in keeping their relationships when it is at an early stage.” She says at later stages people are confident about their relationships therefore do not care to keep beautiful anymore. “On my part I make sure to keep beautiful for my partner,” says the girl, “men get carried away easily, especially when they see a lady more stylish than their partner.” She says she does not want to be outsmarted by other ladies. The girl, who is wedding soon, says she dresses in ‘national wear’ to please her fiancée, though she loves smart trousers and long skirts.

 

© Montfort Media, 2007