Question

What are the attitudes and opinions for clothing and fashion in haiti ?

Answer 1

In Haiti, despite being labeled as the poorest country in the world. After researching the subject, I realize it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to me, since I have been entranced by the beautiful artwork, colorful surroundings, and creativity I saw when I visited Milot in 2012. It only makes sense that instinctive artistic talent would be included in Haitian fashion as well.


In Haiti, you can see a variety of different fashions depending on the time of day or even the day of the week. Children wear tidy uniforms to school, complete with accessories in their hair and polished shoes on their feet. On Sundays, Haitian women put on their best dresses and men wear their finest suits to attend church services.


But for everyday wear, most Haitians wear second-hand clothing and shoes, known as “pepe,” sold by street vendors. These apparel items are sent to Haiti and usually consist of unwanted or unusable items from donation centers in the United States. The practice of sending pepe to Haiti began in the 1960’s and since then, people have claimed this practice has ruined the Haitian textile industry. However, pepe can also be seen as a good thing, because it is so readily available and affordable for Haitians, allowing them to express their creativity through wearing designer clothing that would otherwise be inaccessible to them.