Aso ebi
Matching cloth chosen by a host family for guests to wear at a Nigerian wedding.
Also: asoebi, aso-ebi
Aso ebi, Yoruba for cloth of the family, is the custom of a host choosing a fabric and colour that guests buy and have sewn into outfits, so that the crowd appears as one. It started among the Yoruba and is now common among Igbo, Hausa and other Nigerians, and in Ghana and in the diaspora. Friends sometimes form groups with their own outfits. Wearing it shows closeness to the family, although the cost can be a burden, and some people politely decline.
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa