How To Tie The Trendy Gele Styles

Gele is a type of head tie worn by Yoruba women in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. Aso oke is the fabric of choice used in tying these trendy gele.

Who should wear gele?

Gele is a part of the Yoruba tradition and can be worn by all women, including those of other ethnic groups. My sister wore gele during her Ghanaian traditional wedding/engagement. This in itself should tell you that gele is now a household name worldwide due to its versatility.

When should you wear gele?

There are two types of gele: bridal gele, which is formal and ceremonial, and a smaller, less formal gele, which is ideal for day-to-day activities. Gele can be worn at any time since it's traditional and everyone welcomes it.

How much fabric do i need to tie gele?

You only need 100% aso oke fabric, purposely made for tying gele. It's not soft and it's not hard, just the right texture to get your clientele smiling. So you don't need that much fabric even if you're thinking of yourself as having a big head.

What is the right gele measurements?

Ensure you have the right measurements for the style of the gele. If the measurement is wrong from the beginning, it will mess up the entire gele at the end. When you are doing the bridal gele, which is usually 45/55, and you have a lot on the short part and then the long parts, which is key when tying the bridal gele for volume, you don't have enough length of gele left. You are going to struggle with tying the gele at the back because the length will be too short.

How to measure gele 

•   Let's measure 30/70.
•  start with full fabric.
•  Divide fabric into two equal halves. 
•  Take one half of the 50 and further divide that half of 50 into two that gives you 25/25 with other 50 still behind. 
• If you add one of this 25 to the left 50 you will have...50+25=75.
• So to makes the 25 left 30 take 5 from the 75 and add to the 25 to make 30. 
• The 75 will now be left with 70.

Hence the measurement 30/70

How to tie Gele

Begin by locating the back of the fabric and folding it in half from the front to the back. Make sure one side of the fold is longer than the other side, then place it at your hairline. Now cross it at the back just as you do when tying your scarf.

You will be using your index finger and thumb to tie this gele. These two fingers are the most important fingers, so please take note. Please hold the gele tight with your thumbs. Starting in with those index fingers at the same time, start pulling in materials from the back forward while you hold them with your thumbs. Try not to drag them, but rather pick the pleats one by one and make them as tight as you can. Continue the process until you have five pleats at least.

Have someone help hold the other end tightly while you go ahead and extend the other side of the pleats down line after line. While you push on this side, pull the fabric gently on the other side of the fabric the person is holding so it won't scatter. Now go ahead and do the same process for the other side of the gele.

When you are done extending both sides, let her help hold both sides firm. Now we have achieved five visible pleats, and that's the whole idea. So, following the pleats, drag the shorter side up and also, following the pleats at the other end, cross the longer side underneath the short side of the fabric to drag all the way to the other side.

Ask the one helping you to hold the shorter side because you need that side really tight while you try to form more pleats with the longer side.

Putting your hand inside the material, you're going to go through the whole process of forming pleats. This time, let one index finger hold it at one side while the rest of your fingers form the pleats from inside the material.

Again, try and extend the pleats down to where the shorter side is (be careful so you don't lose pleats here). Now, have her hold it tight by the sides of her ear. This is the most important time to let her hold it because you are going to tie the needed knot at her back and it will come loose or scatter if the gele is not tightly held.

Carefully hold all the materials from the short side, then from the long side that went all the way to the front, start gathering them, leaving a bit at the tip to help form that desired peculiar round volume of gele.

Now let's give this gele some volume. Push the material in and grab it with your thumbs to form the folds. When there's no more room for folding, you just drag everything forward to go with the already formed gele pleats. At this juncture, make sure one hand is holding the whole gele in place at the middle while you extend each line of the gele pleats to prevent it from scattering.

Use your finger to push it from the back and your thumb to line or guide it all the way down, making it go from the centre all the way to the sides.

Follow the pleats formed in the middle to the right side and the same for the other side.

Make it look as gorgeous as you possibly can. Now it's time for the second knot at the back, but before that, you decide if this gele is a covered or open gele.

When tying the covered gele at the back, pull the excess fabric down and roll it at the back; remember to tie with four pleats of the gele. Care should be taken when rolling the excess fabric because it is the first few pleats and pulling it will shift them. With the open gele, just roll the excess fabric at the back all the way up and your hair will dangle loose through the opening.

Now, do me a favour and rock your gele like nobody's business.

In conclusion gele is versatile and should be worn by everyone. You need to make sure your measurements are accurate from the get go. The right length of the gele helps gives enough volume to the gele. If its too short you will struggle to tie it at the back.

Crossing of the gele at the back,the short one always goes over the long one for bridal gele. When going for volume try to pick the pleats one by one more than dragging them down. Email us for more details about where to get your Authentic Ghanaian Print Fabric here deefashiontv@gmail.com