Cultural dress codes in a pandemic: Investigating the Aso Ebi clothing culture on Instagram

Dress is an essential element of social identity and has been used in achieving social cohesion and belonging in societies. In Nigeria, dress is a key aspect of cultural heritage and practices. One of such practices is the Aso Ebi culture which involves groups of people adopting a unique dress code, mostly cultural dress, to social events. The Aso Ebi clothing culture is prevalent amongst Nigerians but has spread to other parts of Africa and has also been adopted by Africans in the diaspora. The tradition has continued to evolve in the digital age, becoming a significant part of a visual culture on platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Several Instagram accounts are dedicated to the documentation of the Aso Ebi culture, which has since become a niche market in the Nigerian fashion industry for various stakeholders including make-up artists and photographers. Clothing cultures such as the Aso Ebi phenomenon in Nigeria were impacted during the global COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in lockdowns and measures that prevented mass gatherings, hence social events came to a halt or were conducted virtually. This article explores the visual memories of cultural dress in an era where group and mass gatherings were at the barest minimum and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustenance of this cultural dress code within that period. The content analysis method was adopted for this study in the examination of Nigerian-based Instagram account, AsoEbiBella, during the lockdown period in Nigeria. Findings show that social media platforms employed nostalgia and hope in crafting an idealized vision of social gatherings and social dress codes in a period of social distancing.