*Second-hand clothes as culture?*

Photography by Dilayla Romeo

Written by PhD Researcher Fairuzah Munaaya Atchulo

“I love TikTok! I love TikTok!” A young man, standing among a pile of clothes heaped on the side of the street, shouts at the top of his voice to the throng of pedestrians making their way up and down the street. Some like me stop to take a look at the clothes he is selling. While others bend down to sift through the pile, some keep walking by.

Why the phrase “I love TikTok”? I asked Dilayla Romeo if she heard exactly the same phrase, and she confirmed that. To engage in conjectures, I thought he was probably communicating that the clothes were quality and beautiful enough for a TikTok video, or probably because the beautifully rolled off his tongue and was catchy enough. But whatever the reason, the phrase had an arresting ability, which is the bedrock of the sales of second-hand clothes. The ability to get consumers to stop and take a closer look.

When we think about African culture and fashion, we often think about traditional indigenous clothes, or even African prints. After decades of the importation, and sales ofsecond-hand clothes, they have become an indelible part of the everyday dressing practices, forming the bulk of everyday wear for most Mozambicans. Their permeability into everyday dressing practices, and into the culture of dressing needs is a culture of its own. Second-hand clothes are cheap, mostly quality, and a thorough perusal of a “bend down boutique” may led to some amazing finds. The streets, and huge markets dedicated to the sales of second-hand clothes are odes to their permeation.

We visited Xipamanine; a place of second-hand clothes business: from wholesalers selling bales of clothes to petty retailers selling specific clothing items to final consumers. How do you tell the difference between bales of clothes from Australia, Holland, the UK and bales from China? The SIZE. Depending on the clothes and their quality, a bale can go for between 10,000MZN to 30,000MZN.

I was surprised to note that second-hand clothes from Mozambique smell different from the ones of my childhood in Ghana. A difference in disinfectants or just nostalgia?