Lupita has been inspiring us of late with her  choice of head gear. In a clear nod to her African heritage and inspired by her latest movie, The Queen of Katwe, she has donned an array of head pieces over the last few weeks. But what is the correct terminology for the different pieces she has worn.  We have seen a wide range of names given- head wrap, turban, gele, gele turban. Here we review the various times Lupita has stepped out with a head piece and provide the correct name or terminology for each style she has worn.

 

 

Lupita’s most recent appearance in which she wore a head piece was the Disney premiere of The Queen Katwe on September 20.

 

Here she is wearing a head wrap made of a soft fabric that coordinates well with her lilac Elie Saab dress. In this image, the head piece is just a head wrap tied in a high front knotted style.

 

Lupita was also at the Toronto International Film Festival and was seen there is a bright blue head piece that coordinated perfectly with the blue cut out details on her custom made House of Herrera dress.  Here, she is wearing a gele.  The gele is a style that is indigenous to West Africa, particularly Nigeria, but is growing in popularity across other African regions. The gele is different from the standard head wrap because it usually consists of a harder, stiffer, and shinier fabric. In addition, the style of tying used is distinctive. It is normally marked by deliberate pleats and folds in the fabric.

 

Following her appearance at the Queen of Katwe premiere at TIFF, she attended the Vanity Fair and Tiffany & Co. dinner hosted in her honor wearing a mostly teal head piece.  This time it was a scarf wrapped on her head in turban style.

 

The other significant time Lupita was seen wearing a head piece was at the US Open.  Here again she is wearing a head wrap made with soft fabric- the same fabric used for her tube top.

 

So there you have it. Lupita has over the past weeks worn head wraps, a gele, and a scarf tied in turban stye. Again the key difference between the gele and a head wrap is that a gele is made normally with hard and shiny fabric whereas head wraps are generally the type made with softer and more wearable fabrics.   Of all the head gear types attributed to her, a proper turban is the one style Lupita is yet to wear.

Turbans, however, are the rage currently in Nigeria as a style item. To get a sense of what a proper turban looks like, here are some pieces from Nigerian design house, Abaya Lagos, showing various turban style in their Desert Bloom Collection.