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During initiation girls wear an array of colourful beaded hoops (called izigolwan) around their legs, arms, waist and neck. The girls are kept in isolation and are prepared and trained to become homemakers and matriarchs.
The coming-out ceremony marks the conclusion of the initiation school and the girls then wear stiff rectangular aprons (called amaphephetu),beaded in geometric and often three-dimensional patterns, to celebrate the event.
After initiation, these aprons are replaced by stiff, square ones, made from hardened leather and adorned with beadwork. |