Speaking of political fashion, on the opposite side of the likes of Madame Biya, she of the Orange Pompadour, there are the Jose Mujicas of this world.

Possibly one of the only heads of state who rolls out of bed and slips his feet into whichever pair of sandals he can find before going out to lead a country.

For perverse reasons, this suggests that the president of Uruguay is a man worthy of trust because perhaps, just perhaps, running his country is so engrossing that he has little time left over for wardrobe concerns.

Well, that and the fact that he gives away the lion’s share of his salary to charity, making him the guy despots probably don’t want to stand next to in group photos.

I only mention the upper echelons of political society because the rest of us mostly do take our cue from them. Over the course of the fourth administration, I have been a vocal appreciator of the changes it has wrought, such as the improvement of the standard socialist suit from its sack-like past to its present tailor made clean lines.

It is also useful to keep an eye out for what the legislators are saying through their garb, which is many different things, and I am yet to come up with an interpretation for the ones who choose aggressively coloured ties with massive knots that clash visibly with their coloured shirts and shiny suits. Perhaps something about their willingness to engage as aggressively as possible with controversial topics?

Indeed, we have come far for a society that was severely restricted by a terrible economy and virtually no access to popular entertainment to inspire us.

That has changed in the urban areas as youth lead the assault against boring clothing with colourfulness, creativity and fun. The bad news is that this trend may be endangered unless we defend the right of youthful people to annoy us all with waistlines and hemlines that can’t make up their minds about where they are going.

I have it on good authority that we are slowly slipping back into the idea of restricting choices with a dress code. Nothing unusual about that, African governments have always enjoyed coming up with rules and regulations about what a body is meant to wear in order to be allowed onto the premises.

It’s seems just another manifestation of how the state likes the citizenry to kow-tow to it and preserve its alleged dignity. But scratch deeper and things are a bit more sinister.

In Tanzania at the moment, we have decided to insist on gender-appropriate clothing with full coverage of individuals who go to public institutions a strict requirement. So strict in fact that even women’s upper arms are meant to be covered while men deal with the usual boring requirements to avoid shorts and shirts that don’t have buttons.

The general term we use is “respectable” clothing when referring to the kind of garments that are desirable.

And this concern with respectable clothing is supported by churches, which have been trying for years, to get congregants to simmer down and attend services in clothing that will not prove distracting to their fellow worshippers.

What these campaigns tend to have in common is a focus on women in particular. Somehow, according to someone, we’re always showing too much flesh and providing unnecessary distractions in public.

Not to put too fine a point on it, I think that trying to tame the female African figure is somewhat futile. Some of us may be slim, but generally speaking the older the African woman the more accentuated her curves as we accumulate “presence” over the course of time.

The skirt hasn’t been invented, or for that matter even the circus tent, that can effectively mask a bountiful African figure. So why bother? Because that’s how conservatism creeps up on people.

One day you’re fussing about what people can wear, next thing you’re fussing about who can say what and in these encounters women always seem to end up covered from head to toe and silenced if they are not careful to squirm out from underneath the rules.

What is really going on is a backlash against globalisation and all its liberalising effects. There has been a lamentation that part of the reason young people are so free with their fashions is because we lack a national costume.

I would argue that this is in fact a good thing: The idea of one costume fitting all is very passé, and though we are a state we have always been made up of too many nations to fit comfortably into a standardised outfit.

There is nothing wrong with leaving the dust of the recent past behind and embracing at least one of the great equalising work outfits that has brought the world together across race and class: Jeans. Yes, even in government offices.

Elsie Eyakuze is an independent consultant and blogger for The Mikocheni Report, http://mikochenireport.blogspot.com. E-mail: [email protected]