In the last few years patterned fabrics have become very popular again and African Fabrics have served as inspiration for many international fashion brands, especially for garments in the “vintage” style. Today we’re going to show you how to find cheap African fabrics, or “wax” fabrics, on AliExpress. These fabrics, which have their origins in Asian culture, are perfect for making clothes, bags and accessories.
The origin of Wax Fabrics or African Fabrics
The origin of these colorful fabrics is very interesting. Although we all associate them with Africa, their origins are Asian: the Dutch army accepted African mercenaries in Indonesia, where they discovered fabrics with a tie-dye pattern. They took some of these fabrics back to their countries, where they became very popular.
The Dutch took advantage of this popularity and began manufacturing printed fabrics through industrial processes for sale in Africa.
The industrialization of batik did not succeed in Indonesia, but in Africa women fell in love with these colorful fabrics and made them a symbol of their culture. Wax fabrics have become a non-verbal language, each fabric conveys a message depending on its color, background or shape, there is even a specific protocol for the occasions when each pattern is worn.
The best African fabrics on AliExpress
Finding these types of fabrics on AliExpress is very easy: in this search you will find thousands of very cheap African fabrics sorted by the number of sales and as you can see some have more than 600 sales and their comments are very good. The best part is that you can even find fabrics from the Vlisco brand with their guarantee seal, but you can also find cheaper and lower quality fabrics with African prints, so we tell you how to distinguish a good wax fabric.
African cotton Fabrics
The best-selling African fabrics are cotton because of the high quality in both their patterns and fabric. They can be easily found by clicking here and as you will see they are all similarly priced. In the first positions you will find fabrics from the popular Dutch brand Vlisco. They know they are brand name because the description includes “authentic 100% cotton wax” fabric and you can see from other buyers’ photos that the fabric has the Vlisco warranty seal on it. There is a wide range of colors, up to 42 different patterns. The price is approx. 25 dollars for 6 meters of fabric, approx. 5.5 meters.
If you would like references from the sellers who sell Vlisco fabrics, we will leave you their names below:
African Wax Polyester Fabrics
There are other cheaper African wax fabrics available as well. They do not bear the Vlisco manufacture seal, but cost almost half, so they are a good and cheaper alternative. The biggest difference is in the type of fabric, they are made of polyester and not cotton like the previous ones. They can be easily found on this link and as you can see, their price does not exceed 15 dollars per 6 meters.
African Fabrics with high Quality Lace
As mentioned earlier, these fabrics are a whole dress code, they are used to make dresses for celebrations and events, so there are variations for these occasions, one of the most popular are fabrics.
African patterned fabrics with rhinestones
Another option is to add rhinestones and diamonds to the fabric to give it a more sophisticated touch. From tiny diamonds to rhinestones with gold accents, these fabrics are perfect for special occasions. Of course we are not talking about gemstones as the price would be very high.
There are also some African fabrics that combine sequins, pearls, velvet. These are fabrics of the highest quality with lots of details and great workmanship at a rather high price.
High quality African Fabrics
Above we showed you how to find African cotton fabrics that are higher quality than polyester. But there are fabrics other than Vlisco, with better printing processes or with more complex designs.
Tips on Buying African Fabrics
Now that you know how to find these colorful fabrics, we recommend that you carefully check the product description before buying to know that you are getting exactly what you think you are getting. AliExpress acts only as an intermediary between the seller and buyer, and will keep your money safe until you receive it. Everything else depends on the seller. So it is very important to check details like the type or size of the fabric.
