The Chedda

Tlemcen is a big city (wilaya) in Algeria. In the 13th century Tlemcen was the capital of Algeria. When Algiers became the new capital of Algeria, 3 centuries later, Tlemcen kept his diversity of arts and crafts. In 1585 the first so called 'Chedda' was published in the world's costume book worldwide. Today the traditional bridal costume is called: 'Labsat al Aftan', which means the caftan dress. Its richness and orginality evoque the heritage of the Berber Amazigh, The Roman, The Arabic, The Andalousi and The Ottoman cultures which have stimulated the evolution of the Maghrabi art of dress. The traditional dress is an economical resource for the city. It requires the skills of many craftsman from different fields, such as silkweaving, bridary and jewellery.

The Chedda is a traditional dress for wedding festivities. The symbolic features of the costume are pearls, henna, red stones, gold, spangles and other elements to chase away demons. These items are passed down through the family. Those who can't afford such jewelles, can always hire or borrow them. When the bride is dressed she leaves her house wrapped in a golden silk veil. 

The ceremony starts with the make-up ritual. One of the brides aunts draws red and silver circles on her cheeks. These symbolic circles complete the costume and strengthen the protection of the bride against magic spirits that could do her harm in her future life as a married woman and a mother. Nowadays wedding festivities take place in top hotels and public halls.

 The ceremonial practices and craft activities linked to the bride's costume are one of the most prominent cultural expressions of the identity of the Tlemcen people. Older craftsman do their best to hand over their knowledge to their sons. But today professional schools and institutes have also opened in Tlemcen to preserve local skills and teach them to the next generation. Preserving the costume tradition is a priority for all Tlemcen families. From the age of three, young girls are dressed up like little brides to celebrate anual religious festivals. The rituals linked to the bridal's dress is a cultural heritage that spends hundreds of years and shows the creativity and the identity of the Tlemcen people.

I really love the Chedda. You can see that it's a traditional dress and the richness of the jewellery makes the costume look excessive and expensive. I hope this helps out to those who want to learn more about this traditional costume or the culture of Tlemcen. 

Kind regards and love,

Chahinez

xoxo