Goono (garment)

A goono is a type of garment worn around the waist or hips, extending downward to cover the legs, with separate openings for each leg similar to trousers. Its length varies: some versions reach only to the knee, while others extend to the ankles or ground.

Goonos are worn as everyday clothing, work wear, casual dress, and for formal occasions. While predominantly worn by women across many communities, similar garments are also worn by men in certain traditions—for example, the kilt in Scotland or the sarong in Southeast Asia.

Construction and manufacture

A goono typically consists of two panels of fabric joined together, fastened at the waist with drawstrings, cord, elastic, or elastic fabric. Common styles include the straight goono (uniform width at waist and hem), the flared goono (wider at the hem), and the pleated goono, which includes folds to ease movement.

Use in Somalia

In Somalia and East Africa generally, this type of garment is worn according to varying cultural practices. Women wear a long goono paired with a shawl or headwrap (garbasaar), with the length and weight of the fabric suited to the climate and community customs. Men typically wear the macawis, a garment made from fabric wrapped around the waist similar in function to the goono.

Brief history

The goono is considered among the earliest forms of clothing developed by humans, as it is simpler to make than trousers. Ancient artworks and artifacts from various cultures depict fabric wrapped around the waist. Later, particularly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the length and cut of the Western goono underwent continuous change driven by fashion.