By the time of his indictment for corruption in 2003, former second republican president Frederick Chiluba was already well known as a great dresser. Examining his ostentatious dress practice, the focus turns to the dressed body as a screen for corruption and deceit, exploring when excess considered to be ‘too much’ and why. In his dress style, Chiluba, who presented himself in double-breasted suits and handmade shoes to embody a new era of economic liberalism, provided instant relief from the drabness and austerity of Kaunda’s plain safari suits. When in 2005 several metal trunks and suitcases were discovered in a warehouse in Lusaka, revelations about the former president’s stunning wardrobe attracted sensationalist attention internationally. The revelations were a turning point on which Chiluba’s fondness for spectacular dress morphed into his stored wardrobe and in turn became emblematic of corruption.

The rapid postcolonial growth of the capital Lusaka, along with the huge expansion of the informal economy, has opened numerous developments in clothing practices and cultures of consumption. Zambians creatively make fashion their own in an increasingly globalised world where dress influences flow in multiple directions and the West no longer is the final arbiter of style. With focus on young women and men, the discussion examines the secondhand clothing market as a popular source for the fulfilment of clothing desires, while discussing the cultivation of appearances along with some of the dress dilemmas that arise from youth, gender, and location.

The social and cultural significance of dress practice and its changes is shaped by the way clothing was delivered and how it has entered people’s lives. Since the early days of the colonial encounter in what today is Zambia, imported textiles and clothing became far more than quotidian wear. Western-styled clothing became a centrepiece of consumption, a focal point of everyday life, which people localised in the process. Labour migration across the region made cities and towns into key spaces for work and consumption, enabling the development of both new clothing practices and the tailor’s craft. Men’s suits and women’s dresses were actively involved in these processes. Migrants spent a good part of their cash earnings on purchasing clothing for relatives and dependents.

African men were eager to wear long trousers and suits and they went to great lengths to obtain them. As a result of new dress sensibilities, the repertoire of tailors expanded to include garments that required more skill and attention to individual client desire in the design of suits and elaborately styled dresses.