Billy Gibbons ZZTOP Bamileke Nudu Beanie

 

             $165.00

 

 Hat is shown in Olive Green

 

This hat was inspired by a friend. He asked me if I could make a bamileke hat. He sent me a couple pictures and I fell in love with the idea. I knew I was up for a challenge. But, after a few difficult tries I am able to bring to you my version of the Billy Gibbons ZZTOP Bamileke Nudu Beanie.
These hats are knit on a loom, and handmade with 200 individual free flowing dreads. They are fleece lined for maximum quality. The texture is pure funk. When you step outside in the winter chill," They'll come running just as fast as they canCoz' every girls crazy bout' a sharp dressed man. “Even though your “wallet must be fat" to buy this hat, you’ll be feeling as if
you” ain' missin'not a single thing."

Bamileke Tribe History:
The Bamileke tribe was originally from an area to the north known as Mbam. Many of the art produced by the Bamileke tribe associated with royal ceremonies. Most Bamileke statues represent the chief. Art objects showed the position of a person it the hierarchy. As a person descended or ascended the social ladder the materials used and the number of pieces changed. In a chief’s residence one would find ancestral figures and masks, as well as headdresses, bracelets, beaded thrones, pipes, necklaces, swords, horns, fans, elephant tusks, leopard skins, terracotta pots, and dishware.

During a ZZ Top tour in Africa, Billy was introduced to a chief of Cameroon's Bamileke tribe. At the time, Billy was wearing a ten gallon Stetson, but it seems the chief wanted that Stetson very much. Billy was urged to promptly give his Stetson to the chief. However, Gibbons had them let the chief know that back in Texas there is a custom of "horse tradin'". The chief was more than happy to respond by presenting Billy with his own hat that we are so used to seeing Billy with today.