Over the coming weeks, The Daily Advertiser will highlight fashions from cultures that are thriving in Wagga, with women leading the way forward.

Constance Okot, from South Sudan, said her family was one of the first to arrive in Wagga as a result of the conflict.

"My husband and six children and I came to Australia and Wagga in 2005," she said.

"I am now a Wagga person.

"I left South Sudan in the 1980s because of the war."

Ms Okot said for a long time there was no clothes. People we were wearing animal skins and leaves as a way to cover themselves.

"Sudan, when they started to make cotton and cotton is white and that is soon what everyone wears," she said.

"There is a skirt on the bottom and then a white fabric wrapped around. The beads are worn for beauty.

"Everybody was wearing this, it has a lot of different names, but a lot of people call it kurbaba."

Ms Okot said in her area because there was only one factory, everyone wore the kurbaba, even men.

"They have the shorts underneath," she said.

"Sudan, mainly South Sudan, has been without a lot of things so people start adopting and wearing clothes from different countries.

"Most of my tribe adopted Ugandan clothes and nowadays in a wedding, people in my culture prefer to wear a gomesi.

"It's a Ugandan thing."

Ms Okot said the outfit is still commonly worn by people back home, but some use other fabrics and other styles.

"People wear different colours now as well," she said.

"For a long time, there was no limit to where you could wear the outfit. You could wear to weddings, funerals and for a visit."

Ms Okot joked the outfit was an all-in-one package when travelling.

"If you are on the way somewhere and you want to sleep then you just cover yourself with the sheet," she said.

"Easy, when you go to any occasion just find a place to sleep and you have a covering."

Ms Okot prefers to wear beads around her waist, wrists, neck and head to add colour and beauty to her outfit.

"It's important to wear our traditional outfits to remember our culture and how beautiful it is," she said.

"How easy it is to use it, you don't need to look for so many things.

"You just need a few things and you are ready to go."

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