During the late colonial period’s nationalism and politics Africans made Western dress conventions their own. In recreation and leisure activities their dress performance developed new local appeals, dressing for freedom in the immediate pre-independence period and after. Sports clubs, especially football, the cinema, and women’s clubs promoting housekeeping and tailoring, provided spaces for social mixing as did the mining and municipal beerhalls that generated revenue for welfare activities. Popular culture, including traditional dance performances and ballroom dance competitions placed the dress of performers in focus. With independence in view (1964) politicians and their followers explored ways of expressing themselves through dress in the new nation.