Sapeurs

On my way home from the book fair I read a few of the magazines I'd been given and a came across one that really caught my eye. The article was called "Gentlemen from Bacongo" and what really made me stop and look were the awesome photos, here are a few of them and a few more I've found. :)

This was the first page photo,
can you do anything but love it?

Here are all the photos included in the article.

And a few more based on pure awesomeness.

Now at first I was caught by the photos but as I read the article I started to admire these peoples whole nature and lifestyle.
They call themselves Saepur from the French wordSape which is slang for “dressing with class”. It takes a lot to be accepted into the circle, most of them live in the slum but spend all their money on beautiful clothing, going by "A sapeur is a happy man even if he doesn't eat, because being well-dressed gives nourishment to the soul and pleasure to the body".
They also have ten commandments (although two of them haven't been written yet) which go:

• Believe in God
• Honour Sape
• Be hygienic
• Don't be a racist
  
• Don't believe in clans
• Don't discriminate
• Be a pacifist and a gentleman

This restores my faith in man and I respect them so much. If everyone abided by these rules the world would be a better place. (OK, I'm not to fond of the believe in God rule but to each his own right) I do believe that food is more important than clothes but apart from that I totally support their lifestyle and absolutely adore their fashion!
Apparently they have rules so as not to become to showy such as never combining more than three colours. :)

Well, anyway, I had to become their instant fan and share their existence, it you want to read more this page has a short article, a few more photos and links to some other places.