Arab Fashion: Why it Matters to Understand Their Culture
By: Sophia Segal/Arab America Contributing Writer
Arab clothing is not only for fashion, it’s part of their culture, religion and faith. It’s about understanding someones life the way they live it than assuming that it’s wrong or that a person doesn’t like it because other people don’t understand where this culture is coming from. Now a days there is no place for someone to be single minded.
Fashion
It’s a huge part of our society today. We have fashion weeks all over the world showing us what these top designers have created. Every year the anticipation of the Oscars, Golden Globes, Tonys, Academy Awards, and many more are a big part of our Sunday evening just so we can watch the Red Carpet and be awe of the dresses and clothing these actors/actresses wear. We look forward to the Met Gala because it’s the definition of over the top creativity. But clothing wasn’t always designed to keep up with the new fashion trends, it was once used to make sure you were warm in the winter and cool in the summer, it was the protection that was needed not the style. And every country and its people learned and adapted to their weather conditions.
In the Arab World, clothing was originally designed to withstand the conditions of the desert. Heat, dust, and the blazing sunshine gave the traditional garments of the Arab culture to be Loose-fitting and cover much of the body. They were made accordingly to what was available such as linen, cotton, and wool.
Though with the expansion of westward Europe it took much of the fashion industry from Ancient times to pre Ottoman Empire and post World War II. But Arab fashion rarely changed through history due to the guidance of the Quran.
In modern regimes it has been insisted on the strict veiling of women in public, the common names are burka, chador, and hijab. These dressing have drawn attention in recent years because groups of people believe it to be demeaning or controlling. Even some European countries have attempted to outlaw aspects of Islamic dressing, like covering the face. It strains from the misconception of Islamic rules of dress.
In reality, the Islamic faith of women doesn’t want to bring attention to one’s individual self. It’s for modesty, Muslim women generally don’t resent the restrictions placed by their religion.
Covering the body
For women the standards of modesty call for the coverings of the body, particularly the chest. In the Quran, it asks for women to draw their head-coverings over their chests. It can be interpreted to cover the bodies besides the face and hands but for the more conservative women, they can cover the whole body including the face and hands with a Chador. While the men wear loose fitted clothes covering the body from the neck to ankles.
Loose-fitted clothing takes precedent in the rules of dress to not show an outline of one’s body. Skin-tight clothing is discouraged for both men and women. As is the thickness for clothing, it is not modest if one can see through clothing, it can be considered as nudity.
Islam encourages one another to be proud of who they are. Women should be proud of their femininity and not dress like men. And men should be proud of their masculinity so they don’t imitate women in their dress.
Being non-muslim it can be hard to remember that the faith of Islam is not restricting to the participates. The Quran emphasizes that if you’re Muslim you should be proud of it. One can still do everyday activities even with the requirements of clothes.
Clothing is only one aspect of Islam there is much more to it. If you want to learn more
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