Confusing hijabs
May 19th, 2008One of the difficulties of being a Muslim of Anglo ethnicity, is that there is no normative Anglo Muslim dress. You know, in the way that Pakistani Muslims have shalwar khameez or Indonesian Muslims have baju kurang. Although, maybe there is a normative Anglo Muslim dress: maybe skirt, shirt and headscarf. (What do you think?)
At anyrate, like most Anglo or convert Muslims I know, my cupboard contains a variety of different styles from different ethnic backgrounds, incidentally almost all of them bought online. Some days I look like a try-hard Indian, other days a pale-skinned Palestinian. A very close friend of mine brought me back a real sari from Sri Lanka, but I’ve only ever worn it once, as I look like I’m going to a costume party. I can’t quite pull any of these ethnic dresses off with any sophistication *sigh*.
Today, running my fingertips over the rows of the hanger shoulders in my cupboard. I was going over to my mum and dad’s place for afternoon tea and needed something relatively casual. So, I pulled out a salwar I had bought online, a white cotton one with small brown square embroidered patches. Matched it with some beige linen pants and a throw-over cotton scarf.
The afternoon was lovely and we left later than expected, so we decided to get take-out rather than madly dash home and cook. Driving up and down a popular restaurant strip, I told Abu Yasmin to pull over, I’d pop into the Afghan kebab shop.
Inside, the kebab shop owner–a very friendly gentleman–asked me if I’d ever been to India or Pakistan. I said no, but I knew what he was trying to ask: “then why the heck are you wearing a salwar and scarf?” I pre-empted him and said: “I’m a convert.” He was very excited and gracious at this news and gave me complimentary Afghan mantu (dumplings).
The clothes we wear send messages out to the world. Unfortunately, many of the clothes that are styled as ‘Western’ are not suitable for Muslim women who wish to be religiously observant. It’s not impossible, but it’s more difficult. Sleeve lengths that are three-quarters long, skirts with slits in them, tops that bare part of the chest and cleavage, pants that are form-fitting. All of these have to be layered with other clothes, to cover as a Muslim woman wants to cover.
One of the things I like about many ethnic clothes from Muslim majority cultures, is that they cover appropriately, and they are comfortable. I would like to see more ‘Western’ style clothes that cater to what religiously conservative women - whether Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim or other - want to wear.
A Melburnian Muslim convert blogs religion, academia and life in general.
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That’s why I love Shukr clothes…beautiful, anglo AND modest!
I had several shalwar kammez that I bought in Dandy and I gave them away because yes, i felt like “I was going to a costume party…but it’s just because they are not so commonly worn by non-desi’s. I wear abaya quite comfortably.
Yeah, I think of all the different types of ethnic dress, abaya is quite versatile. My problem with Shukr is they don’t carry my size *sigh*.
Tracky dacks, thongs and a hoody are not modest enough?
(just playing - my wife can agree with you wholeheartedly)
Oh that is VERY Australian style hahaha.
I’m getting the hang of it - I no longer wear sandals or thongs with socks under.
Oh that’s right, I forgot you’re an import
I’m a male anglo non-Mulsim who has worn various Moroccan djellaba in public for years now only because they are comfortable. Practically everyone in my neighborhood has seen me in them so the novelty is long gone and its no big deal. It’s only an occasional stranger who asks what I’m wearing. Most who do ask seem a little nervous asking so I try to put them at ease. I hope I’m not offending anyone from Morocco by adopting one of their better ideas.
Hi Dwight, did you come across them thru travelling? I agree - clothes from traditional Muslim countries are often so much more comfy than Western suits, pants, skirts etc.
It all started many years ago when I was invited to a costume party and had nothing appropriate. A friend who had taken a vacation in Egypt came to my rescue by giving me a galabeya that he no longer knew what to do with. It was loose and very comfortable. I wore it around the house for some time, but unfortunately it wasn’t well made and the seams soon fell hopelessly apart. Then a native Moroccan man, who came to the USA with his family as a boy, moved into an apartment a block away from my home. On hot summer evenings I would see him out front and converse when he immerged from his un-air-conditioned apartment. He always wore a gandoura that looked very comfortable. That insired me to start seriously exploring Moroccan clothing. From my own experience I’ve learned a lot about wearing various styles of ethic clothing as an anglo within Western culture which I can relate if you are interested.
–Dwight
Assalaamu aleykum,
I love wearing abaya and jilbab, but really I think those look just as out of place here as salwar kameez, honestly. Maybe it’s because I have an American prof who wears salwar kameez all the time (she studies Hinduism and spent several years living in India) so it’s not that odd to me to see people wearing it or something? I mostly wear jilbab but I still feel out of place in it - I try not to let it bother me and I’ve become really comfortable in it despite people’s reactions. I will be ordering my first salwar kameez next week so insha’Allah
we’ll see how that goes, LOL. But I have oddly been mistaken for being Arab by Arabs before - as in, had people try to start conversations with me in Arabic - which is almost more unsettling than the, “Where are you from?”…(here)…*jaw on the floor* expressions I get from both Muslims and non-Muslims. It doesn’t really bother me anymore (no matter who it comes from) but it is occasionally amusing because despite the fact that I look about as Irish as one possibly can in a headscarf, the headscarf often -seriously- distorts my features, apparently, LOL.
Maybe I just have Arabophilia issues (as Peaceful Muslimah posted about recently in her blog, I think) or something, but I’m much more comfortable in an abaya than I am in a skirt and a long top, in terms of how I feel about modesty and being covered. I still wear pants and long tops or skirts and long tops occasionally, but I would much rather prefer to wear an abaya. I’m not sure if it’s just because of feeling out of place in a fashion industry that doesn’t care about modest dress or women who wear modest dress, or because my Western/European-descent/American identity isn’t particularly strong or concrete in any way, or what.
I’m truly impressed by you folks who have mastered the art of salwar kameez. I tried a long time ago and quickly gave it up. It was just too complicated trying to use tiolet facilities–keeping it off a dirty floor, keeping the tail from ending up in the bowl, or worse. I’m a man, so maybe it’s easier for women. Maybe it’s easier using the squat-left-hand-and-facet facilities in some contries. Maybe I’m just ignorant on how things are done. Anyway, I’m impressed by your skill! They are quite comfortable and, modesty aside, can be beautiful on women. –Dwight