What’s hot and what’s not; Hijab fashions

The doughnut appeared dwarfed in the man’s hand. Sat on the table closest to the street, the delicate café chair creaked under his great weight; “Well what do you think of that mate ?”, he said to his companion, another middle aged man sweating in the heat of the midday sun. The First man was gesturing towards a group of teenage girls, clad in only bikinis which just about covered their meager developments into womanhood. The two sets of wrinkled eyes dragged across the exposed skin, and then agreed it was an inappropriate display; “I hope that my youngest, Kate, would have the sense to put on a t-shirt at least when she got off the beach, I wouldn’t want her walking around like that”.

What women do or do not wear has always been debated. More is less, less is more, to cover up or to bear all?, liberation or exploitation that is the question?. To any young girl this can be a minefield of possible fashion faux pas, to a Muslim girl however, whether or not to cover up is a personal decision which is increasingly taking on wider political connotations.

There is a wealth of current debate all over the world regarding the role of the traditional Muslim Hijab in multicultural societies. In a post 9/11 world many traditional Muslim practices have been brought under suspicion, and this modest form of dress has become a political tool:

“it [The Hijab] is bound to make better, positive relations between the two communities more difficult. It was such a visible statement of separation and of difference.”said British politician Jack Straw this week.

So why does this piece of cloth supposedly offend the sensibilities of so many? Would Mr straw be equally uncomfortable having a conversation with one of the teenagers who has decided to cover their whole face with a pair of ultra hip super sized sun glasses? Surely clothing is up to the individual regardless of their reasoning?

“The extent to which modesty manifests in Muslim’s style of dress and its form, depends on a number of factors such as personal choice and interpretation” say The Islamic Women’s Welfare Council of Victoria.

For Muslim women in the Western world veiling is about choice. This choice is however not just about how they interpret this commitment to their god, but also shopping for the Hijab which compliments their features. There is an increasing market for online fashion stores catering to muslim needs:

“This website is exclusively devoted to those women who believe modesty is beautiful and good. In our line of garments we are presenting all western style clothes, taken from mainstream fashion, which meet the Muslim guidelines of modesty”…………
This feature would aim to address the Hijab at a more personal level, and therefore take it out of the political sphere and into the context of the women themselves. The feature will look at the history and definitions of the multiple head dresses, what they mean to the individual and also take a look at the Headwear fashion industry, such as Headwear Heaven and Hijab fashions

It would be interesting to get some different opinions from Muslim Women’s groups ,such as The National Muslim Women’s Network, on the westernization of the Hijab through fashion stores.

The Muslim human rights commission provides some interesting stats on the Hijab and who is wearing what.