ISLAMIC CLOTHING

Good Way to discuss about muslim women fashion

There's been something of a fashion revolution among muslim women in the last few years. Puritanical habit-like headdresses have been replaced with swathes of expertly draped cloth in bold prints which refuse to conform to stereotypical portrayals of the timid and oppressed headscarf wearer.  

The big, bold, zebra-striped, brightly colored hijab has become a fixture on our high streets, more often than not teamed with a pair of over sized sunglasses and perhaps a faux-fur gilet, while its wearer exudes buckets of confidence and demands to be noticed. Gone are the days when wearing hijab was synonymous with looking dowdy or prudish, and when embracing the prescriptions of Muslim dress code meant renouncing any sense of style and fashion.

The transformation in fashion for Muslim women has largely been due to a grassroots network of women giving style advice online through their blogs and YouTube channels. The YouTube hijab tutorial, detailing the steps of pinning and styling the headscarf in order to achieve the latest silhouette, has become something of a genre. So much so that now even spoofs of the genre have emerged. There's nothing quite like an iconoclastic hijab-tutorial parody for shattering stereotypes. “Not only do I have a sense of style -- I also have a sense of humor, while fully embracing wearing my headscarf,” it proclaims.

Muslim women making a fashion statement

Sunday's Zaman spoke to some of the women who have played a leading role in this movement. Jana Kossaibati, editor of Hijab Style, which she started in September 2007 and which she calls “the UK's first style guide for Muslim women,” told Sunday's Zaman that there are now a large number of annual events, fashion shows, magazines and blogs dedicated to Muslim women's fashion. “Hijab Style is like a central hub which brings these all together,” she said. Asked why there is now so much interest in blogs and YouTube tutorials giving style advice for Muslim women, she commented: “For many years Muslim women struggled to find appropriate clothing in mainstream stores. There was also little or no representation in mainstream media. Now that social media like blogs and YouTube has become popular and accessible, Muslim women are making use of this to create their own space to share images and ideas which are relevant to them.”

Discussing how fashion for Muslim women has changed over the last few years and how it has become an international movement, Kossaibati said: “There are a much larger number of companies catering to Muslim women now than ever before, many of which are based in Europe and the US. The Muslim fashion scene has also become more cosmopolitan; people are connecting with each other from around the world. For example, Malaysian designers are taking part in UK fashion shows.”

Hana Tajima is a designer and visual artist whose blog style covered.com about hijab style and Muslim fashion gathered a huge following. She launched an acclaimed women swear label called MAYSAA in 2008 and has had her work featured in fashion and style magazines internationally. Tajima told Sunday's Zaman that part of her inspiration has come from her bi-cultural Japanese and English background. Commenting on MAYSAA, she said: “I can't remember a time that I wasn't designing and making clothes, failures and all, and the idea of beauty in Islam was fascinating to me even before I became Muslim. MAYSAA was really a manifestation of all the different parts of the world that I had experienced so far.” Although Tajima has moved on from MAYSAA to other projects, she is still designing and making clothes on a smaller scale. “It feels good to be closer to the things I'm making,” she said.

Discussing how fashion for Muslim women has evolved, Tajima said: “There is an openness in the way Muslim women are approaching fashion now. It feels like the UK, as a microcosm of so many Islamic cultures, has been at the forefront of this. It is no longer about the clothes your parents wear, but you see women borrowing ideas from cultures not their own, or of the places that have shaped them. There is also no way to downplay the influence the Internet has had on this. Blogs and video tutorials allow a sharing of information on a scale that hasn't been possible before. Most importantly, it's information that comes from a direct source. We are human, and for the most part we are looking for connection, and in spite of all the obvious ironies, the Internet provides a very basic level of connection.”

Aalia Akhtar's YouTube channel giving hijab tutorials, which she started in 2010, has over 25,000 subscribers and has received well over 7 million views. She runs a company called Princess Rockz selling hijab and accessories, and last year published a book called “Aalia's Hijab Styling Guide.” Commenting on her YouTube channel she told Sunday's Zaman: “It was really just to show a few different styles. I didn't really think it would be so popular or that people would be as interested as they are. So that's how it started and it just went from there.” According to Akhtar, Muslim fashion can play a role in counteracting Islamaphobia. “It helps to break down the misconceptions and the ideas that people have about Muslim women. I think it's an excellent way to help people understand the fact that as Muslim women we're not oppressed, we have a sense of fashion, and just like any girl we like to dress up and show our identity through our clothes.”

Commenting on the fact that some Muslims criticize the idea of Muslim fashion, Akhtar said: “Some people say that hijab tutorials might be immodest because hijab isn't meant to be about fashion. That's one point of view. My personal opinion is that it encourages and empowers Muslim women to wear the hijab. That's what I hope to do through my YouTube channel -- to empower women. I receive a lot of messages, as do the other people who make hijab tutorials, from people saying that it's encouraged them and that their esteem was really low, but that by watching the hijab tutorials they have seen that they can make the hijab work within their life.”

Photography student Saima Chowdhury found her way into blogging and posting YouTube tutorials about Muslim fashion through the unusual route of comedy. She started posting comedy sketches on YouTube several years ago at the age of 16. Her “sexy hijab tutorial” parody, in which she piles brightly colored and animal-print headscarves onto her head in a bid to get the most voluminous hijab possible, has garnered over 335,000 views. “I mean I've only used seven hijabs for this look, but you guys can use a whole lot more and make it look even sexier,” she quips, ending with, “So I really hope I helped you get the girl or the guy of your dreams!” Speaking about her comedy channel on YouTube, she told Sunday's Zaman, “I generally like to make people laugh, so I thought, ‘you know what, I'm going to try doing that.' Then after that, I got all the style questions. From that it led to my style channel and people wanted me to do blog posts about outfits, so now it's a mix of both -- I do comedy stuff and I also do style stuff.”