Designer Abayas: What’s Different?
While traditionally abayas are long, robe-like dresses worn by Muslim women, a new trend in designer abayas have just expanded the clientele for this typical item of clothing. An abaya is usually black in color and covers the entire body, leaving only the face, feet and hands visible. It is usually combined with a niqab or face veil and sometimes with long black gloves.
The guidelines for dress laid down by Islamic law require modesty and all abayas serve the purpose of covering a woman modestly. However, contemporary designer abayas are a far cry from the dull, typical traditional style abayas. Let’s look at some of these differences:
Fabric: While cotton and wool were perennially favorite fabrics in which abayas traditionally manifest themselves, modern-day abayas are made from light and flowing materials such as chiffon, georgette and crepe. Silhouettes, too, are changing with layered, twisted and knotted detailing being added to the plain lines of a traditional abaya.
Color: The traditional color for abayas is black. However, there exist a range of abayas that do not follow this tradition. Beige, brown, grey, pink, sky blue, green, white, maroon, purple and even two-tone color combinations are rapidly changing the way the colors of abayas are perceived.
Decoration: Embroidery has become almost standard on modern abayas. Done in single or multi-colored thread or gold thread, embroidery adds detail, sophistication and a touch of class to hitherto plain abayas. Top end designers even offer Swarovski crystal Abayas and lace embellishments. In fact, Swarovski has actually held competitions and workshops in countries such as Abu Dhabi to increase the use of Swarovski elements in designing abayas.
Processing your request, Please wait....
