By Juwaher Alharmoodi
DUBAI – High neck, long sleeve tops, palazzo pants, and turban on the head; these clothes are known as “modest fashion”. They became a big hit in the latest trends in fashion. Modest fashion is literally a term that means to be fashionable while maintaining modest provisions of being covered. Modest fashion has a diverse collection of styles and trends starting from headscarves to long pants.
Before many years, Muslim women were not likely to wear pants with hijab. However, people have changed, so they are wearing it now and it became trendy. Modest dresses became one of the most popular trends in fashion, not only among Muslim women, but also for non-Muslims.
Famous designers and brands were not concerned about modest clothes. They were always focusing on miniskirts and short dresses. Now they started to consider the culture of their customers from the Middle East, especially the wealthy Arab Gulf countries.
Turban and headscarves are the best ways for Muslim girls to cover their hair. Therefore, there are many stylish ways of wearing them to be a fashion icon. Beauty tips and lifestyle videos are so popular nowadays. YouTube bloggers have released thousands of videos about how to wear hijab and turbans in several ways. They use more than one headscarf and create a very fashionable way of wearing it.
Ascia Al Faraj known by her blogging name Ascia AKF, a Kuwaiti fashion blogger and a fashion designer, was not the first one who wears a turban, but she was the one who spread it and made it trendy. Ascia has a unique fashion taste in wearing modest clothes. She attracts all young ladies by her one of a kind fashion style. Turban became so famous, and women started wearing it because it looked so beautiful on Ascia.
RIVA is a store where you can find clothes from Ascia Akf’s collections. It is the perfect place to find fashionable modest clothes for Muslim women. RIVA has designed their clothes specifically for veiled ladies. They have wide long dresses, pants, skirts, and a countless collection of decent clothes.
Today, social media is one of the top sites for fashion tracking. Many fashionistas on social media represent modest fashion as it became so popular. Everyone is interested in decent clothes and want to be fashionable and elegant.
Abayas are also considered as a modest fashion item. Every few months there are different designs, styles, and cuts of abaya trends. Abaya became more fashionable than ever before. Now it has colorful embroideries, side pockets, different textiles, and light-colored fabrics instead of black. Moreover, a lot of local designers are focusing on selling chic unique abayas, and it became a successful business.
Before, not all Arab Gulf women can give up wearing abaya abroad because of the lack of available modest fashion outfits. Currently, with these various fashionable modest clothes, Arab Gulf women do not have to wear abaya when traveling overseas. Now, when you go to London in the summer holidays, you will see Arab Gulf women are competing on who is more fashionable.
Overall, modest fashion became a widespread trend among ladies, especially Arab Gulf women. Each item plays its own role in giving the style a taste of fashion. Designers and brands started to design and sell modest clothes, and open stores that are specified for veiled ladies. Modest fashion makes Muslim women feel that decency does not contradict with stylish trend.
This story was originally published on Nov. 28, 2017. It was re-uploaded on Jan. 2, 2021.
