Swathes of fabric in many colours
What do women wear in Muslim countries? Your answer to this question is probably rather inaccurate! Most foreigners tend to have very pre-conceived views about Muslim women and fashion!
With regards to clothing and fashion for women, let’s shed some light on what it is here, in Egypt, and indeed one way that women judge other women.
The hand-bag
Probably the most important item in a woman’s cupboard is her handbag, or should I say, are her handbags. Almost every woman you see on the street will be proudly displaying her handbag. And there are many important aspects to consider when purchasing a handbag:
1. SIZE: Egyptian woman are not shy when it comes to size! The bigger the better.
2. COLOUR: White or beige is the standard colour for summer. Black is normal, ordinary and even boring but often used by the “older” women. However, ideally, bags should be part of a whole colour statement: matching the head-scarf, shoes and blouse. The brighter the better!
3. BLING: Egyptian women love shiny things: so the more bling on the bag the better. Leather or plastic is not really an important distinction. Most women go for more bags at a cheaper price! Variety is the key: mix and match. It is definitely not one bag for all days, here in Egypt.
So, as a woman, do not come to Egypt with a small black bag, or worse, a manly looking backpack: the women here will think you have no fashion sense at all!
The head scarf
Many outsiders think of the head covering as a symbol of oppression! Not so here… the scarves worn by most of the younger women are bright, colourful, tied in many different ways and say a lot about the personality of the wearer. If you board the ladies’ metro carriage or the ladies’ tram carriage (if you are a woman of course) and have a good look at the scarves you can tell a lot about the wearer. This is an interesting past-time of mine: look at how it is folded and pinned, look at the type and number of pins used, how many scarves there are, how it is tied (under the neck or around the back.
A minority will wear the complete black covering, but then, look at the gloves, handbag and shoes! Even completely veiled in black, there is still a fashion statement!
Baubles, bangles and beads
Egyptian women love gold and their men like to give them gold and indeed MUST give them gold when they get engaged and married. So look at the wrists, fingers and necklaces of the engaged and married women: there is a story in each of the items. For the younger girls, they love necklaces, bracelets and rings: the shinier the better, the bigger the better, the more colours the better!
So if you want to blend in as much as you can, go bright, go bold, and get big handbag. But in addition, and most importantly, go conservative and moderate: revealing flesh is not conducive to building bridges of friendship across the cultures.