When a woman chooses to wear old and traditional dresses of Saudi Arabia knowledgeable Saudi women can easily distinguish by the style, cut or type of embroidery where the dress originated from. The traditional dresses of women in Saudi Arabia have distinctive styles, colors and patterns. There is such a difference that a friend of mine even produced a book in January 2000/Shawal 1420, entitled “Women Garments in Al-Qaseem.” The book begins with a brief forward by the author explaining the uniqueness of womens garments from Al Qaseem. The rest of the book is page after page of photos of the differing style dresses being modeled. Each dress has a caption which identifies the fabric of the dress, what it would be worn for as well as the age of the garment. The Saudi seamstresses are very talented and many of the dresses have fine exquisite embroidery. To accompany and showcase the style of the dress, the model is photographed wearing the dress in surroundings consistent with the date and time the dress was popular.
Every woman coming to Saudi Arabia should take advantage and purchase a ladies thobe. The long loosely flowing garment comes in all types of materials and styles. It is a dress that can be worn universally and not limited to within Saudi Arabia. Depending on the style chosen the ladies thobes come in every day way, night time wear, evening wear and wedding wear. During the Eid holidays which follow Ramadan and Hajj it is typical for women to wear their best ladies thobes and go pay respects to family and friends.
Filed under: culture, Dress, gender, Saudi Arabia, Saudi culture
Every women in my husbands family wears it during the first day of Eid,it should be worn with traditional jewelries too.I like wearing it,makes me feel special.
yeah, I have a few and so do my sisters and mom, they’re so pretty!I love the patterns.:-)
Many (Saudi) women will wear them daily and not just for Eid or other special occasions. The ladies thobes are very attractive and quite comfortable as well and come in a variety of many designs, fabrics and styles. I like to wear them when I am working on Saudi Television (as my flickr photos depict).
WOW!I’d love to see more photos,especially of the embroidery.Any mail order links?I have some of the folkwear patterns and have made several of the afgan style pattern over the years.Is a ladies thobe similar in style?
Always – glad you enjoyed! I’ll have to check about mail order links…www.desertstore.com comes to mind but have not looked before writing this to see if they carry thobes.
What I like about the ladies thobes is how they can vary from region to region in Saudi Arabia in the styles or type of embroidery which distinguishes the style and which region it has originated from. There are some similarities between afghani style patterns but many distinctions too.
In one way, the thobes reminded me of when the states had its “granny gown” fashion phase when women enjoyed wearing differing styles and colors of dresses that came all the way down to their ankles.
Always,
While I can not recommend or endorse, here are a few links for purchasing the ladies style thobe and other similar items:
http://catalogs.indiamart.com/products/ladies-kaftans.html
http://www.busytrade.com/products/3_146/Ethnic_Garment.html
http://crystallized.swarovski.com/Portal.Node/portal?gentics.am=content&p.contentid=10007.30540
I really like the dresses!
Thankyou for the links! Grannygowns circa 1850-60? That explains it then.I’ve always felt like I’m from another time LOL!
Glad you liked, Always!
Maybe because I love fashion and diplomacy, I feel that these garments should be showcased to the whole world. Someone with the guts to promote such garments can help to project the “soft power” of Saudi diplomacy.
If Queen Noor can promote Jordanian culture by inaugurating cultural festivals and female entrepreneurship by wearing locally made kaftans, we should Saudi women to wear such clothings.
Alternatively, whenever there’s a festival Saudi Arabia’s participating such as the World Expo, local culture and fashion, be it male or female garments should be promoted. Accessories are a must.
Maybe there should be a fashion festival for Muslimah clothings! Who knows? Great ideas will come out of such events where designers can create designs that’s appropriate yet fashionable to wear. Incorporating local designs will instil some sort of cultural/national pride.
*we should encourage…
Excellent suggestions Firdaus. Actually at least here in the GCC there are indeed a number of fashion festivals and shows. In regards to the States, I remember the Mosiac Foundation in Washington, DC having similar kind of events and activities.
The embroidery work and the colors and fabrics of these dresses are something I could look at for hours. Just last night, my son and I went looking in several shops, and I had to personally admire each and every garment in each shop! Lucky for me, my son is patient and actually enjoys seeing these works of art almost as much as I do!
I have worn it three times or maybe more but I love watching it on people!!
Al-Yashmak is a great example for it
Susie – you are right in that these ladies thobes are indeed works of art.
His Sweetheart – Is Al Yashmak a shop or a designer? Could you give any suggestions on the best places in your view where one can find beautiful and unique ladies thobes in Riyadh?
Is a Saudi woman expected to wear an abaya over these in public?
Karen – oh yes…and indeed they do!
However one exception I have made and thus far (fingers crossed) the muttawa have not challenged is in the colder winter months, rather than wear my abaya with a coat overtop (which looks pretty silly) I will wear my warm Saudi farwah instead.
Hi Carol,
Well, Al-Yashmac is the most beautiful one for me yet very expensive!! Whenever someone mentiones “Jalabyas” it means Al-Yashmac for Saudis!! It’s a shop not a designer I guess!! I was googling it for you and was glad to see they have an online store!! It will help you a lot. By the way, it’s there in Sahara mall, Gurnata mall, Al-Andalus mall, Al-Othaim mall.
http://www.alyashmac.com/index1.htm
. As for other places, I will ask a friend of mine who lives in Riyadh about it and get back to you
Oooh, love the dresses!
Actually these are gowns!
Funny: they are very like gothic gowns!
http://www.moonmaiden-gothic-clothing.co.uk/moonmaiden-index/gowns/gowns07_page1.htm
While these dresses can be works of art…they can also be very heavy when all is said and done from the extensive bead work etc…its like a mini workout to go about your daily routine wearing one of these…men have it easy in their light white thobes…sigh.
His Sweetheart – if you are in Riyadh we should get together and you and your friend who are knowledgeable of the unique ladies thobes can give me a thobe tour and education in one!
Coolred – In regards to the dresses with the extensive beadwork, I think of them more as special occasion outfits like the type I’d wear to a wedding or very special party…then I don’t mind dressing up, even if it is a bit heavy…. but would not want it as an everyday thing.
Wow…I just checked out the al yashmac link and the thobes (and abayas) are incredible!!
Coolred38; you never look at the bright side! Don’t forget there aren’t that many gym’s and means for women to have a good workout in KSA, so what can be more practical than hauling a few extra kilo’s of beads around???
Start your workout today!
See!!
I told you, it’s the best!!
There is another one but I failed to find it’s website!! It’s called “Al-Saafa”. It’s for a Bahraini designer called Kubra Qaseer. She designes for the royal family and some of the famous actresses and singers!!
Meeting you would be a pleasure but unfortunately, I live in the Eastern Region!!
Aafke – I like that perspective!
His Sweetheart – Thanks for the additional info! This is only part of why it is so important having Saudi females post here so the rest of us can learn from you! (whether shopping or culture!)
Do let me know if you travel from the EP to Nej’d!
Don’t know if you ever get to travel to Dubai but they have an amazing selection of jelabiyas on any budget. I’ve had the privilage of “brousing” through Al-Yashmac; defintly worth the investment. In the Mall of Emirates there is a store from Baharain that had beautiful jelabiyas and matching sandals. I’m sorry but the name escapes me.
Regardless, I’m sure that Saudia has no shortage of amazing jelabiyat as well. Here’s a link for some beautiful abayas……….they are getting to be as creative as the jelabiyas.
http://www.arabesque-hc.com/
Enjoy
Thank you Um Zacharia!
From my own experience I have found that throughout the GCC and Arab world one can find quite a selection of jelabiyas (ladies thobes). Even when I was in war-torn Iraq I managed to find some unique and exquisite jelabiyas in a souk. I have also had fun purchasing material and “notions” and designing my own as they really are pretty simple to make.
I will have to check out some of the links and see if there are close-ups. I can’t tell if it’s embroidery or beads or both. And wow, I can’t imagine wearing that UNDER those heavy black robes.
There can be embroidery, beads and both! And usually the abaya is only worn while traveling to the special function and then it comes off!
The Chicago Sun Times elected to carry this post:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=B6kcqoGH9Pf8Bzn7nRZ5sNNoCzAR4FopmFdQBBAHFxiss6qUQ
Asalaamu alakum I was wondering if anyone could send me links or any kind of information on purchasing abayah’s wholesale to sell here in the states have created a business for stay at home women selling moderate to high end garments for women and some mens garments.I have not found anything here in the states that I am interested in Please help Thank You in advance