“Who said I can't wear something that makes me look chic and feel comfortable at the same time,” asked Yasmine Mohammed, 27, in a comment posted on Facebook. The accompanying photograph featured Mohamed dressed in a traditional abaya with friends in a Zamalek café in Cairo. “As women now are speaking up about their desires, it seems it is their wish to feel comfortable in their dress at all times, whether at home or outside it,” Mohamed explained to Al-Ahram Weekly in answer to the question of why abayas, a kind of long robe, have made a comeback this Ramadan. “Wearing an abaya seems like a good idea. Who wants a belly stuffed with Ramadan iftar food squashed into jeans? It's never funny when the button pops out in the sight of others,” commented Manar Al-Guindi, Mohamed's friend on Facebook. Fashion designer Rania Al-Sherif nods in agreement with these words. Al-Sherif specialises in designing cloaks that provide for a woman's need to feel both comfortable and beautiful in her attire. “This Ramadan, the demand for abayas has increased substantially,” Al-Sherif told the Weekly. “Many clients are even placing orders for abayas for different occasions.” The abaya is a simple, loose over-garment. Originally worn by women in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa, they also appeal to Egyptian women who have added their own touches to the traditional long cloak. Until the 1970s, every woman's wardrobe in the Middle East contained at least one abaya, but then the fashion died away. The recent hot weather seems to have led to a comeback in abayas, many of them featuring stylish designs, this Ramadan. Whether worn to attend a party at a friend's, in a Ramadan tent, to go out with friends or to receive guests at home, an abaya seems to be the dress of choice for many Egyptian women, especially during Ramadan, states Al-Sherif. “The trend is not limited to Egyptian women. It is spreading like wildfire across the Middle East this season, and the contest between fashion designers to attract customers has become quite a fight,” Al-Sherif said. Traditional abayas were simple garments, usually coming in one or two colours and mostly made of cotton or linen. Today's abayas are different, Al-Sherif says, and since Ramadan this year falls in summer, they have become a mass of bright colours. Though it's a fact that black is still the king of colours, this Ramadan “pink, yellow, green and blue also dominate. You can even find six or more colours merged in one abaya,” Al-Sherif said. Al-Sherif prefers cotton, silk, satin or chiffon materials for abayas. “These are the favourite textiles for summer abayas that give the traditional over-garments their oriental look,” she explained. To flatter your appearance, big long necklaces with coloured stones can give a new and attractive look to an abaya. “If you wear a single-colour abaya, you might consider wearing a wide, ornamented belt. The belt will both help to breathe life into the garment and compliment your figure,” advises Al-Sherif. However, if an abaya is woven in Bedouin fashion, which is usually ornamented and multi-coloured or adorned with studs, Al-Sherif says that long earrings will do the trick. Whether or not an abaya is the answer to a woman's desire to mix comfort and elegance in her attire, it remains to be seen whether this trend for wearing traditional clothing will continue after the end of Ramadan.
