05 January 2011

An Old Outfit

I was browsing through some of my old sets on Polyvore, cringing at many I had made over two years ago, but then I found quite a few that I still like.. like this one. Perfect if you are a lucky sod in the tropic of Capricorn and it's summer right now.

Pearls

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, im not a muslim, but i am interested in Islam and im DEFINATLY interested in modest dressing. Lately ive been trying to dress more modestly. Usually I wear long tunic tops or dresses over trousers or jeans. I prefer to wear skirts because i find them more modest,feminine and cool in the summer. But some how i always seem to end up looking a bit un-coordinated and ''gypsy''. Its not so bad in the summer, but it doesnt always go down well at work. I was wondering if you have any tips for wearing skirts but looking smart and without looking like ive just walked out of an 1800s costume drama or gypsy caravan?
I dont wear a scarf yet - but im thinking of starting to cover my hair this year so anything you could suggest would be really usefull as i can never seem to get it quite right :( many thanks. Salaam aleikum.

StylishMuslimah said...

Anon: Wa alyakom al Salam! I absolutely love that some non Muslim women choose to break the mould and dress modestly just because they want to, it's really inspiring :)

What you are probably doing is putting too many loose fitting clothes together. With a skirt for work, it needs to be structured and of she same material smart trousers are made of. Don't wear a summer skirt with a long, loose top on it's own! It will drown you and will look gypsy-ish. Make sure you put something small and defined over the top like a cropped jacket.

The best (and often easier said than done) thing to do is buy a simple, good quality long skirt and pair it with staple smart items like a blouse (tucked in) and a neat cardi or matching suit jacket over the top.

I think the main thing to bare in mind when dressing modestly, especially for work, is that you don't have to wear a tent to be decently dressed. Make sure one item is structured or fitted (but not tight) in order to balance the other loose clothes out.

For some ideas, check oun my polyvore page, I have a folder for skirts and dresses and there are a few smart outfits in there. Just click on the outfit above and it will take you to polyvore.com.

Hope this helped :D
Zaenab
Xxx

Anonymous said...

Salaam,
Thanks for that - i found it really usefull ! :) i think thats what i have been doing - wearing a kurti/tunic top with a loose skirt - that kind of thing. Im small as well and i didnt think that i could just be drowning myself in clothes...

i never actually thought about the material - im usually just so relieved to get my hands on any skirt that is long enough but its definatly something ill consider in the future .. i didnt think about tucking in shirts - but ill definatly play around with it ..
i think part of it is that im just really bad at this - modest dressing requires so much more thought than just throwing on jeans and a top - but its definatly worth it:)!

i wanted to ask - i hope you dont mind- how do muslims feel about non muslims wearing headscarves?? i would like to start covering my hair lightly with a scarf but im worried about causing offense.. i think the islamic style of dressing and covering is beautifull and id like to wear it more often - but i dont want to offend people - especially since i know how important hijab is to muslims..

thanks again for taking the time to reply to me - your advice was really usefull...

salaam,
Anna

StylishMuslimah said...

Anna.. Your question made me smile :) What have Muslim women, or any other women for that matter got to do with what choose to wear? As long as you are happy and comfortable with what you are doing, that's what matters, whether you are choosing to do "good" or "bad".

I guess what you will have to be prepared for is people ASSUMING you are a Muslim. When I started wearing the scarf, I noticed a slight but clear difference in the way people were towards me, but by that time I wasn't too bothered by what people thought

Did you know that the Virgin Mary is highly highly respected in Islam, in fact she is considered the best ("sayidat" in Arabic) of all the worlds' women who ever lived or ever will live? She wore hijab. She was a Jew.

Female modesty and hijab is something that existed welllll before Islam came down, so you don't have any reason to worry about what Muslimahs will think and the culture of covering is just as much your as it is theirs.

On a lighter note, I genuinely think adopting the hijab is analogous to burning your bras lol. But it takes a lot of will power and confidence - just make sure you are totally sure before you do it :) good luck!! xxxx

Yukirat said...

I know this has nothing to do with fashion, but have you been following what is going on in Egypt? It is absolutely riveting. I would be so interested in knowing your thoughts about it.

StylishMuslimah said...

Yukirat: Aww I'm surprised anyone would really care about my thoughts on anything let alone politics lol, but I was actually planning to post something about that and Tunisia once my exams are out of the way, which is Thursday :) it couldn't come sooner!!!

In short though, I detest Hosni with a passion and wish he would eff off and the USA should stick its great, slimy nose out of Egypts' business. Were it not for the spit of land that calls itself Isreal, the US would not give two hoots about some fat 86yo Arab leader.

:) Salam

Fati said...

summer sounds amazing right now. loving your blog style!