Emirati woman wearing modern Abaya My family and friends, I suspect, would not consider me to be a connoisseur of fashion. None would ever hold me up as an example of sartorial elegance and I've learnt to live with the cutting comments from the women in my life. As far as what passes for "male fashion” is concerned, the very thought of it leaves me cold. Provided that clothing isn't too baggy and trousers aren't very low-slung, I don't care. If I had to describe my ideal look, the term "casually smart” just about fits the bill, though I only attain that on rare occasions.
That doesn't mean, however, that I don't notice, and have views on, the changing styles of female fashion. Hemlines go up and down and the latest shoes alternate between killer heels and little raised platforms (much more comfortable, surely?), but these generally attract little more than a passing glance or the occasional shocked gasp from me. After all, I've seen them come into, and go out of, fashion several times over the last few decades. Miniskirts were, to me, much more interesting in the 1960s than they are now, though that may say more about my age than about the attire itself.
What I do find interesting, however, is the way in which Emirati clothing and, in particular, the abaya, has changed over the years. The topic was the subject of a long feature in this newspaper earlier this month, which drew heavily on the work of a Zayed University academic. My own observations are far more random.
Back in the 1970s, when I first arrived in this country, abayas were generally simple, voluminous, undecorated, all-concealing, one-size-fits-all cloaks of black, often unkindly described by western expatriates as resembling tents. Over the years, though, they've evolved. Little decorations began to appear – embroidered patterns, also in black, for example, these being followed by various sparkly adornments, again in patterns. Lacy bits started to appear around the hem – all very tasteful, yet attracting a second glance, as, I am sure, was the intention of the wearer. Features like an attached girdle meant that ladies of the same height could look distinctly different, even from a distance.
For the most part, though – at least in my experience, and I am not a habitué of fashionable abaya shops – the garment remained black in colour, whether decorated or undecorated.
So the other day, I was amazed when a young Emirati colleague came into work wearing an abaya that was very different from the ones she normally wears. As usual, it was undecorated and voluminous, but, rather than being black, it was beige. We've been colleagues for several years, so I didn't feel shy about asking her about it.
Local customs dictate that an abaya should be concealing, she said, but there was no hard-and-fast rule that it should be black.
In fact, she said, she's had several new ones made, in a deep blue, in purple and even in apricot, all of which she plans to wear to work from time to time. And what, I asked, did her mother think of this innovation? Very supportive, I was reassured. Less keen on the idea, apparently, was one of her brothers-in-law, who preferred the traditional, plain, simple black.
That surprised me a bit. Having done no formal research into changing Emirati dress patterns, I had somehow assumed that a prime source of critical comment would be the elder females in the family, mothers, aunts and grandmothers.
My colleague isn't the kind of person to wear a lavishly decorated abaya, with bangles and beads, with oodles of embroidery, or even one with a diverse collection of soft-coloured square panels, rather than a single, plain colour, like another colleague. An understated calm elegance is more her style, whether in beige or in the colours I have yet to see.
She is firmly focused on her desire to preserve traditional values and customs.
Yet, as in so much else, those traditions need to move with the times. If they remain frozen and unchanging, while society evolves around them, they lose their meaning and will eventually fade away.
I applaud the inventiveness of my colleague and of the other young Emirati women experimenting with different colours and styles of abaya. Others, more attuned to fashion than I, will have their own views on whether the new styles work but, regardless, it's good to see them.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE's history and culture.
Source: The National