Fashion still respecting their religious requirements and

Fashion is asubstantial issue in a daily life of every woman, including the ones that areexperimenting in different ways to express themselves while still respectingtheir religious requirements and most of the time it is how modestly you comeacross as a person towards everyone. It is a challenge of how we see ourselveswithin this world, this is mostly shown through how we dress. In fact, it hasbecome a must for many young Muslims as they feel the need to fit in with therest of the ‘trendy’ hijabis (women that wear a hijab are named as hijabis) bystaying on top with the trend of ‘modest fashion’. Which is why it is importantto know and understand about this rapidly growing market of modest fashion, inthe West, and if it really is an evolution and that it is at its highest pointat the moment and will become a norm soon or is it just another fad that will diedown in a few years’ time, just like any other trends do. The focus throughoutthis essay will be going through various aspects of modest fashion, as to howthe hijab (referred to a headscarf) has come to the mainstream, what has beeninvolved in the ‘trend’ in recent years and how people think of this or whatthey feel about combining faith and fashion together. There will be links madeto fashion bloggers, designers, journalists and even authors on whether thisnew modest fashion is a positive movement or is this a negative thing and itwill be reflected against the principals of Islam and its teachings.   Modest fashionis a fashion movement that basically gives you more coverage, but you still areable to look stylish and of course, for most woman, are able to stay within one’sreligious boundaries.

I believe that clothing is the easiest way to informpeople who you are and what you value. It is amutable concept that changes over time and is diversely adopted, rejected,altered by or in some cases imposed on different groups of women.1 Thisis aimed at many Muslim women’s thoughts and beliefs that each and everyone hastheir own personal style and taste towards this subject. In my opinion, this isreally a personal thing, it’s a word that has different meanings for everyone, yetstill similar in the bigger picture, i.

e. a woman is wearing a trouser and a loosetop and is fully covered, some woman still wouldn’t think that is modest asthey believe that the traditional long dress called the abaya is a modest dress.But this still comes under the same category as they are loosely fittedgarments.  Some people believe that thiswhole concept of looking good and staying on top of trends is wrong as it movesaway from the actual purpose of modesty. Most Muslimwoman, are not that happy with the rise of this movement, there has started tobecome a division between the Muslim sisterhood.

Criticism and judgements arebeing passed around within these Muslim women about each other. The speech of’they’ and ‘we’ is deeply felt these days as they divide each other and notaccept each other as one ummah (community).  Nowcoming to the hijab. This has become one of the main reason for the build-up ofthe modest fashion today. The hijab has taken a new role within the growingpopularity of modest fashion. We are witnessing the headscarf being turned intoa piece of fashion accessory and most of the younger generations are forgettingthe real reason behind the headscarf. In the Holy Quran, it is stated that thewomen are supposed to be modest through the way they dress, the way they speak andmost importantly through the way they behave. The Quran states to “Tell the…woman to lower their gazeand be modest…”2 Now, modesty plays ahuge role in Islam, especially in a woman’s life.

Many younger (female) generationshave made the headscarf into a piece of fashion statement rather than areligious piece of garment that is there acting as a barrier. At the moment, someof these younger generations are following the trend of hijab and putting it onin different styles and techniques, but when that ‘trend’ finishes do you thinktheir scarves will still be on their heads? I have also personally experienced thatthe higher a woman gets in their career the less of the hijab (barrier,modesty) is there. They are starting to be more revealing and forgetting thevalue of modesty within their religion. I think that this modesty movement has spread throughout, and the Muslimwoman are wearing their scarves over their heads, in a few years’ time, at therate of how the Muslimahs’ are going, there would be less women wearing thehijab and become more revealing.

I fear that the word modesty will soon becomea whole new word with a different meaning to it.  There has been a fear factor around the Muslimdress, such as the burka or the jilbab, because of what people have been seeingin the news. After the 9/11 the debates, which have been acceleratedand intensified, focus on the apparent rights and wrongs of headscarves andface vails.

3 These attacks and blames that the whole Muslimcommunity got was starting to impact the younger generations especially the onesthat were going to schools, colleges and universities. Because of all this criticisingand being blamed for something they individually haven’t done, they started toblend in while still wearing their headscarves. So, they started to use fashionas their weapon of freedom to get away from all this negativity. But, when everything is going smoothlythen another attack happens and freshens the wounds of many and this happens continuously,and blaming everyone in the Muslim community, who are also affects them. To getthemselves back up some Muslimahs used the internet and started blogging their experiencesof not being able to fit in or not being able to find good clothing that is suitablewithin their religious requirements.

By doing this people from different partsof the country and out of country could connect with them easily and getinspired by how the bloggers dress. They started to become the new role modelsfor the young Muslim women. The internet had played a big part for the growth of modestfashion. In fact, it was the only way Muslimahs could express themselves and getheard.  This is reallya golden age for the modest fashion sector. The demands are rising immensely,for modest clothing, mostly from the Western side. Based on a report given by the’State of the Global Islamic Economy’ the Muslim customers have spent around$243 billion in 2015 and is now estimated to $368 billion by 20211.

The mainstream retailers and designers such as Dolce & Gabanna, TommyHilfiger and H are taking the advantage of that and creating itemskeeping the modest dressers in mind as this is beneficial for these high streetbrands and the designers.