Although our downtown expedition did not produce the desired findings: Sayidaty English, I did finally encounter another Moroccan artifact that I’ve been searching for for about 8 months now. If you walk down the street and actually study the hijab styles of Moroccan women, you’ll keenly notice they have the most varied styles you can imagine. Some wear it only partly covering their hair, leaving the front of the hair in view, some wear a one-piece Al Amira, and very few wear a two-piece Al Amira. Some ladies wear just their hair wrapped in a bandana style wrap and others wrap the hijab to the back and cover their neck with the extra fabric. Once, I even saw an Asian woman wearing a visor style veil which I actually think is really cute and smart (and I’ve seen them on sale at Al Manal Mall). I think the style is popular in Asian countries, or maybe it’s Singapore specifically because that’s where I’ve found photos of it the most. The two most popular scarf styles in Morocco are the triangle pinned or tied under the chin (most common among older women) and the rectangular or Shayla wrapped around and pinned finally mid-way on the top of the head (most common among younger women). I recently learned this one myself and really like the way it creates a soft drap in the front around my neck.
However, in studying the many hijab styles of Moroccan women, I have notice one particular style that many seem to wear. I call it the Moroccan hijab because I’ve never found it for sale on any website nor have I been able to distinguish it on any picture of a veiled woman I’ve ever come across. For me, it is an ingenious invention because it has the ease and comfort of an Al-Amira hijab, while providing the look of a wrapped hijab. The Kuwaiti Wrap is similar, but it’s more like a one-piece Al-Amira with a long cloth attached at the neck to wrap around the head.
The Moroccan hijab is basically a long rectangular piece of cloth like a Shayla hijab with the extra piece of cloth to cover the foreheard that is found on a one-peice Al-Amira. The Moroccan is sewn closed just below the chin so you put it on like a one-peice and the long end of the cloth hangs down for you to wrap up over your head and tuck in or pin under the chin or on the side of your face. They come in a variety of colors, fabrics, patterns and some (like the one I got) have lace trim on the forehead cover and the tail end for added decoration.
As many women as I’ve seen wearing them, and as many hijab store as there are I have never found them for sale until the other day. We were walking in an unusually empty Souk Semarra and the clear pathways gave us time to actually see the stuff the stores had on display. I found a mannequin head with a mint green one wrapped and immediately tugged my husband’s arm to show it to him. We asked if the merchant had any other colors and he pulled out black, white, turquoise and off-white versions. I immediately went for the off-white version that had light brown and cream lacey flowers which I knew would match my new brown djellaba. He asked for 30 DH and I think my husband tried to bargain (he always does), but really 30 DH for a hijab is a really good price as is. The material is jersey knit, so it feels so soft and comfortable around my face, but the lace makes it a little more elegant and goes with the silk satin djellaba I’ll be wearing it with.
I hope I can find more of these to bring back to the United States with me because for those of us who like comfort and style (and not always messing with a whole bunch of pins and tucks), these really are a perfect solution.
In other hijab news, I found a few great new websites for my hijabi sisters to check out:
Check out this video on Hijab Style: http://hijabstyle.blogspot.com/2009/10/tea-project-on-hijab.html
And, Hijabs High has been up and running for a few months, but I just found it the other day. It posts daily pictures of women in different hijab styles from all over the world!
We Love Hijab is also a good website for hijabi’s that like to be stylish and modest with clothes sold at mall and departments stores in America. It’s great for inspiration and has just launched a new online magazine for Muslim women (at a very reasonable subsription rate).
Filed under: Morocco | Tagged: Al-Amira Hijab, hijab, hijab styles in Morocco, Hijabs High, Moroccan Hijab, Souk Semarra, We Love Hijab
Where do you see the large square scarves for sale in Morocco (Turkish or Italian)? I don’t remember seeing them for sale, but there are always many of the long rectangle ones. They are offered in the US on many websites.
There are so many places selling hijabs and scarves and they have all different shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, you have to be patient and look through them all or ask. Rectangular are more popular, but the square are definitely around.
Those Moroccan hijabs are the best! I also love the one piece that slip right on too – great for working out or dealing with an armful of children!
Have you ever found them for sale outside Morocco? I would love to have a good source so I didn’t feel like I had to buy every last one I liked before I leave.
I like the one-piecers, but I still feel like I have to wear and undercap or cotton headband under them because they leave a small gap and I have to keep adjusting them.
Hijab in the US
Hey, that’s cool…how did you get that video in there?!
Cut and paste the website address. Voila!!
I am trying to figure out how to get my pic next to my name here.
Go figure! Things are always much simpler than they seem like they will be for me. Anyway, when I watched it I realized I’ve seen the video before, but this time it definitely brought me closer to tears (I’m choking them back!) I hope from Allah that such prejudices will end soon and that I and my fellow Muslims will never face that in my lifetime.
You have to have a WordPress account to have the picture by the name, then you put the picture in your profile just like any other website profile. I don’t know if you can have a profile without a blog, but you if you really want the picture, you can make up a blog and never use it I suppose.