Styles of Hijab

[Rachel333]

It really doesn't matter, but I feel like most women look way better without the hijab. I've seen quite a few women who do look beautiful with a hijab, but then look gorgeous without it. That's not the point of the hijab, though.

I have a friend who really varies the styles she wears. If she wears the tighter styles people assume she's Arab, and if she wears the looser styles people think she's Indian (which she is). She also sometimes just wears a hat with her hair pinned underneath.

[liltwinstar]

snarkykitty wrote:

Has anyone here ever wrapped a scarf on their head, covering every piece of hair to see what they look like?

Yes.

I have a round face and wear glasses, so I look like a roly-poly nun. I suppose that if I had to cover full time for religious reasons, I'd figure out a way to do so...but it wouldn't make me happy. I'm very vain about my hair.

That said, I've checked out many of the links posted, and the women are gorgeous as are the textiles. Love all the embroidery and whatnot!

[snarkykitty]

It really doesn't matter, but I feel like most women look way better without the hijab. I've seen quite a few women who do look beautiful with a hijab, but then look gorgeous without it. That's not the point of the hijab, though.

I have a friend who really varies the styles she wears. If she wears the tighter styles people assume she's Arab, and if she wears the looser styles people think she's Indian (which she is). She also sometimes just wears a hat with her hair pinned underneath.

I absolutely didn't mean to insinuate so. I was simply saying that to some people, hair is important to their look, and without hair showing, I think I'd be kind of ugly. Not that I have great hair, lol.

[Rachel333]

I absolutely didn't mean to insinuate so. I was simply saying that to some people, hair is important to their look, and without hair showing, I think I'd be kind of ugly. Not that I have great hair, lol.

Oh, I didn't mean to suggest that there was something wrong with your post. I was just trying to sound slightly less shallow there. :lol: I have kind of a round face and would look terrible in a hijab, too.

[Sunnichick31]

Actually, you could look lovely if you wear the right hijab. This page has different hijab styles to suit face shapes. I think it's kind of hilarious in a way. Non Muslim women choose a hairstyle to flatter their face shape, so of course Muslim women choose a hijab to flatter their face shape. Kinda funny in a way :)

http://stylishmuslimah.blogspot.com/200 ... -face.html

[Sola]

I don't want to make this sound patronizing, but it seems that a lot of women who wear a hijab or tichel (Jewish) have absolutely gorgeous faces? Living close enough to NYC, there is a lot diversity. I think it's because of ethnic influences - facial bone structure, color of skin, proportion of eyes, nose and mouth, etc.

I mean, if I kept my hair covered, I think I would look pretty awful. While I don't want to reduce a symbol of faith to just a fashion, it's obvious that women of all faiths like to dress fashionably, even the women who wear head coverings that cover more.

Has anyone here ever wrapped a scarf on their head, covering every piece of hair to see what they look like? I have seen old photos of family in Italy and Lithuania who wore some sort of covering but it was more of a kerchief style - it didn't come around the throat and it just tied at the nape of the neck. I don't think I'd even look good in that, but I'm willing to give it a try. I just don't think I have a face that can stand on its own!!

Yes, I love scarves and I'm neither Muslim or Jewish. When I have a particularly bad hair day (if it badly needs washing for example) I'll often wear the type that Lina wears, the Jewish style. I have a woollen shawl which I crocheted and in the winter I'll often wear that draped around my head to keep warm, other times I'll wear a beret. I'm a hat/scarf person anyway - plus it hides a multitude of sins when my hair looks dreadful!

[Clementine]

I don't want to make this sound patronizing, but it seems that a lot of women who wear a hijab or tichel (Jewish) have absolutely gorgeous faces? Living close enough to NYC, there is a lot diversity. I think it's because of ethnic influences - facial bone structure, color of skin, proportion of eyes, nose and mouth, etc.

I am with you here! Women with strong features and good bone structure looks much better in head covering. I have tried it and... it made me look like a Russian babushka. Not flattering at all.

[Effie]

Sometimes I do, especially rainy days when I want to "protect" my hair. I have been told that I look sick and pale, like a cancer-patient... Hehe.

[LIzzieB]

There are two women, I presume sisters, who I used to see regularly walking near my workplace. I think they were probably from northern Africa and had beautiful skin, eyes and bone structure. They wore scarves in a style that went behind rather than under the neck, and they both had incredible style at matching their scarves to their equally stylish outfits. I was always bowled over by their beauty and style - they both really knew how to rock a headscarf.

I've always been curious about wearing a headscarf - I'd be very happy for someone to do one for me, but would feel self-conscious about doing it myself! One of our non-Muslim female politicians (in Australia) wore a headscarf for a day or two as a show of solidarity against a lot of the anti-Muslim sentiment that was going on around post-9/11. How do our Muslim FJ-ers feel about that? Weird or not?

[snarkykitty]

Sometimes I do, especially rainy days when I want to "protect" my hair. I have been told that I look sick and pale, like a cancer-patient... Hehe.

A year or two ago, I was in NYC working on a film and I had been wearing a (fashion type, not winter) scarf around my neck. It started to rain as I walked to the studio, so I put it on my head and hubby said I looked like my gramma wearing a babushka, lol. I actually used to wear them a lot to acting class and my coach would say "babushka," too.

PS If you're ever in NYC near the Empire State Building (near the fashion district), you can get long scarves for $6 a piece!! I wish I had bought more since all the women in my family love scarves, even the 16-yo.

[HijabiLady]

There are two women, I presume sisters, who I used to see regularly walking near my workplace. I think they were probably from northern Africa and had beautiful skin, eyes and bone structure. They wore scarves in a style that went behind rather than under the neck, and they both had incredible style at matching their scarves to their equally stylish outfits. I was always bowled over by their beauty and style - they both really knew how to rock a headscarf.

I've always been curious about wearing a headscarf - I'd be very happy for someone to do one for me, but would feel self-conscious about doing it myself! One of our non-Muslim female politicians (in Australia) wore a headscarf for a day or two as a show of solidarity against a lot of the anti-Muslim sentiment that was going on around post-9/11. How do our Muslim FJ-ers feel about that? Weird or not?

I think it's really sweet. A lot of people think Muslim females would be offended at a non-Muslim wearing hijab but I have not found that to be true in my experience. It's no different than a bra, not sacred, simply part of our wardrobe.

[xDreamerx]

I watched the documentary but I didn't really like the perspectives the women presented. I found them to be problematic. The one girl, I believe her name was Nora (the teenage girl who was not wearing hijab) seemed to be the only one with a good head on her shoulders. The woman in the niqab seemed to defer to husband on most things when speaking. There was one part where she turned him and said,"Should I talk about the piano music?" (as one of her interests) but then she stopped because I guess it was deemed a inappropriate or something. She said that she felt woman in segregation in Saudi Arabia were free. Her logic was demented and disturbing to me. It seemed she wanted to make herself as invisible as possible. She had a lot of anti Western sentiment. The journalist woman who had just started covering seemed to be prone to describing how others, especially men treated her when she was veiled. She seemed to be seeking some kind of outside validation or approval more than anything. I felt like if anything the documentary just showed, what I would (as a non Muslim) consider the negative side of 'modesty'. There was a lot of talk about 'protecting' oneself by wearing certain clothes. It's the same logic that other fundies use to say that a woman provoked her rapist. It's ridiculous and misogynist.

[0KidsAndHappy]

I've always been curious about wearing a headscarf - I'd be very happy for someone to do one for me, but would feel self-conscious about doing it myself!

There are LOTS of tutorial videos on YouTube. I sat one day and watched different ones for over an hour and learned a few different ways to do it.

I had always thought it was as simple as covering your head and wrapping the bottom pieces around the neck. I was completely wrong. It definitely isn't something difficult to do, but it does take practice.

[HijabiLady]

I watched the documentary but I didn't really like the perspectives the women presented. I found them to be problematic. The one girl, I believe her name was Nora (the teenage girl who was not wearing hijab) seemed to be the only one with a good head on her shoulders. The woman in the niqab seemed to defer to husband on most things when speaking. There was one part where she turned him and said,"Should I talk about the piano music?" (as one of her interests) but then she stopped because I guess it was deemed a inappropriate or something. She said that she felt woman in segregation in Saudi Arabia were free. Her logic was demented and disturbing to me. It seemed she wanted to make herself as invisible as possible. She had a lot of anti Western sentiment. The journalist woman who had just started covering seemed to be prone to describing how others, especially men treated her when she was veiled. She seemed to be seeking some kind of outside validation or approval more than anything. I felt like if anything the documentary just showed, what I would (as a non Muslim) consider the negative side of 'modesty'. There was a lot of talk about 'protecting' oneself by wearing certain clothes. It's the same logic that other fundies use to say that a woman provoked her rapist. It's ridiculous and misogynist.

I think hijab means different things to different women. I became Muslim and started wearing hijab a few weeks later. (I was trying to figure out how to put them on and had no one to tutor me) I felt it was about being able to control who got to see my body and who could not. I don't really "get" it when women think dressing modestly will protect them from rapists since rape is about domination and control and nothing about lust or sex.

I've conversed quite a bit with other Muslimahs and had some eye popping moments when some of them speak about hijab. Some of them seem desperate to find a man who will be their protector and guardian. It's mystifying because the wives of Prophet Mohammed were neither shy nor wilting violets. Most of them had their own lives outside their marriages, many did community work, there was one who was akin to a physician, one who specifically took in and cared for orphans, and quite a few scholars. So this anti-feminism "a woman's place is at her husband's feet" just stuns me. This was not the precedent set by the early Muslim women.

[Soldevi]

I've always been curious about wearing a headscarf - I'd be very happy for someone to do one for me, but would feel self-conscious about doing it myself!

I wear a headscarf almost daily and I am a nonreligious person. I just love to wear one and I am vain! I think I look better with scarf than with my Nordic type babyfine, silky hair. I can add much more volume in scarf "buns" than I would ever with my hair. Youtube has lots and lots of tutorial videos, one of those I like is http://www.youtube.com/user/TheStyleUnderground

I have been stared at in London - of all places, imagine that. It was raining when we stepped out of the British Museum and I pulled my shawl over my head and someone wearing hijab stared at me looking angry. I don't know why. Yes, I am very pale and blond, maybe she thought I was mocking her or something. I just wanted to keep my hair and glasses dry, lol.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Interesting thread.

One thing I notice is this tendency to find fashion against all odds.

If the rules say to wear a headscarf and long loose outfit covering everything but face and hands - well, some ladies will just need to make sure that the headscarf is gorgeous and tied just so, that the shoes are awesome, that they carry the right purse, and it seems that the Muslim clothing sites are all very big on showing designer sunglasses with the outfits. Oh, and makeup! I guess if you're going to display your face without hair around it, the makeup needs to be perfect. The last time I was in Sephora, I was standing next to a woman in niqab (face veil), jilbab (long shapeless cloak) and gloves - but she had the eye makeup all done.

I sometimes wonder about the logic of those who see modesty as focusing us away from the superficial, lol.

I also wondered if those without formal rules for modesty tend to develop more internal modesty/controls? What I mean is that in the absence of formal limits, certain self-imposed ones develop - heavy makeup may be reserved for formal evenings, shoes may be subdued except for evenings, hair may not be covered but may be worn up at work, etc. I grew up in an environment that wasn't particularly religious, but that was still fairly conservative when it came to dress (and dress standards for lawyers in Toronto in the early 1990s were very, very conservative - long sleeve navy or black wool skirt suits, blouse, nylons and plain, moderate heels, hair short or pulled back, even though we had to interview during an August heat wave). At the same time, I notice in the ex-pat Iranian women (I'm beside a very large community), they'll often carry themselves in a way that's downright sexy even if they don't always fully realize it. I wonder if that comes from growing up with mandatory covering and exploiting every small opportunity for indivudal style, and then suddenly not having any rules in place.