Royal Ascot Hats! Gallery

It's a horse race but Royal Ascot is all about the hats http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/photos/it-s-a-horse-race-but-royal-ascot-is-all-about-the-hats-1.3638914 Shared via the CBC News Android App

Headcovering Philosophy and Fear

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." 

Click to read: "A Point of View: Behind the Veil", by Will Self, at BBC News online. 

An excerpt:

You've heard the quote. You've seen the fear of women with their heads covered, the fear of seeing a man in a turban, or the fear of seeing a young man wearing a hoodie and not knowing what he's up to. But have you seriously contemplated the philosophy of fear of cultural differences leading to cultural changes? As the author of this article points out in his point of view, culture is going to change in some way, whether we would prefer it or not. But how are we going to react? With ignorance and fear? Or with a knowledge shared?

. . . The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - and specifically our fear of cultural influence.

This is a fear that is seldom openly admitted to - or, rather, no sooner is it acknowledged than it is countered by an appeal to some incontrovertibly estimable aspect of what we take to be our own cultural heritage. There are manifold examples of this strange and neurotic dialectic, but let me concentrate on just one - the recent furore surrounding the admissibility of Muslim women giving evidence in British courts while veiled. I say furore, rather than controversy, because I don't think that many people - except hard-line adherents of political Islam - actually believe there's anything at issue here at all, and these same people don't believe in the jurisdiction of British courts anyway. For those of us who do accept this the assumption that truth-telling is best expressed by a steady gaze and an open face is so ingrained that it has never needed to be articulated - or, rather, no witness or defendant in a trial who wished to be convincing has heretofore considered it a good idea to stand up in court with their features obscured, whether by wearing the niqab or a joke-shop horror mask.

There may indeed be cases in which the indubitable piety and overweening modesty of some individuals requires a certain bending of convention, but on the whole I think we can afford to keep our nerve and look the truth about our cultural values full in the face. It is not that we need to worry that jurors and judges won't be able to assay the veracity of evidence given from behind the veil - after all, serving police, military personnel and members of the intelligence agencies are often allowed to do just this - it's that they may well be inclined to take it at its literal face value, which is obscured and therefore, ipso facto, dubious.

photo of french protest from Getty Images, attached to the BBC article

The Guardian lifts the veil on London's stylish hijabs - photos

Lifting the veil on London's stylish hijab wearers | Life and style | The Guardian

"Iranian-born photographer Sara Shamsavari's colourful portraits celebrate the individuality and creativity of the capital's young Muslim women"

Colourful article with link to an online gallery of photos taken by the photographer. Part of International Women's Day: Women of the World Festival, 6—10 March 2013.  Photos here by Sara Shamsavari are from the online gallery in the Guardian.

"The project, she admits, was inspired by her own experience growing up in London in the 80s and 90s. Despite her blue eyes and fair skin, Shamsavari's Iranian background meant she became accustomed to name calling. Yet this prejudice only fed her desire to focus on what she calls "uncelebrated communities" in her work. "With all depictions of ethnic minorities there is too much negativity and too many cliches and stereotypes. I wanted to do something that was the opposite." "

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Side note to Christian, Jewish and other head covering wearers: are there any galleries like this for the rest of us? 

Happy Victoria Day!

Victoria Day is celebrated in each year in Canada as a memorial to honour Queen Victoria, who reigned during the time of Canadian Confederation in 1867. The day is also the Canadian day to officially celebrate the birthday of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. The third or fourth Monday of May was neither lady's official day of birth, but it is a wonderful time of the year for a long weekend and fireworks.

As headcovering ladies, these two world leaders are exceptional. Victoria, though not always painted with a veil as a young woman, has come to be remembered as a grand lady with a long, lacy veil, as seen on coins, postage stamps, statues, and other portraits. It is also very hard to picture the modern Queen Elizabeth II without her trademark hats (or for casual wear, a scarf tied and knotted under her chin).

Enjoy your day!

Snoods and Turbans

Here I am, copying and pasting an entire article:

"Snoods - new fashion drives clothes sales"

"The Daily Mail City team looks at how the snood - a cross between a scarf and a hood - is driving sales... " This article in "thisismoney.co.uk" is not about the hair covering snood that is worn as a kind of pocket for your hair attached to a headband of sorts.

A snood is a cross between a scarf and a hood. A tubular item, it looks rather like a balaclava without the face hole.

Traditionally favoured by women trying to protect long hair, a snood can be pulled over the head like a hood, or pushed down around the neck like a scarf that can't come undone.

A throwback to the '80s?

Snoods were rather popular among teenagers of 20 years ago. In garish pink or bright jade, they made sure the wearer was always visible after dark, even if they didn't flatter the skin tone.

But snoods are actually far older than this. The word was widely used in the Middle Ages for cloth or net head coverings.

Crocheted snoods were popular in the 1940s and '50s to keep women's hair in place while they went about their work.

Snoods are also popular with Orthodox Jewish women.

And now?

Snoods are making a comeback, albeit on a far grander scale. Luxury goods group Burberry says bumper turnover of snoods and leather handbags is driving sales. But its 'pull on scarves' are nothing like the £5 snoods found on market stalls in the 1980s.

These luxury wool and cashmere items, complete with trademark Burberry check [link to Burberry], go for £175 a pop. If you are short of cash, just knit a short fat scarf and sew the two ends together.

Don't you just love the "how-to" there at the end?

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And speaking of how to make a headcovering of sorts:

"Craft project: T-shirt turban for women"

"Milliner Mary Jane Baxter explains how to make a fantastic retro turban to give your outfit a vintage feel."

Thanks to Lucy for this link!

Medieval Headcovering

History lesson for today :

"Head Coverings of Medieval English Noblewomen", by Seduced By History

Including:

... "Women almost always wore headdresses because it was considered unseemly for them to show their hair. In William the Conqueror’s time, women simply wore a piece of plain cloth (often linen) draped over their heads, held by a narrow band. Some women wore their hair in two long braids around the turn of the 12th century, some with no veils. By Stephen’s reign, headbands were coming into vogue. These were worn with a veil."

For a smile, perhaps...

"Help Us, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Discount Expires Today"

Monday, September 21, 2009

Anthony Sacramone writes:

"Speaking of Star Wars, Joe, Tesco’s, a retail chain in Britain roughly comparable to a mini Wal-Mart here in the States, wants people who enter their premises to reveal their identity, presumably so a store manager can ID anyone running out the door with that box of Weetabix under his arm. Well, this presents a problem if you’re a member of one particularly troublesome religion, which forbids some of its adherents from walking outside without a head covering.

"I’m talking, of course, about Jedis."

And there's more at the title linked above.

Globe and Mail's 'Behind the Veil'

For some insight into the full body and face covering society of one area in Afghanistan, follow the sights and sounds of the in-depth reporting at the Globe and Mail - "behind the veil"

Reviving Hats

Blog source with photos and video you may really like to check out:

Many Hatty Returns -- For the love of hats

"This blog is devoted to hats and the worship thereof. It’s too bad that the daily wearing of hats has gone out of style for most people. You have to envy the people in the past who were able to wear the most extravagant hats.
The blog will cover basic hat information, reviews of milliners, hat making, hat accessories, hat history really anything about and featuring hats.
The blog was formerly called “Hat Nostalgia” but it has been renamed to be more all encompassing."

Photo here, I copied off of Darla's blog. Please visit her blog for more great stuff! Enjoy! :)

Covered Female Police Officers

This story just broke, and some folks in the blog world are not happy. Are female officers "2nd class" if they respectfully cover upon entering a mosque (or cathedral, for that matter)? Read the more full story on "uniform hijab" at the (UK) Times. Some bits I hadn't seen in many of the first stories out on this :

"... The £13 headscarves are embroidered with the West Country force's name and logo, and come in two colours — black for police officers and blue for community support officers. A spokeswoman insisted that they were not intended purely to cater for Muslim cultural sensibilities but were multi-faith.

" "They are designed to be used in any place of worship and can be used to cover the head or the shoulders. For example, plain clothes officers could use them to cover their shoulders in a Catholic Church, or they can be used to cover the head in synagogues," she said."

...

"The Metropolitan Police, the largest and most diverse UK force, said that it issued headscarves to its Muslim female officers but not to non-Muslim officers.

" "We have had these scarves for Muslim female officers for some time, but as far as officers going into mosques — if it was appropriate for them to wear a scarf they would do that. But I don't think there are any plans to issue 15,000-odd officers with a headscarf," a Met Police spokeswoman said."

As usual, the comments in any of these news stories or blog entries are replete with ignorant comments about Muslims or Islam, the (name your) government, "sensibilities" and "bending over backward," and even about headcoverings among professed Christians (whom - I need not remind anyone here - should have NO problem covering up in a church of any kind, as head covering is highly "recommended" by the Apostle of Christ Himself, Paul/Saul). So, if you reading these things doesn't make you want to post a corrective comment yourself, as always, keep to reading the articles only.

Head covering sign of respect

"Head covering sign of respect"

"Female police officers in Avon and Somerset will be issued with head coverings to be used in places of worship to improve Muslim relations.

"Female officers will wear uniform-issue head coverings when they are on duty and entering places of worship.

"The head coverings were produced after the force worked with the Mosque Initiative and the Aklima Initiative."

What do you think?

Help for Thinning Hair

Treatments and advice for coping with thinning hair
"Thinning hair calls for the best help money can buy"
by Sarah Vine, TheTimesOnline

Short article including facts and opinion, and links, including this:

• Cover-up: Suburban Turban (www.suburbanturban.co.uk). Nicky Zip makes beautiful head-coverings for women with hair loss (top left, £36).

The website link includes a "how to" on tying a Indian style turban - very cute.

"Balmoral chic"

I love the Queen.

March 29, 2009
From the article in Theage.com.au:

"Dust off the corgis and the headscarf - Her Majesty rules this winter, writes Rachel Wells.

"Queen Elizabeth II would have to be one of the strangest style icons to have emerged in recent years.

"In 2007, she appeared on British Vogue's Definitive List of Most Glamorous Women and last year, Agyness Deyn, a style icon herself, listed the Queen as her favourite fashion icon.

"Last month, Deyn was styled to look like the Queen in the debut issue of Conde Nast's new bi-annual glossy, Love magazine, complete with regal gown and ornate choker from Lanvin, white gloves and her platinum hair set in Her Majesty-style curls. The resemblance was uncanny.

"But it is not the Queen's signature skirt suits, boxy handbags and sensible court shoes, nor her crown jewels, that have earned her style icon status.

"Rather it is the wardrobe she favours while holidaying at Balmoral in the north of Scotland that has won her such high esteem in fashion circles - tartan skirts teamed with waxed-cotton Barbour jackets, silk headscarves (knotted under the chin, of course) and a pair of wellies."

story continues at the above link

Hat Exhibition

February 25, 2009
Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones at the V&A
"Stephen Jones's new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum shows what a shame it is that millinery is a dying art"

Just something for your amusement and interest.

We Just Can't Agree

Disagreements abound. Christian, Jewish, Muslim, secular. What kind? How big? What about see-through, like lace or sheer material? When and how often to wear? Necessary or not? Just for modesty? How much is modest? What kind of modesty (totally humble and plain or just not sexually immodest)? What about submission? Is it cultural? How much a part does fashion play in it? What about practicality? And what about wigs? Can one find any of these answers in the letter of the law in the Books? Or is it really only a matter of each woman and her husband's hearts?

Sometimes people argue about these things, putting those whom they disagree with down, insulting them. Sometimes people respect someone else's understanding and choice. Sometimes, people just present their point of view out loud, knowing that someone may be searching, and they may be able to say something to help them make the most appropriate decision.

Here are some various points of view:

"Sheitels: Holy or Evil?" posted by Reb Akiva, 11/05/2008, at Mystical Paths

"The Jilbaab and what garments can substitute it" Posted on November 6, 2008, by melbmuslims, at Everyday Muslims

"WHAT’S IN A DRESS CODE ? Bare or burkha?", November 04, 2008, in Miriam's Topical Topics

"Muslim's suit over scarves in Calif. jail settled", by GILLIAN FLACCUS, November 3, 2008, AP

"Muslim artist gets death threats", BBC, 31 October 2008

Mr. Poll results on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

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A couple more articles:

"Untangling the Controversy Over Wigs", November 7, 2008, in Little Frumhouse on the Prairie blogger

"Should Muslim women be allowed to wear scarves in jail?", November 7, 2008, By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ, The Orange County Register

Why Hijab (Muslim Headcovering)

"iHijab 8-)", at A Beautiful Vision, wordpress, explains the choice to wear hijab while in London. Her explanation is simple, as she states: "My decision to wear wrap my first hijab and walk out into the world was one of understanding, excitement, honor, and fear." Beginning:

I came to London ready. Ready to learn, to be exposed to whatever, to experiment. You know, when in Europe, do as the Europeans do. But, something else was in store for me, mashallah. I went out twice during the first month in London but quickly decided that drinking and partying with drunk, crazy Americans was not fulfilling in anyway. Furthermore, I knew that I would rather be making meaningful connections with interesting people that I could learn from and share with and feel blessed. This was not going to happen, most likely, observing gals and girls feast on each others’ vices.

And being in London, weeks later I saw so many Muslimahs (a Muslim woman) with their hijabs and felt so inspired. Their grace humbled me. After thoughts and discussions, about a week ago, alhamdulillah, I took Shahada and declared my desire to strengthen my Imaan.

Part of this rediscovery has been constant reading of the Qu’ran and other texts to strengthen my knowledge. As expected, I came across the decree for women [and men] to be modest and lower their gaze. To dress modestly and guard their private parts. And, for women, to cover all except what is apparent, thus, requiring the at least a hijab.

Image above taken from this blog entry.
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"My wife wears the hijab. I wish she didn't", by Robin Yassin-Kassab, in the UK Guardian's "The Observer", November 2 2008. A "he-said, she-said" article with personal points of view and understanding on the choice to cover, and its interpretations, by the author and his wife. At one point, he writes about the various meanings and understandings of the headcovering:

The hijab or its absence are symbolic of many different things in the bigger world out there. The cloth has become a flag waved by Islamists and Islamophobes to define each other. A Western-dressed Muslim woman may be stereotyped as a heroically uncaged virgin, or as the key sign of Muslim cultural loss. A veiled woman may be seen as authentic, or, more usually in the West, as ignorant, backward, repressed and oppressed. To some, Muslim women in headscarves look like unity, power, cultural pride. To others, they look like abused cattle. The hijab is compulsory in public in Saudi Arabia and Iran, and discriminated against by the regimes of Tunisia and Turkey. In some Middle Eastern countries, women's veils have been forcibly removed by soldiers in the street. Removing it, and putting it on, are loaded political acts.

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"The Role of Women in an Islamic Society", by Maryam Chaudhry, USA, The Review of Religions, August 1995; re-posted to the SunniForum.com forums. To introduce this article, or speech transcript, the author includes these thoughts:

Before I continue, however, I want to give you a brief introduction to Islam. Being a convert who was born and raised a Christian, I realise that your understanding of Islam is either limited or contains a lot of totally erroneous information. Also, if I talk about the role of women in Islam it will make no sense without a basic understanding of the religion. I am going to ask you to put aside your paradigms for the next hour or so and to keep your mind open to new ideas. I will pose some questions and I will present to you different alternatives. We will play a game of what if? What if you are not here today by chance? What if what you hear today is the truth and could be the beginning of a whole new life for you? Bear with me patiently for a while. ...

And to take a portion of the talk out of context (you will read patiently through the author's thoughts to get their full understanding, but I present this here for a sample of her thoughts.):

Going back to the question of modest dressing, nuns dressed modestly because they did not intend to marry therefore did not want to attract the attention of members of the opposite sex. But Islam wants all women to be pure, and all men also, no double standards in Islam. What you wear affects both how you feel about yourself and how others view you. For example, at my school, which is not air conditioned, the principal always wears a suit, no matter how hot it is. Teachers and parents know that well dressed children feel good about themselves, and teachers subconsciously view them as well cared for and treat them better. Well dressed children do better in school. Many public schools are now adopting uniform policies for the students because wearing a uniform puts the student in a learning mood and makes the teachers view them as potential learners. This affects both the student and the teacher's behaviour so that the entire atmosphere becomes conducive to learning. Also, even in my childhood, women used to wear veils when they entered the church which points to the relationship between dress and attitude.

Islam prescribes modesty for both men and women in order to maintain a pure Islamic society. As a matter of fact, the responsibility to create and maintain this society starts with men:

Be chaste and your women will be chaste (Hadith).

Headcovering Bans

"We Have Not Forgotten: Hijab Bans"

October 05 2008, Contributed by: Nicole, to ModernTraditional.com News

Please read this whole thoughtful article, linking hijab bans to culture, tradition, modesty, secularism and racism, at the title linked above. This is the introduction:

Some years ago, I announced with shock and horror, that some French government officials had begun aggressively attempting to ban "religious expressions" in schools, including but not limited to Islamic, Jewish, and Sikh head coverings. The racist and hypocritical laws somehow passed, despite the protests from religious and secular people who believed that the bans should not include clothing worn specifically for the purpose of modesty and/or self defense. A person who wishes to cover themselves for spiritual/psychological reasons is doing so for the same reasons that someone undergoing chemotherapy may cover their head due to hair loss. Wearing modest clothing is not an exclusively religious act, and is in fact, separate from one's religion. Taking off someone's clothes doesn't change their belief system. To force someone to expose their body who may have smooth skin is as much a violation of privacy and right to self defense as to force someone photosensitive or with another skin disease, to expose themselves.

Not to mention, it is impossible, sans actual religious symbols, to definitively say what a person's religion is by how they are dressed. On a hot day, even an atheist may don a scarf. So how in the world will someone decide who can wear what? If a Rastafarian wears a flowing head scarf, is it then okay because she is not Muslim? If a woman is wearing a bonnet, will someone check her to see if she is a Quaker or Amish? If she is, will they decide that she may not wear a bonnet, and her Muslim friend can, since the bonnet isn't viewed as stereotypically Islamic? Since when does racism, and ethnic sterotyping become part and parcel with being secular? Aren't we, as people in western nations, supposed to be getting away from that irrational mentality?

Please read this entire article.

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Headcovering bans in France are not geared toward any one group of people, we are reminded. Everyone is included. Read the whole article, "Sarkozy welcomes Sikhs sans turbans", by Tejinder Singh at the EU-India Summit in Marseille, France; 30 September 2008, in NEurope.eu. A portion follows:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, at the concluding press conference of the European Union/India Summit in Marseille, France, stood next to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a Sikh wearing a light blue turban, as he answered this reporter's (Tejinder Singh) question about the wearing of turbans by Sikhs in France. Regarding the required Sikh head covering, an integral part of their religious identity, Sarkozy, replied curtly, "Sir, we respect Sikhs. We respect their customs, their traditions. They are most welcome to France."

Visibly irritated, Sarkozy continued, "But sir, we have rules, rules concerning the neutrality of civil servants, rules concerning secularism, and these rules don't apply only to Sikhs, they apply to Muslims or others. They apply to all on the territory of the French Republic."

The practice by Sikhs of allowing one's hair to grow naturally is a symbol of respect, the most important of the five outward symbols required of all Sikhs, and the turban is worn to cover the uncut hair. Sarkozy explained that the banning of turbans is not discrimination, that, "These rules apply to everybody, to everybody with no exception. There is no discrimination whatsoever."

Making it clear to the Sikh community in France that they have no option other than to conform to the rules, Sarkozy made the paradoxical statement, "We respect their traditions and their customs and we are convinced that they too respect the laws, traditions and customs of the French Republic."

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See also these short letters to the editor, regarding French Muslim Students in Catholic Schools, in the NYTimes.com.

Studying Muslim Head Covering

The politics of hijab - A bit of black cloth, By Karen Estes, September 27, 2008, from "altmuslim.com". Concerning recent history (from the 70's in the US), personal testimony, and about non-Eastern converts. Opening paragraph:

The hijab (headscarf) has burst into the passionate and often confused discussion of current events and has become a highly charged battle standard on both sides of the veil. It has become an object of rage and indignation for many non-Muslims who see the practice as a backward custom, but one which is defiantly elbowing its way into the popular culture with increasing demands to be respected along with the identifying dress of other world religions. The phenomenon which most interests me, is the western woman convert to Islam with no experience of veiling growing up in the West who embraces hijab. It is however a phenomenon with what appears to be a remarkably short and identifiable history.

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Acceptable Hijab Part II: The Niqab (Mustahaab), posted on Beautiful Muslima, September 26, 2008. Very thorough study, examining the Quran and Ahadith. Link to part I: the jilbab, is included.

I was asked the other night by a sister why I don't wear niqab (a face covering). I had mistakeningly told her I believed it was wajib (obligatory) to do so since I knew from Islamic evidence and history it had a place our religion (unlike some people claim, who say, it is a purely cultural thing). I don't wear it for a number of reasons (and at the time I WISH to wear it for a number of reasons), some of them being, that while I believe it can benefit me personally, it can hurt and alienate a number of people around me. When I first converted I was told by a few women that I should cover my face because it was "beautiful". Alot of Arab women seem to think white skin is a sign of beauty in itself. Even if I wore niqab my pale eyes would show, and I don't think even niqab can hide a woman's full beauty. So I reject the "beauty concept" of niqab with a laugh. Men should be lowering their gaze anyway, and at the same time, the few times I DID feel is was necessary for my modesty to wear niqab, one of the sisters at the Masjid came up to me and said "do you really think men are staring at you like that" meaning do you think you are pretty enough to wear that... LOL, I know for a fact she hasn't said the same thing to the Sheikh's wife and daughter, so talk about contradictions. So let us instead look at the Holy Qu'ran and the sayings and actions of the Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W) in which there are no contradictions, to research the issue (please read this post first insha'Allah): http://beautifulmuslimah.blogspot.com/2008/09/acceptable-hijab-part-i-jilbab.html to get some of the foundation of jilbab before moving onto niqab.

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Questions on Islamic Dress and Head-dress for Men
Ditulis Oleh, Admin., September 25th, 2008, from Halal Product and Services Information Center (a .org site). Thorough discussion, quoting from Quran and relevant hadith.

QUESTION:

We have come under criticism from “Salafis” for keeping Sunna dress in our present day and age. They claim that it is an indifferent and unnecessary aspect of Arabic culture and tradition which carries no reward in religion. What is the position of Ahl as-Sunna on the “Salafi” dispensation for praying, leading prayer, and giving khutba bare-headed and in Western-style clothes?

Fashion-able Head Covering

"Top millinery skills on show at London Fashion Week"

By Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director, Telegraph.co.uk
20/09/2008

Check this article for links to the fashions in photos. Here's the introduction:

London Fashion Week's obsession with bizarre and extreme millinery continued on the final day yesterday.

	Bora Aksu’s collaboration with Misa Harada featured modernist bonnets (left) and black bows (centre), while Osman Yousefzada offered Japanese straw hats (right)

It has been a week that has seen everything perched and placed on the models' heads from metal and plastic "Pac-Man" helmets to shreds of fabric, fringed and draped into turbans and feathers and wisps of veiling tethered with pearls. Osman Yousefzada's spring/summer collection, "Savage Pagoda", shown yesterday, was no exception.

Inspired by the martial costumes of the Samurai, it featured sculpturally draped dresses and skirts, in coral, lapis-blue, nude, sand and black jersey, which appeared to be virtually seamless.

Midriff-baring jackets and sharp, cropped trousers, in wet-look rayon and white Neoprene, created the same rigorous, architectural feel.

The key accessories were Japanese straw hats, lacquered in London - a cross between satellite dishes and a large wok and inspired by those worn by farmers in the paddyfields.

Personally, I think the designers mess things up sometimes. But I suppose we should give them a respectful nod for acknowledging the fun of adorning the head and hair with coverings.

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More on that kheffyeh...

"Chequered history"

Everyone from Leona Lewis to Colin Farrell has taken to wearing the keffiyeh, as fashion goes wild for this symbol of resistance. But with sales soaring, why does the only factory in Palestine that makes these scarves look set to close?

Read more in this article by Rachel Shabi, in the Guardian.co.uk
September 22 2008

photo here from the article, of Leila Khaled wearing a keffiyah. Photgraph: Eddie Adams/AP

Muslim Head Scarf

Denmark: Danish-Muslim fashion house

"Islam in Europe", at blogspot, September 18, 2008

Read the full review and interview at the title linked above (a blog reprinting in English from a Danish article). A portion follows:

New Danish designs for Muslim women combine the traditional headscarf with modern Western designs - but also send a signal to Danish politicians as well as Muslim fundamentalists that women should be free to wear a headscarf as they want.


How in the world can somebody combine ancient and traditional head covering with the latest new fashions from the western world's catwalks? That was the question which inspired 28-year old designer and color consultant Samar Safar to develop a design concept for Muslim women who wish to wear a headscarf, but at the same time, want to look hip and modern in their clothing.

Today she runs "Islamic Moon" - an internet based design company, which as the first of its type in Denmark offers designs which can be worn either with or without a Muslim headscarf - hijab.

The website "Islamic Moon", linked above, is Danish language: after loading, find the design circle to the right labeled "Designs" and from that page, click the Nueste word link in the Kontrol circle, to see more designs worn with or without headscarf.

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Also read these short testimonies for wearing a head scarf:

Appreciating the barrier…..
September 18, 2008 by Saha, in "Yemen Journey…..and beyond" at wordpress.

My faith gives me inner peace
Sep 24 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

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And finally, an editorial commentary from Turkey:

The liberal's dilemma with the headscarf
September 22, 2008, by ÇINAR KİPER, in the Turkish Daily News.com

If you ever feel a need to bait the Dutch, try calling them intolerant. The Netherlands is a society that prides itself on its liberal and tolerant values so much so that even its most xenophobic public figure in recent memory, the late Pim Fortuyn, argued against Muslims on the grounds that they threatened the liberal Dutch mindset.

Yet this bastion of open-mindedness recently banned the burqa. More specifically, the Education Minister Ronald Plasterk issued a directive that officially banned burqas from all primary schools, an expansion of Holland's earlier ban on burqas in government agencies and public transportation.

To be fair, the Dutch weren't the first people this summer who's actions either promoted equality or infuriated God, depending on your values. This summer was a bad season for the headscarf all around, with Denmark earning the ire of both Muslims and Danes thanks to a controversial Miss Headscarf pageant and the French State Council's denying a burqa-clad woman citizenship on grounds of "improper assimilation." The latter decision was publicly lauded by a pious female Muslim French Minister who went on to call burqas a "prison" and a "straitjacket." Even across the pond, the Democratic party nominee Obama drew criticism when his campaign refused to seat two headscarf-wearing women in the front where they would be visible to television cameras.

Yet Turkey still wins the prize for "most histrionic reaction," with the Constitutional Court, an unelected body mind you, overturning a government decision to allow headscarves in universities and then using the administration's blasé attitude toward the covering as a reason to shut down a party with nearly half the electorate's support.

In fact, back when Europe was still debating whether to feed monotheists to lions or wolves, Turkey was at the forefront of the "women covering their heads for God" debate. Letters written by Paul of Tarsus from Ephesus in Western Turkey to the Christians in the Greek city of Corinths in the first century, which later became 1 Corinthians of the bible, state, "Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head." This lead to about 1,500 years of an elaborate European female head-covering known as the wimple, which coincidentally, was another period that European women were being denied an education. It wasn't until the 15th century that women began uncovering their heads when Italians decided to show off their elaborate braids indicating they could afford maids.

Stuck between egalitarianism and tolerance

It is no surprise that liberals, who by definition are supposed to be progressive and eschew traditional institutions, would have a complicated relationship with religion and particularly with such a prominent religious symbol. On one hand, a liberal's moral compass calls for tolerance and freedom of lifestyle, but on the other, is outraged by such a blatant symbol of inequality. In a world where we are trying to emphasize the similarities between man and woman, where we are saying "a woman can do all a man can do," to give one gender an unequal burden seems unfair.

And so it is no surprise that with Ramadan upon us, even the Turks who enjoy shots of tequila with their bacon cheeseburgers remember that they are Muslims, and try to behave with a higher degree of tolerance than the other 11 months of the year. Not that there is anything wrong with that; to take another page from the conservative playbook, the Bible, Leviticus 19:18 expressly states that we are to "love they neighbor as thyself."

But it does become difficult at times, when values and identities are crossed, when the "conservatives" demand equality and the "progressives" preach intolerance. The debate in Turkey is not really about progressivism vs. conservatism, but about modernization vs. Westernization. In 'What Went Wrong,' Bernard Lewis writes that the emancipation of women is the touchstone of differences between modernization and Westernization, "Even the most extreme and most anti-Western fundamentalists accept the need to modernize and make the fullest use of modern technology. For men to wear Western clothes is modernization; for women to wear them is Westernization."

The liberal, caught between their egalitarianism and their tolerance, are stuck in the middle of the debate. But the Dutch, French and Turks all need to remember that regardless of whether you are liberal or conservative, the important issue to remember regarding headscarves in the schoolyard is whether it is disparity of education or diversity of dress that divides a society.