It is only in the past fifteen years that ‘fashion of traditional dress’ gained the attention of social scientists, simply because it was considered a contradictio in terminis. It was probably John Flügel (1950 [1930]: 129–30) who set the trend in the 1930s by introducing his dichotomy ‘fixed’ versus ‘modish’ costume, whereby ‘fixed costume changes slowly in time, and its whole value depends, to some extent, upon its permanence’. Modish costume, on the other hand, he explains, ‘changes very rapid

Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, there have been a number of political events that have had an important impact on the development of Moroccan fashion. Under the French FrenchProtectorateProtectorate, for example, it was decided to separate the new European city centres from the indigenousindigenous Arab city centres. This resulted in a cultural buffer against French cultural influences, allowing the continuity of a Moroccan lifestylelifestyle. Over time, this led to two more

The first generation of Moroccan fashion designers consisted of women of the Moroccan élite with no formal training in fashion design. They merely had the advantage of growing up with the luxuryluxury of high-quality craftsmanshipcraftsmanship and learned to sow and embroider at a young age, since this was considered an important part of their privileged educationeducation.Personal communication Tamy Tazi (fashion designer), July 9, 2004. They were ‘products’ of the nationalist movement in that t

As was discussed in Chapter 2, the Moroccan nationalist movementnationalist movement brought, among other things, tremendous changes in the lives, consciousness and ambitionambitions of Moroccan women by the middle of the twentieth century. More women were enjoying an educationeducation and soon they discovered the impact the written word could have on their cause. Therefore a first generation of Moroccan women’s magazines introduced in the 1960s were all run by renowned feminists and had a stron

What is a fashion industry? The way Welters and Lillethun (2001: xxix) describe it, a fashion industry requires several components such as: a market economy that provides wealth; adequate technology to make apparelapparel items; a distribution system that disseminates ideas about fashion as well as the products themselves; and a system democratizationof fashionof fashion innovation and adoption. Also, they say, a fashion industry is dependent on a rapidly changing infrastructure influenced by art

Dress is more than the clothes we put on our bodies. As Ruth Barnes and Joanne Eicher (1992: 15) formulate it, it is everything that a person does to or puts on one’s own body, including perfume, make-up, tattoos, hair extensions, etc. as well as the phenomena of anorexia, bulimia, plastic surgery, etc. ‘Dress is the sum of bodybody bodymodificationsmodifications and/or supplements displayed by a person in communicating with the other’ (1992: 15). For example, a Moroccan woman can wear a modest j

The main aim of this research has been to analyse Moroccan fashion as a materialization of social, cultural, political, economic and religious developments in Moroccan society, because until now Moroccan fashion has been predominantly studied as physical objects in which the materials and construction of the garments have been given primacy over their social and cultural meanings. Simultaneously, this research has aimed to contest prevailing misconceptions concerning traditional dress as being st

The Republic of Benin is bounded in the south by the Atlantic Ocean, in the north by Niger and Burkina Faso, in the east by Nigeria, and in the west by Togo. Thus, it naturally shares both history and culture with the peoples of these neighboring countries. In Benin, clothing, regardless of definition, is as complex and varied as its numerous linguistic groups. In the Benin Republic, Vodun adepts and masquerade performers dress primarily to please their gods and offer them the appropriate manifes

The burqini is a full-body swimsuit that combines the terms burqa and bikini. Aheda Zanetti, an Australian designer of Lebanese descent, created the burqini in 2006 as an alternative form of dress for Muslim women serving as lifeguards in Australia. Within months it became available to the general public worldwide. Buyers have included both Muslims and non-Muslims, who wear it for reasons ranging from modesty, to protection from UV light, to enhanced athletic performance. Similar full-body swimsu

Morocco has long been a crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa, and dress reflects the richness of its history as well as its geographic and cultural diversity. Forty to sixty percent of the Moroccan population is Berber, and many Berbers have retained their indigenous language. After the Phoenicians and then the Romans settled in Morocco and encountered the Berbers, Arabs moved into Morocco in the seventh century, founding the city of Fes and gradually converting the

Tunisia lies on the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Libya and Algeria. The earliest inhabitants, called the Imazighen, spoke Berber languages and predated the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, and the Arabs. Until the early seventh century, Imazighen women wore a draped dress like the Greek chiton and the Roman toga, fastened with silver fibulae, with a woolen or leather sash wrapped around the waist. In the seventh century, Arabs brought Islam to Tunisia and influenced local d

The Kingdom of Benin, a historically important traditional state, is located in southern Nigeria just north of the Niger River Delta. For centuries, its Edo people have looked to Benin City as their cultural center. The seat of a hereditary kingship, it is also a university town and state capital. The oba, its semidivine monarch, still exerts considerable influence even though the modern nation has usurped most of his political privileges. About two hundred chiefs assist him and form the aristocr

The category of dance costume is a specialized type of dress usually reserved for performances and masquerade. In North Africa as elsewhere, dance costumes are worn for performances at special events and in entertainment venues. Three general categories of dance in North Africa are raks shaabi (popular dance), raks beledi (country dance), and raks sharqi (eastern dance).

Egypt has been ruled by foreign powers seeking to control its resources for much of the country’s history. The governing powers throughout history represented the elite, who served as a major influence on styles and fashions in clothing and dress. From the late eighteenth century onward, the French and the British had been attempting to displace the Turkish Ottoman rulers (1517–1798) and gain control over Egypt. The French under Napoleon invaded and occupied Egypt from 1798 to 1805. The Ottoman s

The first Christian communities were established around the Mediterranean in the first century c.e. At that time there was not yet a unifying structure. By the second century, most communities observed three ranks in the local hierarchy: an episkopos (bishop, literally overseer) as the head, presbyteroi (priests), and diakonoi (deacons). There was not yet any kind of distinctive garment that indicated rank. The first Council of Nicea (325 c.e.) brought together bishops from all over the Christian

Since the last decade of the twentieth century and with the turn of the twenty-first, a new generation of Moroccan fashion designers and photographers has played a part on the international fashion stage, combining Western-style fashions with elements of traditional Arab and Berber dress to subvert both European and Moroccan sartorial conventions. While notable names such as Amine Bendriouch, Alber Elbaz, Jean-Charles de Caselbajac, Hisham Oumlil, Aziz Bekkaoui, Samira Haddouchi, and Hassan Hajja

In Morocco in the twenty-first century, traditional forms of women’s clothing exist side by side with Western consumer fashions, allowing Moroccan women to express their economic, social, cultural, political, and religious identities through their choice of dress. Examining Moroccan women’s dress, predominantly in urban areas, for its material properties and expressive capabilities offers insights into the complexities of individual and collective identities in Morocco in the early twenty-first c

Mauritania and Western Sahara/Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic occupy a large region in northwest Africa on the edge of the Sahara Desert, bordering the Atlantic Ocean and the Sahel. For centuries, trade, migration, slavery, and intermarriage have created economic and cultural exchange across this desert region, bridging Arab and black Africa and their traditions of dress. Across the Senegal River, the famed Senegalese city of St. Louis long served as a host for Mauritanian merchants and migrants

Veils have historically been associated with women’s performance of hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca) in Saudi Arabia, as documented in the travel narratives of attending pilgrims. While pilgrimage to Mecca prior to the mid-twentieth century entailed extended, sometimes lifelong, travel over land and by sea, airplanes have allowed many more Muslim men and women from around the world to perform hajj since the 1950s.This increase has exposed Muslim women to many different styles of veils worn in count

In discussions of dress in Africa, soled footwear is generally considered only as an afterthought, and the barefoot stereotype still pervades popular thinking about Africa. Feet, however, are conceptually dressed and framed in many of the same ways as hands and head. And much like the adornment of other parts of the body in Africa, elaborate forms of footwear were and are generally reserved for wealthier segments of society, although distinctions based on gender, age, vocation, and religion are a

As part of North Africa, Libya has shared a long dress history with its neighbors Egypt, Algeria, and Tunisia. Most of what is now coastal Libya was ruled by successive foreign powers, initially the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. They brought their own dress traditions, exerting temporary influence on privileged local peoples. The Muslim Arab invasions, leading to control of the coast and interior by 663 c.e., established more enduring practices; Muslim dress protocols were sustained by Islamic

Algeria, situated at the crossroads of several civilizations and large intercontinental trade routes, has participated in all the major cultural developments of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Since the early twentieth century, its large emigrant community provides close links with both. Historically, Algeria can be divided into several large cultural areas, all distinguished by their vestimentary tradition: eastern Algeria, centered on the city of Constantine, close to Tunisia and its Mid

National and religious festivals serve as visible signs of renewal, initiation rituals, reenactments of the oath of the community, and reminders of particular identities. To indicate these aspects of a festival, people dress themselves in special attire, depending on the nature of the festival. Muharram is one of the most eminent festivals of the Shiites.

In Africa, the human body has always been a focus for creative expression. Each culture has evolved its own patterns of dress and associated symbolic system, yet cross-cultural influences and change have constantly occurred. A society’s political structure and religious institutions can determine the type of dress used. Societies with a centralized organization often have elaborate, even grandiose programs of visual culture associated with leadership. The ruler or an elite group often reserves th