Abayas, casual, comfortable and trendy

The term ‘Abaya’ has many definitions and often there is a difference over what an Abaya looks like, what it consists of and what colours it comes in. The Abaya is often a long cloak (one piece) that covers everything below the shoulder except hands and feet. The Abaya garment is commonly worn by Muslim women.

Abayas, have sleeves which are not actually stitched to the body of the garment but formed as one piece. This may sound as strange as it does but it is an age old custom amongst the Arab Khaleeji (Gulf) women to wear it like that. Abayas traditionally come with embroidery on the neck, sleeves or base hem.

Abayas come in light materials and those made from internet crepe and satin materials are higher in quality and fairly expensive. They can be open fronted with buttons all the way from the top down or closed.

Modern day Abayas worn by the younger generation are moving away from the traditional embellishment on the garment. The younger generation opt for more stylish geometric, floral patterns from silver or gold embroidery, bead, sequins, multi coloured crystals for standard or Swarovski for more expensive Abayas. These intricate patterns are added onto neckline, bodice, base and flowing flared sleeves with tassel to make it look more chic, trendy and elegant for the younger generation.