Special Occasion

So you have a friend’s wedding, engagement, or any formal occasion to attend and you don’t know how to wear your hijab. That’s pretty much me all the time.

After searching for ways to wrap my scarf in a way that won’t let loose during the event, I found a really simply and beautiful way to wear it: Shawl Tutorial . I personally love wearing my hijab simple because putting too many pins to hold my hijab in place make me crazy, so I’d rather keep myself from the hassle and be worry-free.

For this event, I wore a strapless chiffon Grecian dress  in pink and a white polyester  hijab with a hint of pink sparkles. I also wore a silver head hand around my hijab to hold my scarf in place and to give it a more formal look.

Patterned Pashmina

 

My very first patterned pashmina hijab!

So, since summer is approaching, I’ve been trying to find easier ways to wrap my hijab without requiring the hassle of putting pins everywhere to keep it in place. And, I found the easiest and best way ( at least for me) to wrap my veil without having it on too tight and, at the same time, not having it fall apart when I move. I’ll be posting a video soon on how to wrap the pashmina hijab the way I have it here, and it is so simple.

I bought this print pashmina hijab from Egypt, but I know so many hijab stores sell very similar patterned pashmina hijabs. I normally never wear printed hijabs, but I decided to give it a try. So if you’re like me and don’t like to wear anything but solid hijabs, you might find that printed hijabs aren’t so bad–give them a try.

When I was doing some searching for hijab materials, I came across this wonderful inspirational hijab site–Pearl Daisy–that sells so many beautiful hijabs with amazing styles I’ve never seen before; they sell a variety of gorgeous printed pashmina hijabs, so I’ll definitely be trying out some of their hijabs.

Hijab Material

Here are two types of hijab materials for a casual look:
1) Purple Turkish square hijab (polyester)

2) Green cotton crinkle hijab

Here are two other hijab materials that you can check out:

1) A leopard print hijab (rayon material)

2) A light chiffon white shawl with a black under piece.

Here are two other hijab materials for a more formal look:

1) Black sheer shawl worn with a hidden under piece.

2) Slightly printed white silk hijab.

What Has This World Reached?

Youmna Eladma, 19 years old.

She started wearing Hijab at the end of July of last year. “I loved wearing it because putting on hijab was my own personal choice,” 19-year old Youmna Eladma said. She was working at Aldo’s Accessories at the time when her manager gave her notions that she wasn’t accepting of her veil. “I told her that I was going to start wearing it before-hand and she said, ‘are you going to be wearing it everyday?’ So I said, ‘yes’,  so she answered nonchalantly, “Oh okay.'” But the first day Youmna went to work with her hair concealed under her light pink hijab, her manager took her to the side and told her that she should either “take it off” or she will no longer permit her to work because “it offends the customers.” Shocked and hurt by the spiteful remark, Youmna walked away to continue her job. Ironically, people were acting natural with Youmna and she had especially made much more sales that day. “I got so many compliments on it and the customers were so nice to me,” she said. A few days went by and Youmna started noticing that she stopped receiving hours for work. Emotionally distressed from the treatment she received, Youmna eventually “just quit” because she knew that her manager was really serious about not wanting her to work there anymore.

When the fall semester began, she attended Brooklyn College as a freshman. One day after finishing her last class of the day and walking to her car, she heard shouting from behind her, “go back to your country, what the F*** is that you wearing on your head,” they said. She remembered hearing stories in the media about other hijabies getting harassed and even killed for being recognized as Muslims, but it never occurred to her at any instance that she could be the one to experience any of that.  She couldn’t tell who they were because she was too afraid to look back and, instead, kept walking to reach her car. Paranoid from the racist remarks, she quickened her pace before she was pushed to the ground and stripped of her hijab. She laid on the ground in utter disbelief and shock as they ran off laughing. “I was too afraid to even look back. I don’t even know how these people looked like, I knew I was never going to feel safe again.” The next day at college, Youmna took off her hijab. She was much too paranoid and afraid to deal with ignorant peoples’ slanders. “I felt so weak and I just couldn’t take the pressure. I wished these people would see me for who I am,” she said.

It was not long before Youmna put her hijab back on. “I hated not wearing it. I hated that I allowed these ignorant people win for a moment. And I hated not being able to be me because of other people, so I put my hijab back on to never take it off again,” she said with a smile that brightened her face.

“I’ve learned that there is still a lot of discrimination in the world, especially against Muslims and whether I like it or not, these things will come my way and I have to accept them. I do hope one day that everyone sees that hijab is a form of expression and as long as it doesn’t harm anyone, there is no reason for anyone to judge me just on my appearance,” Youmna said.

Style

Dressed in a striped dress and a denim shirt.

 

 

Hijab worn with harem pants and light pink blouse.

Light blue pashmina hijab.

Dressed in navy trousers and white blouse.

 

Two piece hijab: blue under-piece and a bright yellow crinkle hijab.

 

High waisted pleated skirt and light denim shirt.

 

 

The Myths Contaminating This World

“So, are all ‘your kind’ forced into marriages?” My God, the misinterpretation that people take for Islam–culture and religion are completely different from each other. I’ve been asked this question so many times because people assume that hijabies are forced into marriage, which is completely against the teachings of Islam. Sometimes, people fail to recognize the difference between forced marriage and Islam’s teachings of marriage. Let me put it plainly for those who don’t know… a Muslim woman is allowed to either deny or accept a man’s marriage proposal to her, and vice versa for the man. Yes, that means that a Muslim women is allowed to propose to a man as well. That also means that both the man and the woman are able to CHOOSE the person they plan to spend the rest of their eternity with.

“Did your family force you to wear that (hijab)?”
Islam is not a religion of compulsion, so, no, I was not at all forced to wear hijab; it was my decision as I mentioned in my previous post. While a woman may be encouraged, it is never okay to force her to wear hijab; she should be able to make that decision for the sake of Allah. Besides, forcing someone to do something will only make them hate it more. This story is a perfect example of what I mean.

“Are you guys allowed to talk to guys?” OMG, seriously? if you are wondering…no, we are not to be shielded from the world of men. We can talk to them just like any normal being–that is, with respect, because we expect the same respect back.  So don’t mistake a women’s want for respect for “dude, she’s not allowed to talk to guys.”

“So do you work with your degree? Or are you forced to be a stay-at-home mom?” This question really gets me. I work so hard for my education and plan on following my career, so when people ask questions like that, I feel like firing up–but I don’t. Again, people just mistake culture for Islam. These cultural norms adopted in the Middle East are not related to what Islam advocates. According to Islam, a women is permitted to work if she wants, but she cannot be forced to work to support financially for the house. She has the right to work and not work–it’s entirely up to her.

 

Spring Hijab

Aren’t you REALLY HOT in that? If you mean that in a physical attractive
way, then YEAH. No, I’m shivering in this blazing weather. I mean really,
come on’. I don’t understand why people have to make such obvious remarks.
Don’t we all get hot when it’s humid? Seriously though, if you’re wondering…I’m
not melting under my hijab. I usually wear lighter clothing and sheer hijabs
when its hot out, so it’s not that bad. Do you ever notice how people wear hats,
or how construction workers and gardeners cover their head from the sun?
See, they do that as protection from the sun. It’s not as hot as it looks, I promise.

I paired together a white maxi dress with a denim vest for an effortlessly chic
look. You can wear a light long sleeve shirt under the dress for coverage and
wrap the peachy hijab however you like.

Spring Hijab by moamen featuring a bib necklace

Zalando dress
$77 – zalando.co.uk

Bardot denim waistcoat
$82 – bardot.com.au

Floral shoes
modcloth.com

Reiss
reiss.com

Michael kor
$255 – johnlewis.com

GUESS bib necklace
guess.com

Sheer shawl
etsy.com

Different Hijabs Form Different Face Shapes

This is a voile light blue Turkish hijab folded into a triangle and wrapped as I’ve mentioned before. If you have a round face with rounded cheeks, you want this hijab style because it narrows the face and creates a more oval/heart shaped face.

 

This is a red and black designed rectangular shawl wrapped around twice. If you have more of a square face shape, you should try wearing a shawl to soften your features; the designs on the hijab and the style its wrapped in form a rounder face.

This is a pink and black sheer beaded hijab with waves at the tip. If you’ve got a long face, avoid using Turkish hijab styles because they narrow your face and, instead, you can shorten your face with an under cap and chose a scarf that will show more of your cheeks.

Feeling Like an Outcast

It’s not easy to be distinguished from the crowd… to be pointed out from the countless heads that roam the streets everyday and be labeled.You’d think I’ve become accustomed to the stares I get when I go in the subway or walk in the streets. But I’m not. I know that it’s human nature to stare at anything or  anyone that looks “out of the ordinary” or, rather, at someone who doesn’t follow the “dress code” or norms of their society. But here’s the thing. And I wish there were some other way I can explain this, but these are my own thoughts and not everyone has the same mentality. I feel like that the only reason why I feel “labeled” is because the way the media portrays Muslims. It’s the constant fear of being slandered by others because they think you belong to some crazy radical fundamentalist group who hates the rest of the world but their own kind. Every time some attack happens, and the “terrorist” hasn’t been identified, I immediately know that the social media is pointing fingers at “these damn Muslims”–there we are again, getting stereotyped and categorized. And, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll get stopped and searched by officers because it’s obvious from my hijab that I belong to a religious group. I know that America is infamous for its racial and religious profiling, but it’s sad to know that even though Muslim-Americans condemn any kind of terrorist attacks in the name of Islam and try to help the government fight against terrorism, we are still indiscriminately bashed and suspiciously stared at for “looking Muslim.” I hate that feeling of alienation and I wish more people would understand that racial profiling someone isn’t the answer–rather, it’s the behavioral cues and criminal evidence that should lead to the profiling.

Hijab Stores In New York

Have you wondered were you can find nice hijabs in New york? Well, I was trying to find stores that sell similar hijabs to the ones I’ve been featuring and came across some really awesome hijab boutiques that you can check out. Their prices range from an average of $8 -$20 a hijab depending on the fabric and designs of the hijab.