Madihah

Madihah sent me some beautiful Eid photos and I thought I would share them with you because I absolutely fell in love with them! If you have any photos of Eid outfits or just of how you celebrated then send them in to hana @ stylecovered .com (without the spaces) and I’ll put together a selection of the best bits!

Thank you Madihah!

Such a gorgeous outfit! It would be interesting to see what people wear around the world see if we can get some traditional outfits and abayas

(images courtesy of Madihah)

Feminine Abayas

Sleek and elegant, these runway looks provide great inspiration for girls in hijab or modest dressers. With acres more coverage than we’re used to seeing from designers, these maxi dresses and gowns make great abaya templates. Look for the details: trims, drape, and texture to add to your own abaya design. Keep accessories to a minimum for understated chic, or go for one bold piece of jewellery to add a touch of elegant glamour.

(images: style.com)

• Don’t forget to vote for your look of the week!

Good Little Actions

Help a little more than usual around the house, maybe washing up or help to make iftar keeping someone company mean chores don’t have to be boring… and don’t they say- ‘many hands make light work’ (…I’m pretty sure they say that)

Hadith of the Day

“The most complete in faith are those best in character and kindest to their families” At-Tirmidhi

The Content of Character, Collected by Shaykh Al-Amin Ali Mazuri

Abaya Alert

So many designers opted for long sleeves and maxi hemlines this coming season. I was spoiled for choice when putting this together (so much so I had enough for 2 parts). Lanvin has absolutely stunning gowns that with a possible inch or two added to waistlines would make beautiful abayas. My favourite above has to be Alexander McQueen (easily guessed) and to see more from his collection visit this previous post.

(images: style.com)

Daily Dose of Islam

The first 10 days are filled with mercy so make du’a. I’ll give you some little ideas of simple actions that can increase your reward (and try to stick to my own advice too!)

• Pay a sister a compliment, make her smile!…

Hadith of the Day

“After obligatory rites, the action most beloved to God is delighting other Muslims.” At-Tabarani

Taken from “The Content of Character” a beautiful book of hadith collected by Shaykh Al-Amin Ali Mazrui

4. Wide leg trousers

Finding trousers that are loose enough to cover the hips can be tricky, but once you’ve found a style that suits they can be very useful for making tops, tunics and even mini dresses hijab friendly. Go for wide leg pleat front trousers or the harem style (word of warning: ones with a really low crotch are almost impossible to pull off so go for ones based on the style). There are quite a few around on the runway, but may be slightly harder to find on the high-street for my full guide click here.

5. Wrap Dress

Another item of clothing I wear over and over again! Because the are wrap around you can make them as loose as you like and become very versatile. Wear them fully tied, tied on one side, fully open, over trousers, skirts even abayas, as a jacket… you get the point there are lots of ways to work it out! These are easily found on the high-street and a lot of people will already own one.

6. Tunic

Tunics seem to be made for hijabis! They are modest in their shape but still very feminine and elegant. A main-stay in resort wear collections grab them in summer while you can. The only winter alternative is a long sleeved shift dress, but summer is the best time to get the prettiest prints and detailing. Because they tend to be very light-weight you can get away with wearing long sleeves underneath, but actually a lot have full length sleeves to begin with- yay! Don’t you just love love love the Matthew Williamson tunics, if anyone bought from his H&M collection send in your pics!

7. Knee length jacket

A muslimah spends a lot of time trying to cover up tops that show too much shape, of trousers that cling to the hips. For those days when you’re just popping out for groceries a long jacket hides a multitude of hijab ‘hot-spots’. Whether it’s a warm winter coat or a paper thin mac they are readily available and can come extremely well designed. And would it be so wrong for us to throw on a trench over our pajamas to throw out the rubbish?

After our top 3 countdown I’ll be throwing together some looks with the headscarf using our big top ten- if you have any ideas of your own send them in to hana@stylecovered.com

runway images: style.com

With a pared down palette designers this season created a bold vision with a futuristic aesthetic. Mixing unusual fabrics with origami style tailoring gave edgy design a clean, sharp look. Established design houses and young new talent explored cutting techniques that turned loved wardrobe staples into fresh new pieces.

Islamic Style: Slick and intricate details managed to create crisp, clean lines

Muslimah relevance

So why is this interesting to hijabis? Well these origami like folds create shell like structures hiding the body shape below. The minimalistic colour range is modest without being boring. All these are things that can be translated to abayas or other outfits, but unless you’re an expert cutter or lucky enough to afford the originals it’s details to incorporate rather than complete designs.

Islamic cuts: It's all about clean lines and monochrome colours for a modern modest look

How to wear it Hijab style

The high-street has come up with some paper-like fabric folding. The simplest of these is the lines of layers (see Gareth Pugh above left) which will work well on anybody. If you’re feeling brave then there are a few garments that have origami folding, but they often come attached to very tight bodices. The best bet is to go for accessories that carry the trend, an easy way to get that futuristic feeling.