Pictures From Paris

These are a couple of my Paris pictures, I know it’s rather surprising to see me in bright colour.  When I chose this outfit I didn’t realise quite how much fluff the cardigan would leave on my jeans.  So I had to put away my bright cardigan for another day, and another outfit, at least I managed to snap these before the evidence was lost forever!

With a hat to match

My very special ebay buy, this Barts faux fur hat was my lifesaver in Paris where it was très froid.  I think the trick to wearing hats with a head scarf is finding one that covers your ears (like this rather lovely head scarf by maysaa.com).  Started off feeling kind of conspicuous I have to say but that wore off when it started to drop below zero, now we’re best of friends.

I really want a new hat, but this may be a little too conspicuous. Hmm, maybe I’ll keep looking. How about a deerstalker? Perhaps I should give it a go.

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Fall Runway Styles

Stop the Chill

As the weather starts to bite, out come the coats and up come the hoods. This season they’re draped in wool and jersey, or wrapped pashmina style in heavy fabrics. All of this of course is very beneficial to hijabis. Far from the casual hoodie, these runway picks are dramatic and sleek.

Tall Tales

With the trademark tartan of Vivienne Westwood Red Label I can imagine it feeling like being wrapped up in Grandma’s soft old (albeit very expensive) blanket. I mean that to be a compliment, it would be hard to beat that feeling! Speaking of Grandma- it seems that at Fendi “Little Red Riding Hood’ has grown up and moved to some slick city. And it seems her inspiration even reached the likes of Peter Jensen who added a quirky edge with the sheer blue hooded cloak.

Topshop Unique

A collection with a little bit of everything, from great wearable hooded trench coats to draped jersey snoods. The key to it all was layering, mix and match colours, textures and prints in a very Autumnal palette. The result is well crafted London street style, well what else would you expect from one of the UK’s high-street giants.

(images: style.com)

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This week you can cast your judgement on head coverings

Wrap It Up

There were a fair few designers using head cover ups this Autumn, from wool hats to headscarves and hoods. Of course most of them would need some hijabi modification, tuck in a few strands of hair here and there. But there are some lovely bases to work with. Who does it best? It’s up to you…

(images: style.com)

Pink and punky at Michael Kors (it even covers the ears!)

So recently I put up a post about hijabis in hats, so now every time I see a hat go down the catwalk it catches my eye. Not that that’s a difficult thing to do when you have sky high, fluffy and neon creations in front of you! Modest they are not, but they are fun and fantastic. Just don’t expect me to wear one any time soon!

Futuristic at Narciso Rodriguez

Future Fantastic

Designer Narciso Rodriguez has certainly taken hats to a whole new level, with these tiny little peepholes you really can’t afford to put your hat on backwards!

But if it’s a bold (or crazy) statement you want to make then you can be sure to stand out.

Less is sometimes more

These are some of the wilder hats I’ve noticed, but if you want to see something a little less Alice in wonderland and a little more chic then read on to discover what this seasons catwalks have to offer.

Thakoon does fur hats

A less neon version of the Michael Kors fluffy hat. Thakoon has gone for Russian style elegance in a wintery grey.

Sleek and Simple

Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs (below) have taken a vintage silhouette and revamped it. The smooth lines and seamless appearance of the wide brimmed Ralph Lauren hat gives an understated sleek style

Marc Jacobs hat taken a bucket hat style and made it cute and quirky, but almost impossible to hijabify. So we’re back to the age old dilemma, hijabis in hats, can we pull it off?

Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren go for a simpler, sleeker look

Best of the bunch hats at Anna Sui

Feathered Friends

My favourite of all the hats, Anna Sui has created great juxtaposition with the glamour of rocks and feathers against the cool casual of the woolly hat. A few less feathers and I might actually wear one, wow, who knew!

Hijabi style hats, satin bonnet worn underneath

In a comment a sister raised the question of hats. I’ve done a bit of research and experimentation and thought I’d let you know what I found!

Before I became Muslim I was a big fan of hats, but since I put on my head scarf at first I was put off hats. It was only after much experimentation that I found a style I liked.

Caps:

There are basically three options when it comes to hats and hijabs, first off are caps:

Hijabi style caps

Caps are very difficult and although I loved them before I became a Muslimah I haven’t found a way of adapting them into a style I like.

Brims:

Next we have brims from trilby’s to sun hats:

Hijabs and brims

Brims can be very tricky. wearing a full hijab underneath is definitely the way to go because you don’t want to be wearing a 3 inch brim when you’re praying, it’s pretty much impossible!

Woolly Hats:

Lastly, and the only style I feel comfortable in is the woolly hat:

Islamic style hats (bonnet worn underneath)

Hijabi style experiment

Hijab Tips:

1. Wear it with a very high collar or (my preference) a scarf, one reason being that it doesn’t show the shape of your neck, the other being that it just looks a whole lot better.

Hijab Experiment: Scarves and hats

2. With some woolly hats you can get away with wearing just a full bonnet underneath but to save any neck showing wear a poloneck and pin in to the bonnet and wear a scarf to ensure you won’t be flashing any extra skin.

3. With all hats make sure you’re either wearing something really loose over your chest or use a scarf to drape around it.

4. Avoid wearing hats unless it’s actually the weather for it otherwise you’ll just be a very hot hijabi

5. Try before you buy, heads come in all shapes and sizes especially when they’re covered with an extra layer of fabric so choose carefully.

6. Only wear a style that feels comfortable or at least make sure you bring a back up hijab in case you decide you don’t like it.

IF YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE HAT STYLE OR PHOTOS TO INSPIRE US THEN SEND THEM IN TO ME AT hana@stylecovered.com

Hijabi Style: Chanel style prints make this look super chic

Hijabi Tip: playing with texture

When I saw this image I was immediately struck by the use of texture and colour. The key to why this works and doesn’t look messy is that they have kept the base colours monochrome. The pink is the accent colour which stands out. The use of broaches in a third colour (but keeping on the purple/pink side of blue) adds a mid level tone between the monochrome and pink. It’s dark and edgy and although I would probably tone it down a bit before wearing it, I love it’s dark drama.

Texture

The use of texture is also very clever, again using opposite ends of the spectrum you have smooth (almost shiny) leather and gemstones against rough, textured wool.

Stronger, Bolder

The Image below (click on ‘read more’) uses all the same techniques as above but without the third colour, the result is much more striking, focusing on blocks of bold colours to make a strong statement.

Hijabs and hats, layering to the extreme with a striking result