I was very kindly invited to attend the Urban Outfitters launch in my home city, Exeter.  I hadn’t thought much, other than I was curious to see what they had done with the space (which I’d not been in for years- since its past life as Topshop).  But when I mentioned I was going to be there I got a completely mixed response.  From people excited to know what had been going on beyond the wooden boards, to people slightly indignant that it should have arrived in our precious little city.

So it was with a little unease that we went to check it out.  Unease was quickly replaced with a stunned silence as it was vast, and full of amazing fittings.  Every corner of every floor is well thought out and contains many goodies (and a couple of baddies).  I have always really liked their reworked vintage stuff and this was, again, great.  But mostly I was just in awe at how well they had used the space.

I don’t know if the naysayers will ever see it as anything other than a subculture supermarket.  It’s sort of D.I.Y. without the ‘Y’ which is still a little disconcerting.  I must admit I can understand the frustration of spending hours picking around independent stores and researching to find something unique, only to find it (shelved with five other things you own) just ‘right there’.  But maybe I’m picking on them for being a little too good at what they do.  You’ve got to hand it to them, they do know how to make a stunning store.

You can check out there store (the online one) HERE

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When is a shirt not a shirt?  When you wrap it round your head as per the previous post.  But out of my McQueen fantasy and back in the mostly real world in which I reside, this shirt is one of my most worn pieces out of the new collection.  It’s strange actually, because it really is a statement piece, but there are options to make it more versatile.  Because it’s a shirt, it comes with all the shirt perks, i.e. Buttoned, unbuttoned, belted, loose, tied, open, tucked in.  And because it’s a shirt (part 2) it also means you can wear it with a variety of bottom halves from jeans to full length evening skirts.  Needless to say, I’m sure you’ll see this shirt again, perhaps in another incarnation.

I spent a lot of time working on the details for this shirt, I wanted the silhouette to be fluid and have movement, but to give the piece focus with textural details in the covered buttons, plaited sleeve cuff, and ruched shoulder seam.

Checked Shirt

Long and loose, these shirts are perfect for dressing up or dressing down, always good with denim and perfect with those gorgeous leather boots. Just throw on a headscarf to complete a chic casual look. And I love that furry bobble hat!

Painterly

After a short recess the Hijabi Sketchbook is back, the inspiration image was taken from the More Dash than Cash feature in September 09 British Vogue. I mostly chose it for the hat, which I know is a stupid reason, but I really like the paint splatter. The houndstooth makes a great focus for a maxi skirt (very English heritage), and the styling is great.

More Dash Than Cash Hijab Style

There wasn’t too much to adjust, just making it a long skirt and pulling the shirt sleeve down a few inches. With a polo neck underneath (and headscarf of course). I also put together a video demo of how I created the sketch. Much edited, it now fits into 3 and a half minutes of video! I’ll post it up next week inshAllah, I hope you like it.

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Olivia Palermo

Modest Day Wear

For day wear go for her choice of wide leg jeans or soft tailored wide leg trousers (rather those super skinny leggings). Team it with a soft shirt, loose sweater or a simple t-shirt. Even if it’s not long sleeved you can do like she does and cover it over with a lightweight jacket or pretty cardigan. If you’re not a trousers sort of person go for a long skirt take a look at my artists impression here.

Maxi Dress Glamour

For a special occasion, or those times when you want to feel fancy the quickest course to modest elegance is with a maxi dress or abaya. With an abaya you can dress it up with a statement cropped jacket (something with structure). For the maxi dress choose a simple blazer or bolero. The base should be pretty simple, Palermo tends to start with a simple elegant base and builds it up with the accessories. I’m not talking lots of bling, just one key necklace or bracelet and of course a beautiful bag.

Style Analysis

In terms of her style, she loves draping with jersey or chiffon. In the evening she adds sparkle with… well sparkle, sequins or satin- but it’s never top to toe, just accenting the outfit. She does go for bold prints but doesn’t really mix them, instead, if she goes bold with the print she minimizes the accessories and tones down the extras. The key is in the detailing, little things like bows, belts, texture and fringing details make the look interesting without being a slave to trends.

In a sentence: Keep a simple basic outfit, experiment with statement jackets and jewellery and top it off with a big funky bag.

Hadith of the Day

“Exchange gifts, and mutual love arises: shake hands, and enmity will fall away.” Ibn Asakir

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

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Maxi shirt dresses are perfect for hijabis, beautiful for summer!

Islamic Layer Love

A shirt dress is a Muslimah’s best fashion friend and here’s why. Whether they are full sleeved, half sleeved or no sleeves at all they are perfect for layering. They tend to be very lightweight so you don’t have all the bulk of other dresses. You can open them up and team them with long sleeved tees, which is a look I love. Great under jackets, over jeans or wide leg trousers there’s not a lot they don’t go with!

The simple dress shirt has been redesigned for 2009

Islamic Fashion: A colourful Maxi Shirt Dress from Hermes

Designers for Summer Shirts

Designers from Hermes, Pollini to Dries Van Noten have reinvented the shirt dress into essentials for the perfect summer outfit. You can see how easily you can adapt these outfits into Muslim friendly fashion. A perfect alternative to an Abaya, for those days you want something a little different.

Layer shorter shirt dresses with wide leg trousers or a maxi skirt

My Favourites

I love the Emanuel Ungaro cross between a kaftan and a shirt dress. If a bit sheer, the mini/maxi length makes it perfect for layering. Limi Feu, daughter of the legendary Yohji Yamamoto is a designer in her own right. She has taken classic tailoring and given it an edgy twist. This oversized dress-shirt outfit is a headscarf away from being hijab. Simple but so beautiful.

Not just for summer, shirt dresses were seen on the Bottega Veneta runway for Fall 09. Keep them coming!

Muslimah Style: This stunning dress is by Bottega Veneta