Local Style

Our friend Carrie requested a post on clothing in our town so Caleb and I did a little photographing around town today.  It was a little awkward but I figured it must be somewhat normal considering Caleb gets photographed so often in town.  Women, when they are in our home, prefer not to be photographed for the most part. They are modest and may take off their head scarf if no men are present.  My closest friend here, a gentle mother of 7 children who love Caleb, wears the “niqab” – the black veil that shows only the eyes.  When she is just with our family in our home or hers, she wears just a head scarf.  Sometimes, with just me, she  might have her hair in a ponytail and wear a sweater and pants.  Our town is fairly conservative but men and women like to look nice.  Here’s a sample of our town’s style…

a young man at our neighborhood "makhbiz" - bakery

kids like cartoon characters here too

these vests are really warm and typically worn over a robe in winter

Niqab

Business men will either wear a kaffia and dishdash or a western-style shirt, sweater and pants

this is how a "sheikh" - a community and religious leader - will typically dress and grow his beard

this is the type of outfit a woman might wear around her house, winter or summer

these are what women wear under their head scarf to make it look like they have lots of hair under there

this is a very common type of outfit for a young woman here

a man's traditional dress is called a dish-dash and the head scarf is called a kaffia - it can be worn all different ways