Fundraising Dinner & Fashion Show‏

Hijab Style has just heard about an awesome fundraising dinner, Islamic fashion show and charity auction that's happening in Luton on Saturday 20th March 2010. Lots of modest fashion companies will be at the event; looks like a great evening! Check out the flyer for more details:

Reader's Special Offer

Following the huge popularity of the Bonus February Giveaway, Bellissima Scarves are now kindly offering 20% off all their products, exclusively for Hijab Style readers! All you have to do is enter the code HIJABSTYLE2 at the checkout when you place your order. The offer is valid until Saturday 6th March 2010.

Happy shopping!

Style Notes: Reem Acra

Spring 2010

Following yesterday's downpour and shoe-fulls of water (yuck!), I think it's certainly time to cheer things up a bit with a peak at Spring/Summer fashion. First up is one of my favourite designers, Reem Acra. This collection in particular is opulent and feminine - I love the water colour prints on the first two gowns, and the soft, billowing skirts:

Images: Style.com

Bonus February Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Alma H from Sarajevo, Bosnia for winning the Bonus February Giveaway! Your chosen scarf will be making its way to you shortly!

Keep an eye out for the next giveaway coming up in March.

Hijab Style Exclusive: Zyra Interview

Today, Hijab Style brings you an exclusive interview with Sumayyah Nasar, founder of the Malaysian clothing brand Zyra. Sumayyah writes all about her ventures over at her blog Love to Dress. Read on to find out more about this Muslimah designer!

Jana: Tell us a little about yourself and your brand.

Sumayyah: I am Sumayyah, a simple housewife from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia who is very much passionate about dresses. I had the burning desire to express my creativity and at the same time earn an income that is suitable to my life style. So about a years ago, I decided to take this idea seriously and met 2 amazing individuals who had the same passion, and by the grace of God, Zyra was born. Zyra is a retail clothing company that specializes in elegant and modest dressing for urban women age ranging from 25-35. We have a unique objective which is to inspire women to embrace their femininity.

Jana: Do you feel that blogging about your business experience has helped you form a rapport with your customers?

Sumayyah: Yes, I feel that it has. It helps my customer to identify the brand to the person who is actually running the company and the direction to where it is going. My customers could also follow my journey of ups and downs in setting up your own business.

Jana: What has been the biggest challange so far in setting up your business?

Sumayyah: The biggest challenge that I am facing in setting my own business is to run my business as honest as I can. This is very much a spiritual journey that I have chosen to embark into. As a Muslim, I am very much inspired by our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his wife Khadija (may Allah be pleased with her) and how they ran their business. He was an honest business man and this is the most challenging character that I am trying to instill in myself. There are many instances where I have to remind myself that everything done should be so in a way that pleases God and everything comes by the grace of God. Because of this, I feel the struggle within my soul in balancing the act of selling and the way I have chosen to do things in a certain manner.

Jana: What do you think makes the Malaysian clothing market different to other Muslim countries?

Sumayyah: For a start, Malaysians are such colourful bunch of people. We thrive on mixing all sorts of colours together. Also, even though we are Muslims, Malaysians are actually quite open minded when it comes to what we choose to wear. This is because when Islam came to Malaysia in the 15th century, our king embraced Islam by choice and not compulsion. We have therefore retained our cultural heritage but emphasized the values that the Quran and our beloved prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought. So in general, Malaysians are quite open to new styles and they cherish that freedom as well. For that, I am thankful that Malaysia is a Muslim country that allow women the liberty to choose what they want to wear.

Jana: You've teamed up with Zyra Chic who sell hijabs, what have you found were the advantages of this over setting up on your own?

Sumayyah: This was a strategic move by me because Zyra Chic has started before and they had a customer base that was in my market segment. They had a fantastic website and their hijab was complimentary to my dresses. I was also very much inspired by my 2 partners who were very hardworking and I wanted to work in a team so that I can learn to manage better. They have given me a learning platform on how I could build my company to include other products and thus to expand my company organically.

Jana: Finally, any words of wisdom for budding entrepreneurs?

Sumayyah: Firstly, don't be afraid to start and when you do, be persistent even if it is a small step. Positive thinking helps A LOT! Look for a mentor, but if you can't get one, then a partner or a close family member or a friend who can support you. For me, it was my husband. He gave me a lot of positive support when I was struggling to start and continue to push me to strive in my efforts. This is what I am most thankful for.

Secondly, at the end of the day, this is a business venture. There is no point in producing something that people are not going to wear. I am always learning to balance my creativity to produce a product with business management. As an entrepreneur, my biggest responsibility is bringing income for the company so the company can continue to grow.

Lastly, the most valuable experience that I have learnt is - it's OK to make mistakes!

Why they wear it: UK students raise awareness of Islam

The Kentucky Kernal just published an article about one young woman's decision to wear hijab. (And by 'UK' they mean Univeristy of Kentucky, not the United Kingdom as I first thought!). Check out the accompanying video too:


February 22, 2010
Katie Saltz

As many young women in college get ready to leave the house, there is a flurry to put together a combination of the right shoes, sweater, earrings or lip gloss. But for one part of the UK population, dressing for class is all about one thing — modesty.

Heba Suleiman is a psychology junior and next year’s Muslim Student Association president. As a Muslim woman, Suleiman wears hijab, something most people tend to misunderstand, she says.

“The head scarf or the Arabic term ‘hijab’ is actually a very vague term,” Suleiman said. “ … in general the hijab would be the modesty or the covering, so the reason we wear it is to be fully covered.”

Read the rest here.

Last Day for Entries!

Today is the last day for entries into the Bonus February Giveaway! Don't forget to enter for your chance to win a beautiful Italian scarf of your choice from Bellissima Scarves!

Chic Hijab Tutorials

YouTube user TheChicMaya has uploaded several video tutorials for her favourite hijab styles. Here's just one of them:

Hijab Style Needs YOU!

I am in the process of writing a post about today's Islamic clothing industry, and where improvements need to be made. Although I have an extensive list of points to make, it would be great to hear direct from readers what you think is missing from Islamic clothing companies and how they can improve. For example; would you rather shop from the high street or from Islamic clothing websites? Are you happy with the range of clothing offered? What stops you from buying from these websites, and what would encourage you?

Please write your thoughts in the comments section, and don't forget to mention what part of the world you live in! And please note, we're not here to bash individual companies, but making constructive observations.

I look forward to reading your comments!

Special Offer from Pinz Pinz Pinz

If you liked the brooch we featured in yesterday's Casual Cool outfit set, then you'll love this exclusive offer for Hijab Style readers! Pinz Pinz Pinz is a UK-based website that sells all manner of beautiful pins and brooches at bargain prices.

You can receive a FREE Sunshine brooch or Gem brooch when you spend £12 or more on the website. Just enter "Hijab Style blogspot" into the comment box along with your choice of brooch when you place your order. The offer is valid until March 3rd 2010.

Enjoy!

Casual Cool

I first saw this Monsoon dress in one of their shop window displays, styled with a striped grey top layered underneath. I loved the look so decided to finish it off to make it hijab-ready, with a grey scarf, dark jeans, ankle boots and a cream bag. A pretty brooch adds a girly touch to a plain hijab; I like to keep things minimal and add interest with accessories:

Babette dress £75, Monsoon; blue pocket wide leg jeans £15, Dorothy Perkins; light gray colour stole £6.99; dark grey long sleeve t £9.99, both Uniqlo; Transit lean back ankle boot £25, Barratts; cream double front lock bag £35, Dorothy Perkins; black butterfly brooch £5, Pinz Pinz Pinz.

Bonus February Giveaway

For the second giveaway this month, Hijab Style is giving you the chance to win a luxurious Italian scarf of your choice, courtesy of Bellissima Scarves!

To enter, all you have to do is visit the Bellissima Scarves website, and send an email in with the name of your favourite scarf, along with your full name and city with 'Bonus February Giveaway' in the subject line to hijabstyle@hotmail.co.uk. Please note that if any of this information is missing, you will not be entered into the competition.

Extra Entries:

You can get an extra entry into the giveaway when you follow Hijab Style on Twitter! It's free and easy to sign up for. Simply send in a separate e-mail with your full name and link to your Twitter profile.

The deadline for entries is midnight GMT on Tuesday 23rd February 2010. The winner will be chosen at random and contacted via e-mail. Don't forget to tell all your friends and family too - the giveaway is open to entrants from all countries!

'Pantaloon abaya' designer is top seller

Whilst few abaya brands today can really be described as 'creative' or 'different', I was interested to read this article about an Emirati designer who has come up with the concept of a 'pantaloon abaya'. I'd definitely be interested to see what these look like!

By Aimee Greaves
Wednesday, February 10, 2010

An Emirati designer is changing the face of Arabic fashion by creating abayas based on trousers rather than the traditional dress.

Lamya Abedin, the owner of Queen of Spades, started designing two-and-a-half years ago and has seen the popularity of her "pantaloon abayas" rocket in the past few months as Galeries Lafayette began stocking her designs in its The Dubai Mall store. She has also designed abayas based on kimonos and saris, but it is the pantaloons that have pulled in the punters.

Read the rest here.

Reader's Special Offer Extended

Lady Muslima have very kindly extended their special discount for Hijab Style readers following an error in their shopping cart system. This means readers can get 10% off purchases of $50 or more with the code HIJABSTYLE, until March 31st, 2010!

A Last Look Back

Spring fashions may have fully descended into high street shops, but I just wanted to take one last look at the Fall 2009 collections; a season which I felt was exceptionally creative when it come to modest outfits. Here are my last few favourite picks:

Collette Dinnigan

Haider Ackermann

Ruffian; Ralph Lauren

Missoni

Images: Style.com

Visibly Muslim: Hijab Style in Print

Visibly Muslim: Fashion, Politics, Faith by Emma Tarlo is a book that's just been published which explores Muslim women's dress in Britain. It covers many aspects such as politics, identity, diversity and of course hijab fashion! In one chapter, the author looks at the emergance of Muslim clothing brands, such as The Hijab Shop, Elenany and Capsters. And Hijab Style gets a mention on page 225 too :)

Having read through most of the book now, I'd highly recommend it to anyone interested in Muslim women's expression of faith in the UK. I was especially interested in the section where Tarlo discussed the famous case of Shabina Begum, who wanted to wear a jilbab to school. You can also check out Muslimah Media Watch's review of the book here.

February Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Stephanie Y from Massachusetts, USA and Sabira A from Middlesborough, UK for winning the February Giveaway! Your pashmina gift sets will be making their way to you shortly!

Keep an eye out for the second February giveaway coming soon!

High Street Hijab Finds: Uniqlo

Uniqlo is great for knitwear and jersey basics at reasonable prices, and right now they have some lovely coloured scarves in a light fabric perfect for the coming warmer weather. They come in 12 different colours and zebra and leopard print too, and retail for £6.99.

Amal Murad on TisF

Emirati abaya designer Amal Murad, whose designs I've previously posted here was recently interviewed for website That is Fabulous. Check it out:

Amal Murad, is an abaya fashion designer who comes from an artistic family in Dubai. From a young age she was a talented stylist advising her family and friends on fashion and style. Her early beginnings as a designer began before the age of 15, when she created her first garments.

Fashion magazines and fashion shows were embedded within the character of this young designer, and the passion to learn and create was her given talent. Being led and inspired by the fashion designers such as Channel and Christian Dior, her greatest muse comes from the fashion mogul - Yves Saint Laurent. She graduated from University in Dubai, but far before that she was already attending 'class premiere', a high-end fashion seminar held in Paris.

Read the rest here.

Changes

You may have noticed a few changes to the blog layout in the last few days. Two days ago Blogger finally decided to add 'pages' to all blog templates, meaning we can finally add useful tabs to stand-alone pages just underneath the blog header. As you can see, I've added a brief About section, a list of all press features, contact information and also a Shopping Links page.

I'm always inundated with requests from Muslim clothing companies from around the world to include a link to their websites. However up till now it has been my policy to only include UK links simply because there wasn't enough space in the right hand side bar. I have however been carefully saving all links I get sent and was finally able to list them all, by country, under the Shopping Links page. So be sure to have a look and browse Islamic clothing websites from around the world! And of course if you know of any that aren't listed, do let me know!

You also might notice that underneath each post, I've added a 'Share' widget, which lets you easily share content from the blog with your contacts on various social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter!

Hope you find these changes useful!

Interview on Taqwa Iman

Taqwa Iman is an American modest clothing brand, and they just posted a series of interviews with four modest fashion bloggers, including me! You can read check out the feature here; scroll down to read about Hijab Style, and let me know what you think :)

Spring is in the Air

Although it may not feel like it right now, Spring will soon be here! This season, soft pastel shades are making a come back, with key colours such as cream and light pinks a great way to refresh winter wardrobes. Team with light greys for elegant workwear options and add punches of colour with simple accessories.

Oyster pintuck vintage shirt £25; white long sleeve crew neck £7, both Dorothy Perkins; belted paperbag wide leg trousers £30; envelope slouch double chain bag £25, both ASOS; Tickled Pink hijab £15.99, Aab; white glitzglam high heel shoes £75, Debenhams.

P.S. Don't forget to submit your entry into the February Giveaway!

Hijab Style Exclusive: Vela Interview

Today, Hijab Style rings you an exclusive interview with Marwa Atik and Nora Diab, founders of the fashion brand Vela. Vela's mission is to create fashionable and unique hijabs with a distinctly American style. The scarves are all designed and handmade by the girls themselves; read on to find out more...

Jana: Tell us, who are Marwa and Nora?

Marwa: I'm 19 years old and was born and raised in the U.S. and my parents are part Turkish and part Syrian. I'm currently attending California State University Fullerton as a sophomore where I'm majoring in Communications Public Relations and minoring in Entrepreneurship.

Nora: I am 19 years old. This is my second year in RCC - Riverside Community College. I am currently majoring in Psychology and will hopefully transfer to a UC by this fall.

Jana: How did the idea for 'Vela' come about?

Marwa: After graduating from high school in 2008, I began spending some summer times in my room just drawing random graphic designs, and one day I traced a scarf and drew one of my graphic designs onto it. Then I continued to make drawings of different designs on scarves. So that's where my inspiration began. But I never thought about actually going out and applying what I had. I barely showed them to anyone, it was just a side hobby I did for fun. Then in August of 2009, Nora and I were talking on the phone like any other normal night and she came up with the idea to just start designing scarves. At the beginning I was all for it because it was something that I really wanted to do and knowing that I had a friend wanting to do it with me I thought, "If I'm going down, then at least I have some one to fall with me." So in the beginning I did it for fun, and I prepared myself for negative reactions from the start.

Nora: Oh man, Marwa pretty much summed up everything from the moment she brought it up till last summer. I remember it being such an exciting, yet nerve-racking experience for the both of us. We expected the worst from this and instantly began to think of how people will perceive our designs. But being there for one another, has only strengthened our confidence in one another and ourselves. The reassurance Marwa gives me about certain designs has only pushed me and motivated me to continue. The basis of ' Vela' began with just thoughts and dreams, and we turned it into a reality for ourselves and other Muslim women.

Jana: What have people's reactions been so far to your scarves?

Marwa: As I've said before, I'm not an optimistic person so I expected more negative feedback than positive. But alhamdulilah we have been having nothing but positive reactions from people.

Some people get wide eyed and can't believe we made that, whilst others just approach me saying that they support it and are fans of the page. I think the best reaction I get is when I have Americans come up to me complimenting me on my scarf. I won't forget the time I was in Fashion Island at Newport Beach and I was wearing the Victorian Pleat scarf. I was in Forever 21 with my cousin, and I had two Iranian women come up and ask me where I got that scarf from. When I told them I made it and me and my friend had a company started, they began encouraging me to sell the product in Iran and how many women are dying for something different like this. I love the support and bright ideas I get from strangers.

That same day I had an American compliment me on my scarf. I JUST LOVE IT! Because them coming up to me complimenting my scarf is an immediate conversation starter and eventually they lead on to the next question which is: Why do you wear the scarf? It's a way to send out the message and awareness to people and give them a better understanding of why we wear the hijab.

Nora: It still surprises and amazes me to this day that from day one, the feedback we have been getting from fans was not just Muslims, but non-Muslim women as well. Everyone in my life and our fans have been SO supportive; words can't do justice. I'm racking my brain trying to remember if I read anything that was negative or heard something that was, but couldn't. Today, I was sitting in class and a student I barely talked to, randomly taps my shoulder and gives me such a beautiful compliment on one of the hijabs I had made and was wearing that day.

Jana: How do you manage keeping up with orders with work/studies?

Marwa: Oh god I still can't answer that question for myself! I work part time at Urban Outfitters and go to school part time, so it's definitely been a challenge trying to balance them all together. But so far I haven't failed so I must be doing something right.

Nora: It's so hard to commit fully to both without having to be a bit loose on one. I am still in the process of balancing my life out in terms of Vela, my school and the Arabic Saturday School I work at. It's tough, but I am always up for challenges.



Jana: Where do you hope to go with Vela in the future?

Marwa: My passion has always been for art and being able to incorporate that with something that I feel so strongly about (which is my hijab), was the perfect combination for me. This is my future and present, and all that I'm working for, I hope to put it into my company and help it grow. Insha'allah my goal is for Vela to become a brand many Muslim women know and wear and find inspiring.

Nora: Though I have so many different goals set for myself, Vela will always be something I would love to expand on and eventually have it become a well-known brand and an inspiration for Muslim women. Amongst the different goals I have set for myself, one of them is using the passion I have for fashion and change to the fullest advantage. This is something I want to continue to strive in and hopefully will continue to further motivate me into expanding Vela.

To see more from the Vela collection, join the Facebook page here.

February Giveaway

For the first giveaway this month, Hijab Style has two Exclusive 3 piece Pashmina gift sets courtesy of Amirah Fashions up for grabs. Not only that but the two winners will each also receive a promotional code for a 50% off discount when you spend £100 on the website!

To enter, all you have to do is e-mail in your full name and city with 'February Giveaway' in the subject line to hijabstyle@hotmail.co.uk. Please note that if any of this information is missing, you will not be entered into the competition.

You can get an extra entry into the giveaway when you follow Hijab Style on Twitter! It's free and easy to sign up for. Simply send in a separate e-mail with your full name and link to your Twitter profile.

The deadline for entries is midnight GMT on Sunday 7th February. The winners will be chosen at random and contacted via e-mail. Don't forget to tell all your friends and family too - the giveaway is open to entrants from all countries!