Eid Mubarak

It feels like only yesterday that Ramadan started...Eid Mubarak to everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Eid Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Azara M. from London, UK for winning the Eid Giveaway! Your prize will be making its way to you shortly.

Don't forget there's still time to enter the Banner Design Competition to win £150 worth of prizes!

Hijab Online Store: Readers' Special Offer

Hijab Online Store is an Egypt-based website, which stocks a huge range of hijabs and accessories. Although the site is a little difficult to navigate, it's worth browsing the more unique designs which are hard to get hold of here in the UK. And there's an exclusive discount for Hijab Style readers; get a massive 35% off your order when you enter the code Hijab Style 01 at the checkout. Valid until August 28th 2011. Not just that, but you get 20% off your order from their sister website Handbags and Jewels with the code Hijab Style at the checkout! These are just a few of my favourite picks from the HOS website:

Eid Outfit: Pretty in Pink

This Eid why not try out a pleated maxi skirt? I love this pink satin one, worn with a light pink blazer, a simple white top and printed hijab. Mix things up with a leopard print skinny belt worn loose over the skirt, and smart accessories. Try swapping the pink blazer for a black one for a sharper evening look:

Boyfriend blazer £65; Pleated satin skirt £45, both Topshop; Petite Fleur scarf £15.99, Aab; Cream chiffon pleat top £24, Miss Selfridge; Mesh loop tassle necklace £12, Topshop; Leopard print skinny belt £5, Dorothy Perkins; Catoggio bag £28, Aldo; Light beige bow shoes £29.99, River Island.

August Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to Fatima S. from Ontario, Canada and Katarzyna G. from Koszalin, Poland for winning the August Giveaway! Your prizes will be making their way to you shortly.

Don't forget there's still time to enter the Eid Giveaway to win a tunic top by Rabia Z, and the Banner Design Competition to win £150 worth of prizes!

Eid Giveaway

For a special Eid Giveaway this month, Hijab Style is giving you the chance to win this Draped Jersey Tunic Top with Accent Colour from the latest RUBY by Rabia Z collection.

To be in with a chance of winning, you must do two things:

1. 'Like' the Rabia Z Facebook page

2. Answer the following question: "How would you feel wearing this Rabia Z. look?"

Send an email in with your answer, along with your full name and city with 'Eid Giveaway' in the subject line to both hijabstyle@hotmail.co.uk AND rabiazassistant@gmail.com. Please note that if any of this information is missing, you will not be entered into the competition. The deadline for entries is midnight GMT on Friday 19th August 2011. 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!

Banner Design Competition

At long last, the Banner Design Competition is here! As you can see, the current banner at the top of the Hijab Style webpage is looking a little plain, and could definitely use a makeover! So here is your chance to design a new one and win some fantastic prizes too!

Competition rules:

1. The banner must include the blog title 'Hijab Style' and description 'The UK's first style guide for Muslim women', as it already does, but you can play around with the layout.
2. You cannot use existing images found on the internet, as these already belong to someone and cannot be used to promote another website. Stick to graphic designs only.
3. You can use any colour schemes and fonts you like, but bear in mind that it needs to be easily read.
4. Banners should preferably be in .jpg format, but .bmp images are also acceptable. The width should be exactly 920 pixels, and the height between 220 and 250 pixels.

5. Each entrant may submit upto a maximum of 3 designs each.
6. Deadline for entries is Monday 5th September 2011 and the competition is open to entrants from all countries.

7. Banners should be submitted along with your full name and city to hijabstyle@hotmail.co.uk

8. The first prize winner will be chosen by myself, and there will be a poll open to all Hijab Style readers to choose the runner-up.

And of course the prizes are as follows:

The 1st prize winner will receive the following:

Oolong Blue Abaya from Aab; Genova Matt Silver Scarf from Bellissima Scarves; Silk and Viscose Stripe Scarf from Demure Look; Agate Two in One Chain Link Necklace from Hannah's Gemstone Jewellery and Set of Handmade Hijab Pins from The Inayah Collection.

The runner-up winner will receive the following:

Striped Hijab in Dusky Pink from Hijab Fashion Shop and a Burgundy and Gold Filigree Dangle Hijab Pin from jewels4hijabs.

Remember: keep it simple and stylish. I look forward to receiving your entries!

Lebanese Hijab Style: Bokitta

I recently came across a new brand called Bokitta, which just happens to be based in Lebanon. It goes without saying that Lebanon has produced some fantastic designers (if I do say so myself!), but actually I've realised there are very few brands which cater for hijab-wearing Muslim women. Naturally, I was intrigued, and so here is a quick Q&A with Hala Absi, the founder of Bokitta.

Jana: What is Bokitta and how did it begin?

Hala: Bokitta is a new innovative brand for hijabis; it started from a passion for fashion and became a successful design house for veiled ladies. The word Bokitta is a new word we invented by combining the word "bouquet", meaning an arrangement, and added the "itta" to refer to the lady. Bokitta, the bouquet of colors, offers an arrangement of matching, bright and colorful scarves and clothing for hijabis, under the Matching Concepts. Most importantly is our new patented scarf "Voila!". This is a pre-wrapped, ready-to-wear scarf which does not require any pins. This new invention has found a lot of success because of its practicality; it is light and breathable, especially for summer and hot weather. The scarf is being sold in two stores across Lebanon launched in May 2011, one in Beirut Mall and another in Saida Mall and hopefully we are to expand to 2 other locations soon.

Jana: Tell us more about your patented design.

Hala: Voila!, our new patented scarf is a ready-to-wear headscarf. It is designed in such a way that it looks like a naturally wrapped scarf, yet with all the extra layers of fabric that are usually wrapped around the neck eliminated for a lighter feeling.

The Voila! is stitched and requires no pins whatsoever, and is worn simply and easily like a hat. It is made of 100% breathable cotton, for healthier hair and scalp, and comes with a headband in the same fabric that will hold the hair back from falling on the face. The Voila! preserves its consistent look, and therefore it does not loosen up after a long day, and you need not fix it with several pins on your head, and need not search for any lost pins. You can watch this YouTube video to see how simple it is to wear the Voila!.

Jana: What do you think is special or unique about hijab style in Lebanon?

Hala: Lebanon is often called the Paris of the Middle East. Women in Lebanon tend to be trendy and care to stay in style. This is also reflected in the veiled girls' dress in Lebanon; they always try to stay in style but are conservative and modest in their clothing. We do not have one particular style for hijabis in Lebanon; you can find alot of diversity in different regions of the country. The younger generation tend to be more daring with colors and fashionable items; they wear long tunics with pants or short ones with skirts, while the older generation are mainly into jilbabs and one color/neutral outfits. Since our main focus is on the Voila!, it comes in plain as well as printed colors, and we cover a whole market of the traditional and stylish female population.

Since our slogan is "Bouquet of Colors", we are trying as much as we can to keep our collection colorful. We follow the latest trends by adopting the Pantone Fashion Colors for each season. However, what differentiates us, is that we design and draw all our prints and we come up with our own collection every two months, providing as much variety as we can for our customers.

Jana: When can we expect your online store to launch?

Hala: Insha'Allah we hope to launch our online store no later than September 2011. We will be announcing our launch on our Facebook page, where we release our latest news and updates and also on our website where we will launch the online store, www.bokitta.com.

August Giveaway

For the first giveaway this month, Hijab Style is giving two winners the chance to win either De La Roche scarf (pictured left) or Pierre Cardin scarf (pictured right) from Veil Vision!

To be in with a chance of winning, you must do two things:

1. Visit the Veil Vision website, and sign up to the mailing list (top right-hand corner).

2. Answer the following question: "Why would you prefer a vintage scarf over a non-vintage scarf?"

Send an email in with your answer, which scarf you prefer to win, along with your full name and city with 'August 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 Veil Vision on Twitter! 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 9th August 2011. 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!