Omani Fashion

Today's blog entry will be a brief investigation into the modern Omani women's fashion. Now, in Muscat, the traditional Omani women's dress of bright colors and traditional embroidery and embellishments which vary from region to region are rarely seen in public, and many women follow the Gulf fashion of the black abaya (a long black garment that covers the whole body) and shayla (a similiarly sheer black cloth that covers the hair). While the Muslim tradition of modesty and respect results in women covering up their body, they are in no way repressed; this is manifested by the focus on various designs (some which include crystals), detailing, and embroidery on the abayas and shaylas that express each women's individuality. The women also have a chance to show off various styles of footwear, handbags and makeup techniques (it seems that every Omani woman's face is made up beautifully and perfectly down to the last mascara-ed eyelash!).

While most Omani women don't show their hair in public, there is another way of showing off your headgear. Many women's shaylas are enhanced, if you will, by a large voluminous bump in the back of the head (there really is no PC way to put such things!), indicating a ponytail of thick voluminous hair. While many women do have this much hair and their shaylas do achieve such natural volume, other women have short modern haircuts and do not have such an advantage. However, there is a "shayla enhancer," as I'd like to call it, that will achieve the illusion of natural hair volume.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you ... the poof.

There are claws hidden beneath this poof that attach to your short hair. Liyam will now model the poof and how to use it in every-day shayla preparation.

Exhibit A: the shayla

Step one - affix poof onto hair. If your hair is as short as Liyam's try putting some hair into a ponytail so that the poof will adhere longer:

Steps two, three and four - wrap the shayla around your head as normal:

Voila!

Mission accomplished. Maximum volume achieved.

The end.

*Disclaimer: Liyam was in full support of this blog entry and has permitted me to use her image on this blog.