The "Burqini"
Where's Naomi Wolf to help explain why Western women should give the hijab a try? More on such stories. "Islam makes modest inroad in fashion," by Liz Gooch, Kuala Lumpur for The Age, November 25 (thanks to Shechild):
THE shorter, tighter and more revealing the better may be the rule on most catwalks, but there is not a miniskirt or plunging neckline in sight as Malaysia's Islamic Fashion Festival gets into full swing.Three contradicting clauses in one sentence.Models covered from head to toe are strutting down catwalks in Kuala Lumpur wearing designs from around the world during the week-long festival, which emphasises fabric over flesh.
The event is becoming a regular fixture on the fashion calendar in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Dubai as organisers seek to transform the three cities into the London, Paris and New York of the Islamic fashion scene.
This week's festival, the sixth since the show began in Kuala Lumpur two years ago, features Islamic designs for every occasion, from office wear, prayer wear and bridal wear to swimwear, couture and avant-garde.
The festival's founder, Rezza Shah, says his aim is to show that Islamic clothing can be fashionable.
"When I say 'Islamic fashion', they think it's a fashion show where you can see two eyeballs. Even Muslims themselves think this," said Mr Shah, a former model and actor who used to run his own modelling agency. "I do agree that women should be covered but they should be allowed to express their fashion, because we are living in a modern world."
While there are no official statistics indicating the value of the Islamic fashion industry, some have estimated that it could be worth $US96 billion ($A152 billion) a year at least.
"A lot of ladies are covered but are dying to dress up well," said Mr Shah, adding that he aimed to show clothing that ranged from minimal to maximum coverings. "It's not about saying what's right or wrong. It's about showing variety."
Another contradiction: It is about saying what's right (dressing according to Islamic principles) and wrong (not dressing in infidel mini-skirts).
Uh-oh, someone took the notion of “hot” swimwear too literally. Looks like a great outfit for riding a bike in heavy traffic though. Just one more reason to love this country.
Why is she barefooted? Such podiatric nudity should be strongly discouraged.
Heh. The Aged is Melbourne's lefty broadsheet, and there's a reason its headquarters was known as the Spencer Street Soviet.
This must be their way of making amends after the last couple of articles about islam and the status of women as reported here previously.
Good suckup job, Age.
L.Drummond.
They're going to get tan lines on their faces! Ha! Seriously, is that chick a model? Because if that's the best-looking woman in Malaysia that's saying something. At least the burqini hides her double chin. She looks like a monorail stewardess of the future from the 1950s in that thing.
Only one thought enters my mind after having seen this:
Corn Dog On A Stick (without the dorky hat)
"Even Muslims themselves think this."
Note to pious, modest, "good women" Muslimahs: Nobody cares. Wear a tent, wear a hazmat suit, lump your hair and wrap it like a giant wart, flaunt your bedsheet at the mosque and at the mall. Hell, wear a dog collar with your husband's name engraved on it and print your mahr on your forehead. I couldn't give a damn as long as you're not a security risk.
But the minute your males decide that this ridiculous, degrading, insulting costume is required of all women, and begin attacking those who refuse to dehumanize themselves by donning these grotesque getups, that's when women like me are going to start to care. And that's when all hell is going to break loose.
The food workers quit over having to wear an outfit just like this.
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=zi0duDl0pmg
You're kidding, right? This is some Photoshop (Reuterized) joke, yes?
No? Oh....my.
This kind of outfit is not new to us in Oz. After the so-called riots in Cronulla a few years ago, locals attempted to "build bridges" as they say and Muslims came up with this design for the Muslim surf life savers. I don't know if the activity caught on with the local Muslim lasses as I don't live in that area. But in Melbourne they still sit on the beach with all their clothes on while their kids and husbands frolic and have fun. Of course the husbands never even glance at the Australian girls in their bikinis...
@Posted by: Vee at November 26, 2008 8:45 PM
No photoshop, in the Netherlands is a special shop/company that sells this things for whole Europe, you can order one at the onlineshop on internet.
It is a hot item, and they sell a lot of them, but not new.
See the YouTube film I posted.
"When I say 'Islamic fashion', they think it's a fashion show where you can see two eyeballs. Even Muslims themselves think this," said Mr Shah
..................
And why would that be? Must be Islamophobia!