Who wears what, and why in Egypt
Get the News by email
- Image by Ginas Pics via Flickr
Egypt has a long history of clothing-related controversies, all of which reflect shifts in how Egyptians see themselves and wish to be seen by others. Recent consternation over the veil is but one example.
For most urban Egyptians, the galabiyya – long the unofficial uniform of Egypt’s fellahin (farmers) – is inseparable from connotations of poverty and backwardness. On city streets, the gown is mostly seen on building guardians and dispossessed farmers. And, like beards, the galabiyya is increasingly associated with fundamentalism, especially when worn in the ungainly shin-length Salafist fashion. Galabiyya-wearing citizens are refused entry to the city’s opera house (where ties and jackets are de rigueur) and likewise unappreciated in upscale officers’ clubs and five-star hotels – this despite the fact that Gulf Arab visitors are welcome everywhere in the national dress of their choice.
In the 19th century, western visitors were so willing to immerse themselves in Egypt they adopted local dress. British scholars and artists like Sir Gardner Wilkinson, Edward Lane and Robert Hay could never pass for Egyptian, so rather than the cloth-belted shirt-dresses worn by average citizens, they chose the sumptuous layered robes of Egypt’s Turkish ruling class.
Egyptian headwear has been similarly blown about by the winds of politics. It used to be that Muslims advertised their faith with turbans, which were considered nearly sacred.
Today’s fellahin surely rank among the most powerless and destitute of Egypt’s citizenry, their land lost to corruption and fraud, their water diverted to industrial and tourism development.
This February, Mostafa El-Gendy, a 48-year-old member of the People’s Assembly, introduced a resolution calling for the galabiyya’s instatement as the national costume. The relevant parliamentary committee duly placed El-Gendy’s recommendation at the bottom of a long docket. It is unlikely to be voted upon anytime soon, especially with the 2011 elections approaching.
Excerpted from an article by Maria Golia for The National
Related posts:
