Hijab Fashion Industry

[Zahira13]

Have any of you followed the recent scandal with the event that was suppose to take place this weekend known as "International Muslim Fashion Week" in Hershey, PA ? There was a huge scam that took place where the organizer failed to pay the resort where it was to take place the final deposit so the entire event was cancelled. Woman from all over the country and 11 different countries travelled to the event to participate as vendors. Anyhow, the even that took place was promoted by well known hijab bloggers, some who have about 100k+ followers on social media sites such as facebook, youtube and instagram. There was a lot of questionable things that came up regarding the organizer of the event -old mugshots, previous failed events, etc. Some of these bloggers overlooked this and still promoted the event, causing many woman to purchase tickets just to meet these people they idolize and vendors to rent space to sell their merchandise. Not to mention purchase supplies to sell their merchandise and spend on travel expenses.

This event bought some things to my mind on why these hijab bloggers are so popular to begin with when as muslims we are taught to be modest. Why/what has caused them to gain so much popularity? What do ya'll think of the hijab fashion industry to begin with? It is very hard for us to find abayas and other modest wear so i think it is helpful to have these events that cater to our needs and give us the opportunity to support muslim businesses. It is in women's human nature to want to wear beautiful clothes. Is there harm in that? And lets be honest ladies, we sometimes dress more for other woman than we do for men. When ever I attend an event (muslim or non-muslim) it's like a fashion show. I understand that we have to hide our beauty but beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and hijab can be just as beautiful and attractive as a head full of luscious bouncy hair. Even an abaya and very loose fitting clothing can attract the eyes of a man. Even a niqab can be quite alluring and doesn't completely hide beauty.

So what is your take on a woman wanting to be beautiful in a hijab, wearing nice clothes, following trends and all that other beauty stuff? I am acquainted with sisters that wear niqab and others that are confined to abaya and they behave envious of other woman. Who can blame them?

[petals]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

I personally do not like the hijabi youtubers; the ones who have the tutorials and things like that. I find that all the videos basically erase the purpose of Hijab. There is really no "hijab" to it; just a scarf on the head. It is contradicting to see titles like "Hijab make-up tutorial" and things in relations to that. I understand the whole beauty thing; but it seems like the meaning of hijab is vanishing......and these events and organizations and all are not helping. Hijab has just become a fashion accessory. That is not what is meant to be.

[Massilia]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

I am very fine with the clothes available both in the high street and islamic stores.

Just a bit of imagination and personnality and the outfit is done. I like the tutorials because im horrible at putting my hijab, and i like change so I do follow some of them on youtube.


And let's be honest indeed : i dress for myself because i dont care about what people think, they'll never be happy.

I blame them because these women "envious" clearly have an issue with what they're wearing and why they're wearing it. I am not envious of anybody, yet i dress as i please

[faithandlove]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

Hmmm.. I definitely see where you're coming from, and I do not disagree with you. But if I can add another point of view to it:

I've also seen these sisters do a lot of good - by influencing some sisters to become more modest and break down some of the barriers some sisters may have to wearing the hijab. If a sister sees she can be fashionable and modest, and that inspires her to put on the hijab, then I don't see any harm in that.

[faithandlove]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

Also, here's a story (which is a little off topic, but still relates to hijabi youtubers) to add to my reply above:

There was a recent situation where a couple of reverted sisters started youtube and instagram accounts that discussed some controversial things in Islam. After some time they both got very popular - gaining a lot of followers and a lot of hate. Anyway, in the interest of time (and of not blatantly blasting these girls' identity), the whole thing concluded with a lot of arguing and hate between muslims in the comments on their youtube and instagram posts, regarding their views, the way the dressed, etc.. This led to them both shutting down their hijabi youtube/instagram accounts, taking off their hijabs, and condemning the Ummah of being judgemental and unwelcoming. They now choose to distance themselves from anything regarding Islam on social media sites...

The hijabi youtuber/fashion movement is still pretty new and controversial, and regardless of the good it can do (as I mentioned above), there is also a downside when it's not used wisely

[Sister_2009]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

I find it interesting. I do like some of the videos. I watch non-Muslim videos as well for fashion, makeup and such. I've learned a lot from videos, and it gives inspiration for creating new looks. I don't think many women actually follow these youtubers every idea and tip. I use it more for inspiration for my own ideas. I do look nice at home and whatnot, so I don't really see what's wrong with using it for that. Women who dress for outside are going to do that regardless of videos. I design clothing myself. Part of the issue Muslim women face is lack of access to a variety of clothing. When you have to modify clothes from a regular store to fit as hijab, it's difficult to do it properly. That's part of why designers are working on making more variety for Muslim women. Yes, we have guidelines, but we should also be able to enjoy being women and have some sort of creative outlet.

[Moza]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

I think the hijabi bloggers/vloggers trend has gotten out of hand. It promotes un-Islamic behavior and dress. Sisters forget why they are wearing hijab in the first place, and treat hijab like an ornament itself. This whole fashion week is just proof of that.
& Not only that, but why would people travel for this event and not confirm with the hotels or where the event was being held themselves? That is very naive and dumb, honestly. Especially since 2 well-known sisters pulled out of the event a while ago, because they suspected it was a scam but they did not warn everyone else?? Haram wallah.

[SouthernGirl]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

Have any of you followed the recent scandal with the event that was suppose to take place this weekend known as "International Muslim Fashion Week" in Hershey, PA ?

Yeah it got deep
http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthrea...eek-was-a-scam!

[SouthernGirl]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

So what is your take on a woman wanting to be beautiful in a hijab, wearing nice clothes, following trends and all that other beauty stuff? I am acquainted with sisters that wear niqab and others that are confined to abaya and they behave envious of other woman. Who can blame them?

I do have not issue with a woman wanting to be beautiful in hijab. The thing I don't care for with the youtube hijabi beauty gurus is the amount of effort they put into promoting make up (go on youtube and look at Babylailalov).
I have never seen a Muslim woman in real life at the masjid with THAT much make up on. At the most, even during Eid and iftars the number of sisters in full face make up is less than 5%. I really feel that they promote the make up simply because they are getting paid to do it and don't even wear make up like that on a daily basis. But young girls in the real world are thinking that they do.

The maximum amount of make up I wear is eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, and a shear/semi shear lipgloss. I can reapply all this in less than 1 min after making wudu. There is no way you can do that wearing full face makeup which consists of 15 different products!

As to being "confined" to an abaya and/or niqab, you can look beautiful in both!
I know sisters who wear stylish niqabs and they won't tell you were they got them!

Tell me this ain't alluring and beautiful.
And plenty of companies make flashy abayas.

[cyber_abdullah]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

Hijab is also behaviour, not just cloth covering the awrah. So looking beautiful intentionally with the hijab is contradicting the reason for hijab.

Some of the pics you accidentally come across on the sidebar on youtube are shocking. The girls have no shame and look like dolls for the entire world to see.

[ssh]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

They don't realise about shame though. To them it is just the culture.

Are women really valued less by their own secular peers because their sexuality is in everyone's face? I'm asking because a lot of people see that as being empowered and a sign of equality. I am not defending the culture, I hate it, always have, even before I was Muslim. I am questioning the stereotype that we believe.

Same as the stereotype that says Muslim women are oppressed. That is a misbelief peddled by western media.

[Zahira13]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

Yeah it got deep
http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthrea...eek-was-a-scam!

Subhannalah, I scanned the thread, it did get quite deep. I honestly feel that the well known bloggers should hold some responsibility to this since they assisted in promoting the event. That promotion influenced a lot of people to spend their hard earned money to attend it, and now they are at a loss. I feel that they should do more to help the vendors to get their money back since they have a much louder voice. Perhaps they can promote those brands for free by posting their sites, wear their clothes, mention the labels, etc. I feel like these bloggers sometimes are more concerned with self promotion and freebies then their responsibility as a voice for the Ummah.

It hurt to see the post you made where you listed all of the vendors. I think the next time we shop for an abaya or anything Islamic it should be from those vendors. This is an awful situation. I don't believe the organizer intentionally scammed people, I think it was a case of MAJOR careless mismanagement. Even her promotion video and website did not look like it was well put together. Why did people even take it seriously??

[SouthernGirl]

Re: Hijab Fashion Industry

It hurt to see the post you made where you listed all of the vendors. I think the next time we shop for an abaya or anything Islamic it should be from those vendors.

That is an excellent idea!

This is an awful situation. I don't believe the organizer intentionally scammed people, I think it was a case of MAJOR careless mismanagement. Even her promotion video and website did not look like it was well put together. Why did people even take it seriously??

People took her seriously because they were able to verify, with Hershey Resort, that it was a real event.
I didn't judge her ability or validity of the event based on the promotion video or website. I thought they where rather good for a 20 something year old rookie. I discredited it because of the price. The tickets were almost $300 and the event was not in a very accessible location. That didn't make any logical business sense.

Check this out: Sister Hadiyah Weeks is having an Muslimah fashion show in Charlotte, N.C. , at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and the tickets to her show............$10 :up:
http://campusevents.uncc.edu/event/6573
https://facebook.com/events/476828319110849/

Charlotte NC is logistically more accessible than Hershey, PA
The venue was 100X more cost efficient than the Hershey Resort.
And her tickets are what, almost 300% cheaper.