Women’s Dress in Bahrain and Iran, Part II

I returned in 2009 wondering if the trend toward traditional dress had intensified.  It had not. Perhaps not enough time has passed for a definite conclusion, but my impression is that fewer women veil their faces and the abaya has become a more fashionable outer covering. The cover picture for the book was taken this year and although most of the girls wear an abaya, it is not the traditional sleeveless cape.  Wide, embroidered sleeves are clearly visible.  Most of the women wear a black scarf over their hair but in the background are several with uncovered heads and no abaya.  This is also what I observed on the streets and in shops.

Unlike Iran or Saudi Arabia, Bahrain has no laws regulation women’s dress.  The pressure to conform to  what others are wearing, felt by women everywhere, has a major role in determining dress in Bahrain. Probably the choices are more complex there because of the tension between religiously backed tradition and newer trends that assert a changed role for women.

Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have laws governing women’s dress.  I had little direct experience with Saudi women on my recent trip, but I spent nearly two weeks in Iran.

As I planned my Iranian trip, I remembered the dress restrictions inaugurated by Khomeini in 1979 and imposed by harsh treatment of women who protested. With this in mind, I borrowed an abaya with sleeves and packed several scarves to cover my head. Although I saw similar garments in rural provinces, I was out of step in the cities, where women have largely abandoned the ankle-length chador (abaya). The new style is a knee-length, fitted coat dress worn over pants.  Far from shapeless, this manteau is often cinched with a wide belt, producing a rather modern and stylish look.

Other restrictions enforced in the early Khomeini years are also gone.  Make-up is universal, and although a scarf is required by law, inches of hair show on all women except those in official positions who wear a uniform black scarf that fits smoothly around the oval of their face.  No faces are veiled.

I eventually abandoned my efforts to dress inconspicuously. When I did not wear my borrowed abaya in the cities, I was left with my usual pants and long-sleeves shirts.  Provided my head was covered, these were perfectly acceptable by Iranian law, but the light colors I normally wear drew attention in a society where women universally wear  dark colors. Under a navy blue manteau, an Iranian college girl might wear blue jeans, but the overall effect is dark.

Pastels are the rule for school girls in Iran.  I saw many girls, aged perhaps 7 to 14, as they left school or were on their way home and all wore pants covered by a knee length tunic with a head covering of the same color. Pale blue and pink seemed to be popular colors.  Are light colors considered suitable for children, with darker colors indicating maturity?  I could only observe.

Muslim women in all countries dress in compliance with the Islamic mandate that their bodies be covered from neck to ankles. Although Bahrain and Iran are close geographically, women in the two countries dress quite differently.  My tentative conclusion, based on limited time in these countries, is that women’s dress in the Middle East is diverse and evolving.