Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The markets of popular fashion in the Kingdom witnessed a large turnout of both men and women to buy traditional Saudi clothes to celebrate the Founding Day, while shops and electronic stores were active in promoting their popular goods that correspond to the occasion.

According to Al-Arabiya survey of some of the sellers' opinions, Umm Abdullah, a designer of folk costumes said, “The market is witnessing an unparalleled demand of all ages for folk costumes, which vary from different regions of Saudi Arabia.”

Umm Abdullah added that many people specifically ask for the dresses called ‘Toor’ and ‘Menikhel’, which are some of the most popular traditional clothes for women in the Najd region.

They are made of black tulle, decorated with sequins, and usually worn on special occasions.

There is also high demand for Bedouin burqas, ‘Sheylas’ and ‘Mukhannaq’. Sheylas are black scarfs with edges decorated using a beautiful assortment of colored threads or different sequins.

Saudi women in southern regions wear Sheylas on their heads and fasten them with a yellow or red band.

While the Mukhannaq is a transparent silk fabric made of chiffon or tulle, completely sewn except for the opening to encircle the face. It is a dress specific to young girls when they ventured out of their homes.

On the other hand, social networking sites began to flood with images displaying the applications and designs of the Saudi dress and the changes it went through ever since the first founding era.

One of the numerous active accounts on Twitter presented a 200 years old “burqa”, and the bid price for it reached SR10,000.

Popular fashion

Reem Al-Bassam, who is interested in the history of Saudi heritage, said, “The burqa is a face covering, consisting of a cotton cloth that varies from one region to another. Sometimes, it is decorated on its edges with silver and metal coins, and ornaments.”

She explained that the clothes of women in Najd during the era of the first Saudi State, differed according to social status, standards and wealth.

The wealthy women wore a type of high-quality ‘Qilaniyah’ abayas, embroidered with golden buttons, while lower status women wore black abayas of lesser value and quality than the Qilaniyah.