The high-end, designer fashion hidden beneath the abaya

Jawaher Alyoha takes fashion very seriously. The 21-year-old from the United Arab Emirates spends upwards of $1,000 a month on clothes, shoes and bags and rarely leaves home without perfect hair and make up.

Like many Emirati women however, Alyoha wears a full-length black gown called an abaya over her clothes and a black veil, known as shailah over her hair when she’s out and about. This means only a handful of close friends and family members ever see her full outfit (normally at a private home or ladies-only event) but this doesn’t stop her shopping. 

“For us to feel good, we like to know we look good under our abayas,” she said. “I remember a foreign teacher asking us once if we just wore pyjamas, and I was like ‘no way!’” 

The media student’s biggest ticket item to date is a dress from Italian designer Valentino, which set her back a cool 8,000 dirham ($2,177), but she stressed she also shops in High Street stores like H&M and Zara. 

Similarly, self-professed shopaholic Noura Hassan, a 24-year-old student from Sharjah, who has been wearing an abaya for a decade, said: “If I have money, I like to spend it. Every week I buy something new and in a month I will easily spend more than 3,000 dirham ($816) on clothes and shoes, sometimes more.”

Shoes, which she can show off publicly while wearing her abaya are Hassan’s big passion; her collection includes two pairs of Christian Louboutin heels, Manolo Blahnik satin flats and some Christian Dior crystal-studded trainers (sneakers).

But her clothes, although only seen by a handful of people, are very important to her. “Wearing beautiful and colourful clothes makes me happy,” she said.

Gulf women from oil-rich states, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are arguably some of the best-dressed in the world. And their thirst for luxury fashion is driving retail sales across the Middle East. The average Gulf national spends $2,400 a month on beauty, fashion and gifts, according to a survey by Middle East luxury specialists the Chalhoub Group, and 78% of those surveyed said it was important to “keep up with the latest trends”.

“The Arab world is not isolated from what’s happening elsewhere in terms of fashion and trends and if women in the [Gulf Cooperation Council] see celebrities wearing things, then they want them too,” explained retail specialist, Shamail Siddiqi from A.T. Kearney consulting firm.

“The unique thing here, is that while many of the national women may be a little more conservative in how they dress, and many will wear abayas, they are still very much luxury consumers,” he added.

At the epicentre of this Gulf fashion boom is the UAE, which is more liberal than neighbouring Saudi Arabia, where all women are obliged to cover fully. The UAE doesn’t require women to wear abayas, though most do. But in a break from their mothers’ tradition, many younger Emirati women now opt for abayas that fall open at the front.

Dubai, with its giant gleaming malls, the main retail hub for the region, is also the home of the burgeoning Dubai Design District (DD3) and hosts the annual catwalk event, Fashion Forward Dubai, one of the Middle East’s most popular fashion shows.

Add this to the large number of high net-worth individuals from Russia, Europe, China and the US also passing through the country’s luxury five-star hotels, it is perhaps no surprise that UAE women are so interested in global fashion.

“With the weather being so hot here for a lot of the year, malls are about the only places you can go and definitely that feeds it,” noted Zahra Lyla, a Dubai-based fashion blogger and creative.

Emirati designer Fatma AlMulla, the brains behind the colourful FMM brand, said: “Women here really care about what they wear. You would never just wear something terrible underneath your abaya because what if it got caught on an escalator in the mall and got torn? You have to be very careful!”

“Image is a big thing here,” said blogger Zahra Lyla “If a woman is wearing an open abaya, she will want to make sure that if the wind catches it or if it flaps open while she’s walking, she is wearing something fantastic underneath.”

Additionally, although Emirati women cover up when they go out in public, they also have lots of gatherings with just women, Lyla, who is Emirati but who doesn’t wear an abaya, explained. “When they get together as friends and family they want to show off what they are wearing,” she said, to show that they are up-to-date with the latest trends and designs.

What women choose to wear, whether they cover or not, is a matter of pride, according to designer Effa Al Dabbagh, who has been a pioneer of coloured, open and decorative abayas and owns her own boutique in the upmarket Dubai suburb of Jumeriah.

“Women who wear abayas take a lot of pride over their clothes,” she explained. “I know that if I dress well and take care of myself and look after my appearance, then I feel good, and I’m doing that for myself, not for others.”

Reem Abdullah, an Emirati and co-founder of online brand portal Vešmašina, said following fashion wasn’t something you did for other people, it was to “feel good for yourself”.

“You want to wear something that reflects your mood. It’s not about appearances; it’s about how you feel,” she said. “And, for Emirati women that wear abayas, it’s how they wear them and how they accessorise them.”

Al Dabbagh, who is originally from Saudi Arabia, said just like in the Western world, what one wears on a daily basis depends on the circumstance.

“For example, if teenage girls are watching an American movie with friends when that door closes and they peel off their abayas, it’s very likely they will be wearing very fashionable clothes like skinny jeans or tank tops (vests),” she said.

Afnan Kazim, a 21-year-old media student from Dubai who spends upwards of 5,000 dirham ($1,361) a month on fashion, said, “Every girl wants to look beautiful, especially if she’s going out with friends. Girls love brands here. Often they will buy things because of the brand, rather than if they really like it or if it looks good.”

Briton Vicky, who wished not to reveal her surname, began to wear an Abaya six years ago, after she converted to Islam ahead of her marriage to an Emirati in Dubai.

The 33-year-old, who runs a recruitment company, admitted it had been quite a steep learning curve to know how to dress as an Emirati wife.

While she might be casual at home with her children, either in a leggings or a traditional-style dress known as a Jalabiya, Vicky said she would never dream of receiving visitors or going to someone’s house without full make-up and well-styled hair.

“There is definitely pressure on women here to dress well,” she said.  “I would say it’s a bit of a silent competition between us, and some women do definitely dress to be noticed by the other ladies for what they are wearing.”

However, it’s at Emirati weddings when the competition between women over what they are wearing and how they look really comes into its own.

As per tradition, men and women celebrate nuptials separately, and it’s behind those closed doors when the abayas are removed that you will find some of the most spectacular — and uber-expensive — outfits.

With roots in traditional tribal culture of demonstrating wealth, weddings are often lavish affairs with upwards of 500 guests, often more, and no expense is spared.

While designer outfits always go down well, many women choose to design their own dresses and have them tailor-made to be able to add extras like crystals and lace.

“Weddings here are very big. I had 2,000 people come to mine, we have large families,” laughed AlMulla. “What you wear is important. People like to show off, not in a negative way, but to demonstrate that their son or daughter has married well and everyone gets into the happiness of that.”

Vicky added: “People don’t think twice about spending as much as 8,000 dirham ($2,177) on a dress to wear once to a wedding, only for it to sit in the closet after that and never be worn again. That’s just how it is.”