Abayah designs

Having lived in saudi Arabia for almost seven years, I have got in experience a different culture to my own and most interesting, lifestyle. The abayah, being the ordinary garment that all women and teenagers tend to wear whenever they are being exposed to the opposite gender, is a daily clothing item that they wear. It is black, and quiet looks like a robe, that you put on top of your clothes that your wearing. It is function is to hide the silhouette of the female body and it keeps them looking reserved which is very ideal for them, living in Saudi Arabia.
A few years back, I don't think many western people had ever heard of the abayah but recently it's become something people witness and understand normally, when talking about the country or visiting it. To my surprise there's even been fashion shows held specifically for abayahs, and top major brands such Christian Dior and Nina Ricci, as are taking part in creating beautifully abayahs. It is becoming a more internationally recognised piece f clothing item, which I believe is really good. (Summer, 2009) The french fashion show called the Saks Fifth Avenue Riyadh and Jeddah was held in Paris, France, with elegant models walking the runway with the designed abayahs. 21 designers took part in designing the abayahs. They served the purpose abayahs were supposed to serve, cover the female body, yet displaying an element of nice designs which would serve as a fashion garment for the many Saudi women. No one said it needs to be all black.....

Fashion and Newspaper?

I am really interested in fashion, especially individual styles and anything that strikes as being different and a bit edgy. I watched an episode for project runway the other day which was really interesting.  The show itself is hosted by Heidi Klum and involves various fashion designers competing with each other and taking part in different challenges to create a fashion garment that would stand out from the rest. After each challenge, one designer is eliminated. They have 24 hrs to create it, from the beginning process to the end. The winner of the challenge is then decided upon the judges. So, for this specific challenge the contestents were taken to the Los Angeles times factory, where all the newspapers were produced, and so their next task was out there in the open. They were asked to create a garment/fashion icon from newspapers! Watching the show, I noticed how many did not have a clue of what they were doing and they were just going with the flow to see what they would get out of their creation. However after some period of time, some of them seemed to get a stronger grip of what they were doing. Most of them created dresses out of the newspaper, but there was also one that created a coat, which was my ultimate favourite. When all the finished garments were put on the models to pose for, they looked really good. And it just surprises me how newspaper could be turned into something so nice. Above are some of the outfits the fashion designers created from newspapers. Outstanding...