Kaneesha.com is a quality South Asian online fashion house, not cheap, but real quality.
This is an example of a lengha choli, emerged in the Mughal period, and one of my favorite South Asian garments for women.
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Islamic fashion need not be drab and monochromatic in color scheme
By GustavoMustafa - Posted on April 20th, 2009
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Traditionally, Islamic costuming for women has been pretty wonderful. I have wondered also where this monochromatic plain Jane thing came from, the Islamic "Mormon" look. Don't get it.
I particularly appreciate the "Rajasthani red" of the headscarf. So striking.
Oh, man, if I were female, I'd wanna dress like her! :-)
She's too femme for this dyke to want to wear her clothes. It is a gorgeous ensemble, though. I'd like to *date* her, but not dress like her. I could do parts of the outfit, but not all of it.
Shirts especially are forgiving, but the accessories are wayyyy too ethnic for this woman anyway. I'd look like a super-poser wannabe.
Some companies are coming out with modest clothing in pastels and even bright colors. It may be a while before the Islamic equivalent of the LBD comes about, but there is quite a lot out there besides drab sacks. Perhaps I should revive the Fashion Jihad, with a new feature or two on maternity and other special needs wear? If a woman is nursing, or has had a mastectomy, she's got clothing needs that can be hard to meet on top of a desire for modesty.
Please revive the Fashion Jihad, I was unaware it was not active and I continue to fight it.
Personally, as a mostly white woman, I look askance at ethnic clothing that is not of my own heritage; I feel that modest clothing should be approachable, attractive and available in local design. I hate the burqu3 and the jilbab's use as an oversheet and prefer comfortable Western clothes with appreciative flashes of traditional non-Western design. Honestly, in daily life I wear jeans, a high-necked t-shirt, and a button-down over that. I'd rather cover the body with flattering (but non-Britney Spears) clothing that I am accustomed to than to "dress Islamic", i.e. wear clothing alien to my cultural roots.
I do, however, like some of the Shukr skirts.
That being said, I have an explosion of scarves I wear as headgear and to keep my dark hair from soaking up the sun (not hijab - Aqa Khan III shared my opinion on traditional interpretations of hijab). These are predominantly non-Western in origin: some are Tibetan, some are "modern Islamic", & cet. This is a practical and personal matter related to the lack of useful warm-weather scarves in Western catalogues.
The Fashion Jihad is ongoing- I just took a bit of a break from reporting on it. As far as summer headwear, I'm going to research cotton/linen/silk fabrics and blends that would make good DIY headscarves. Sometimes you can find commercially available silk scarves that fit the bill, but colors/patterns can be limited. And the Fashion Jihad is so not about being limited.
I just read a fun article at the Iranian entitled "My Lemon-Yellow Roosari". It's older but I enjoyed it a lot... http://www.iranian.com/Features/1999/December/Roosari/index.html
Clarification: headscarfs are called rusari "on-the-heads" or rupush "upon-(the head)-clothing" in Fårsi just as shoes are påpush (food-clothing) etc. None of that silly Arabic for the speakers of the language of Pars!
None for me thanks, I prefer women who reflect my coloring and attributes. But the color scheme of her clothing is nice, and I love the textures.
Afghan women in my family wear fashions emanating from Karachi and Mumbai, Afghanistan is culturally influenced by the peoples of the Indus and Ganges.
So this is cultural wear for my family, my mother gets hit on by Desi men all the time, it doesn't matter if they are married or non-Muslim. They love her "fair and buttery" complexion, sadly, in South Asian circles, the more "white" the woman looks, the more desirable she is deemed.
Kaneesha only has fair skinned South Asian models or sometimes models who could pass to be "Desi."