Malaysian Fabric Heritage

Having searched and found a rather old article (imagine in 2004) from The Age, Australia, I am rather impressed that the Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week actually featured this catwalk event. I am impressed that even back then, the Islamic fashion glamour has set standards beyond my imagination. The combination of fabrics with cultural and traditional fashion designing techniques and the use of creative pattern cuttings reflected a truly Malay religio-custom manifestation. Of course, the credit goes to Designer Iva Lativah. Her skills are expressed explicitly within the limited allowance of what a Muslim outfit is deemed appropriated. That is truly art and religion blending in harmony.

Within the stodgy silhouette of Muslim dress, there appears little room for innovation. No necklines to plunge, slots to add, no hemlines to hike or waistlines to kink. That hasn’t discouraged increasing numbers of fashion designers from tackling the ultimate challenge, however.

The straight-up-and-down featurelessness of the typical Muslim gown is in fact, the ideal canvas for a play of colours, textures, and patterns.

Designer Iva Lativah showed this heavenly foursome during Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week, and defied the oxymoron, Islamic glamour.

Silk satin was quilted and cut into a boxy jacket that fell wide over a slimmer, but still generous skirt. Sheer black gauze was used as an overlay on brilliantly coloured and patterned kimono coats, and the graphic weave and prints on fine silks were used as headscarves, in block panels for tabard frocks, or as light stoles hooked through the models elbows.

Lovely stuff.

Tags: Muslim hijab, Touching story, Uncategorized, fashion trends, festival, mother's day, personality, special day, sports wear by
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Arzu Kuafor is an exceptional fashion designer of the hijab/tudung from Turkey. His fashion boutique offers elegant to outlandish hijab designs for female Muslims who want hijab wears with a difference.

Arzu Kuafor is a true niche marketer, daring to go beyond the normal to attract and also keep his existing clientele who desire and appreciate creative styling. Looking at his work, one wonders what great works of art he has created with fabrics and how he manages to manifest culture and religious practice, customs and traditions into acceptable great art pieces.

If you care to observe his creations in detail, you will learn to appreciate how he so cleverly embeds pearl necklaces and emphasizing add-on mini organza scarfs into his work of beauty. This is where he scores all the “firsts” into making the hijab an attractive fashion piece and headgear to complement the wear and the lady. On up for Turkey!

See what I mean by refreshing and never dull from here;

Tags: Muslim hijab, Tudung, fashion trends by
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Yippee! school hols are here again …. beginning 30 May 2009.

Time to plan for trips, outings and events with friends. Maybe a picnic to the beach with friends to cool off from the hot day too with the winds on your face and hair. Ya, it time to do something different and fill the day with fun and friendship. Good to renew relationship with relatives we don’t see so often as we do our school friends. This must be running in the minds of all teenage boys and girls during this time.

If you are a Muslim girl and is looking to do something unusual this coming school holidays, here is an idea worth your consideration. And it is fun, what more it makes you much prettier too to the admiration of your male relatives when you visit them. Give it a go.

This is also a season of heat wave, so it will be ideal to think of a maxi cool hot weather dress to stay comfortable and relaxed. For that I will pick a cotton maxi spaghetti stripe dress. The rich berry shades make it perfect for anything from lounging on the beach to strolling around sightseeing, and of course visiting friends or relatives. Add a purple bolero to cover up the arms and a graduated purple hijab to complement the color scheme. Simple accessories like gladiator sandals, wooden bangles and a canvas bag finish off a comfortable yet stylish holiday outfit as illustrated below. Presto, you are now at the world’s attention and still maintain your female modesty:

Pictures courtesy of http://hijabstyle.blogspot.com

Have a happy holiday experimenting, but please remember to finish your homework too.

Tags: Muslim hijab, Tudung, fashion trends, hot season wear, summer wear by
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The Malay culture and traditions are mostly colorful, elaborate and custom biased. And when I claim, Malays are an artistic lot, I joke not. Especially, if you observe the culture and traditions from the fabric fashion point of view. If you care to look deeply the details put into the designs of the wedding gown, the fringes of the lace and frill of the fringes plus fold of the scarf (tudung), I am truly amazed!

Traditionally, weddings are so tied to kain songket like it is a norm. Fashion follows social trends and as much as Malay cultures and traditions are difficult to change, there is now a growing trend to modernize fabric use and bring traditional pattern designs to a more modern outlook, yet maintaining and blending with the traditional Malay customs of dressing.

Here, wedding gowns and dresses of modern Malaysian see such a refreshing change in style and cutting designs. My comment is such that some of the most beautiful outfits came as a result of such modernistic adaptions. Of course, moving away from traditional fabric of songket and using other alternative source of available fabric, the Malay wedding is seeing such wonderful transformation  unfolding right here in Malaysia.

So if you’re looking for something modest yet glamorous and a little different from the standard gowns, these should provide some ideas.

Displayed below are just a selection of gorgeous photos of Malay brides on their special day. I wonder who the “King of the Day” is? Can you pick a favourite?

Click on the images to browse more:

Tags: Muslim hijab, Tudung, fashion trends, special day, wedding gowns by
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Tomorrow is 9th May, 2009 and also the Wesak Day, a solemn, yet joyous day for Buddhists commemorating three momentous events in Buddha’s life – his birth, his enlightenment and ultimate achievement of Nirvana. Buddhists on this day celebrate by having a day of meditative comtemplation over the teachings of Buddha contained in the eight precepts.

At this opportunity, I like to wish my Buddhist friends a Happy Wesak Day.  And in sharing something purposeful on this special day, I like to record, with permission, two messages that hopefully will capture the spirit of the celebration.

May these two blessings come to be.

1) To receive the powerful uplifting blessings that inspire us to greater effort to make spiritual progress;

2) To receive encouragement and strength for the needed service to mankind and humanity.

Embrace calm and peace always; like the purity of the lotus flower above, amidst the murky waters below.

Namaste

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This is a rather old story. I still like it even though I have read it countless times. And every time I read it again, tears well in my eyes and I feel the depth of what an extend a mother would do for her children and more. A mother’s sacrifice has no price tag on it. It is indescribable and is unfathomable to human understanding.

On this Mother’s Day of 10th May 2009, I like to post this undying true story told in Seoul, Korea of this wonderful person who did the ultimate sacrifice to an unknowing and ungrateful son. It is my prayer this story moved you as much as it did me.

A mother’s sacrifice.

**********

My mom only had one eye. I hated her… she was such an embarrassment. My mom ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected little weeds and such to sell… anything for the money we needed she was such an embarrassment. There was this one day during elementary school.

I remember that it was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed.

How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school…”Your mom only has one eye?!” and they taunted me.

I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world so I said to my mom, “Mom, why don’t you have the other eye?! You’re only going to make me a laughingstock. Why don’t you just die?” My mom did not respond. I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that I had said what I’d wanted to say all this time.

Maybe it was because my mom hadn’t punished me, but I didn’t think that I had hurt her feelings very badly.

That night…I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me. I took a look at her, and then turned away.

Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one eye. So I told myself that I would grow up and become successful, because I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty.

Then I studied really hard. I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too. Now I’m living happily as a successful man. I like it here because it’s a place that doesn’t remind me of my mom.

This happiness was getting bigger and bigger, when someone unexpected came to see me “What?! Who’s this?!” …It was my mother…Still with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom’s eye.

And I asked her, “Who are you? I don’t know you!!!” as if I tried to make that real. I screamed at her “How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!” And to this, my mother quietly answered, “oh, I’m so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address,” and she disappeared. Thank goodness… she doesn’t recognize me. I was quite relieved. I told myself that I wasn’t going to care, or think about this for the rest of my life.

Then a wave of relief came upon me…one day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. I lied to my wife saying that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack, that I used to call a house…just out of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand…. it was a letter to me.

She wrote:

My son…

I think my life has been long enough now. And… I won’t visit Seoul anymore… but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much. And I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school…. For you… I’m sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you.

You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mother, I couldn’t stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye… so I gave you mine…I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did. The couple times that you were angry with me.

I thought to myself, ‘it’s because he loves me.’ I miss the times when you were still young around me.

I miss you so much. I love you. You mean the world to me.

My world shattered!!!

Then I cried for the person who lived for me… My Mother

*************

Tags: Touching story, mother's day by
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