Artizara.com is as an Islamic Clothing Company that was founded in 2004 by neighbors/friends Sarah Ansari and Asra Razzaque who had the idea of bringing Islamic wear to the mainstream market that combined modesty, Islamic Heritage and World Style.  I’ve noticed this on-line    boutique for quite a while, while looking for new abaayat to wear (I had just started wearing them full time) and was really only looking for more simple everyday designs at the time and I thought that Artizara was a little too over the top for me LOL!  So, about a year or so ago I noticed their new Palestinian themed dresses and quite recently I’ve been looking for something fairly unique to add to my ever expanding collection.  So I decided to buy the Ibtisam Palestinian Hand Embroidered Long Maxi Dress from Artizara and give her a try…Soooooooooo, without further ado, here is my review:-)

Service

I will have to say, the service was impeccable.  I ordered the garment on Friday around 3ish and received the garment on Monday.  This was quite impressive to me being as the Christmas rush makes it almost impossible to receive anything ordered that late into the week in a timely matter unless you pay an arm and a leg for 3-day or overnight shipping.  I really liked the fact that as soon as I placed an order my status was updated to shipped within a few hours.  Most companies leave your order in limbo as “processing” for at least a day or two.  But the folks at Artizara got down to business!  That alone would make me order from them again. I have to give kudos to companies like Artizara that gets your order out  in a timely matter! 

 

Packaging

The garment arrived in the standard cellophane packaging within a United Post Office envelope.  The product, when I opened it was neatly folded and when I unfolded the garment it was wrinkle free and ready to wear.  Attached was the Artizara tag and the companies label was sewn inside the garment as well.  I’m weird I guess but I like when a company attaches outside tags to your garment.  It gives it that boutique feel as opposed to the sitting in the warehouse feel that I usually get when I order an Islamic garment from an online company.

 

Fabric/Details

The garment itself is made from polyester.  It’s a substantial polyester-it reminds me sort of like peach skin (but a little more textured) It’s extremely opaque and has a hint of stretch to it.  The over garment has a sort of boat neck/ square neckline which adds a unique touch. The sleeves are straight and fitted and cuffed with white chiffon pleats.  The bodice of the garment has beautiful folds/pleats (of the same white chiffon) with the traditional Palestine weave sewn down the middle.  The weaving is what impressed me the most!  This is the real thing ladies-not the fake mass-produced stuff you see.  It’s absolutely breathtaking but extremely settle at the same time.  Most ethnic themed garments are usually reserved for eid or some cultural event.  However, I would totally wear this to jummah or dinner with the girlies.  This definitely appealed to my western sensibilities- as the company’s logo suggest it is a perfect blend of east meets west. 

 

Fit

I ordered the garment in an extra small and it fits me PERFECTLY (down to the length).  I have a feeling that the company bases it garment size on height and the approximate weight for that height i.e., an extra small would be reserved for your shorter sisters (5ft to 5’3) and the larger sizes would be for the taller sisters.  So if you are super tall but small in stature or heavyset and very short-it may be difficult to get the sizing right. The fabric as I mentioned before has a slight stretch which makes it SUPER comfortable to wear.  I will say that the fit is more like a dress rather then an abayah or an over garment.  It is A-line-ish but not as a-line as say a traditional shoulder abayah and it is  more fitted in the waist area then a traditional abayah as well. It’s definitely not skin tight, but the garment is definitely shaped and it would almost be impossible to fit anything bulky underneath it unless you went a size up.  

 

Quality

The quality of the garment is impeccable.  The garment has what I like to call that “boutique feel.” It reminds me of something that you would buy at Francesca’s Boutique. The material is quality and the surging is even and super tight and with proper care it is an over garment that you could have for years (the care instructions suggests hand wash or dry-clean only though).

 

Price

I thought the pricing for the garment was fair. It was originally $79 dollars.  However, they were running a promotion where you received $15 off your total order and the shipping was about $5.  So all-in-all I only paid $69 (shipping included) -which I thought was great for such a unique garment and the best part is that the traditional embroidery on the garment was done by Palestinian women from a women’s cooperative in Jenin, so some of the money that you spend on the garment helps those women economically AND the garment was completely constructed and put together in the USA, which makes me ubber happy!

 

Overall I would rate this garment an A+! I LOVE IT! If you are looking for a unique garment to wear albeit a conversational piece.  Then this is the garment for you.  There are a few more designs on the website that are a little more settle then this particular garment that is apart of their  Palestinian themed collection- if this one has a little too much going on for you.  All in all I had a wonderful experience with Artizara and I will definitely order from this company again.   

Thinking about buying a Kufi...

As -Salaam Alaykum All!

 

 

My post today is completely out of the norm and somewhat odd -in that it is a post about an item of clothing that is common not to the Muslim Women but to the Muslim Man.  What is this item of clothing you ask?  It's none other than the ELUSIVE KUFI lol! I know, I know, what does this have to do with a "Reformed Hijabi"? Well, nothing really-I just wanted to post this piece because anyone who reads anything by me can tell that I am very much "a nostalgic" and a fan of yesteryear- I really can't say why that is, because I definitely LOVE how Islamic Fashion has evolved over the years and I have an appreciation like no other -insert this picture here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

(yeah I used to wear that :-D) for the variety of choices one has in how to express his/her "Islamic Identity." Perhaps my penchant for the past is due to  my longing for how personal things used to be-ya know when the jilbab you wore was made by sister so and so, or the time in energy that it took going to the fabric store and deciding which fabric you wanted your next khimar to be made from, and then folding over and sewing the edges lol.  I suppose I miss that brotherhood/sisterhood-you know that  sense of community that existed within the Muslim community.....So, without further adieu I would like to share a post on Facebook that was made by a brother-a former MSA-er (Muslim Student Association Member) on his thoughts on buying a Kufi :-)

"Thinking about buying a Kufi......

Back in the day before Islam was "popular", before there were stores at Broad & Olney and Germantown & Chelten and all the "urban high-traffic" spots, before the Islamic Place... You would get your Kufi from a PERSON...

I remember around Eid time there was a brother that would actually go to the houses of the Muslims with his kufis. He would sit and talk a bit as he displayed his wares; he knew us. My Dad would pick matching Kufis and the bro would pull out the different sizes and fit us...

The selection was much more limited- you might go to the Eid prayer and see 4 or 5 other people with the same kufi on (nodding like ahhh you went to Bro. Fulan too, huh?)- but the strengthening of the bonds of brotherhood between the buyers and seller more than made up for it.

It was the same thing with oils... A bro would come back from overseas and people would be hype to have him over and host little get-togethers so he could spend time with the brothers and they could re-up on the oils...

Just my random thoughts as I ponder kufi purchaseage..."

Taraweeh Nights

As Ramadan approach-eth I cannot help but to get a little nostalgic of Ramadans past-ya know, the frantic sahoors, the inhalation of iftar meals lol:-D  In Muslim majority countries I always have this visual in my mind of the guy (I don't know his name in Arabic) going through the streets at a certain time every night beating a huge drum to wake people up for suhoor followed by the blaring of multiple adhans echoing through the streets signaling the incoming Fajr prayer.  However, anyone Muslim in America knows that Ramadan in America is a completely different experience altogether.  Some of it good, some of it bad and some of it just comical in my opinion!  My fondest memories are me laying on the bathroom floor trying to catch some Z's while the water is running (faking wudu smh) only to be disrupted by a knock at the door-followed by-"Come on Zakia, suhoor is over in 10 min." and then me splashing water over my face to make it "appear" as if I had made a "good wudu".....alright parents, here's the trick to knowing whether or not your kids have made a "good" wudo...If you don't see water all over the bathroom sink and then see a trail of water marked footprints trailing from the sink to the bathroom floor, then your child did NOT preform a "good" wudo:-) Anyway, I digress once a again.  I would have to say-bar none though, that my favorite childhood memory of Ramadan were "taraweeh nights" it was the only time of year were we got to go someplace late at night (and on a on a school night at that) and idk, there is just something ephemeral about going to the masjid at night-I suppose because it doesn't happen during any other part of the year.  I remember when I was about six years old I begged my father if I could accompany him to the taraweeh prayer and he said that I couldn't go because I didn't have anything to cover my head with.  So, I proceeded to grab my little brother's kofi and ball it up into my pocket as we are leaving out the door.  While my mother is dropping my father off at the local masjid I pull the little rumpled kofi out of my pocket and stretch it over my 5 ponytails and proudly exclaim, "look daddy! I'm ready for taraweeh." He looked at me and sort of laughed and said,  "no, you need a scarf." Side note: Remember the style when women were ACTUALLY wearing kofi's as like a fashion statement-that was weird lol!  Anyway since that day forward I have been OBSESSED about what to wear for taraweeh.  It's actually not as easy as you would think-well not for me anyway. You want to wear something extremely comfortable (think about that heavy iftar meal you just had), something cool, and of course stylish-I mean it is taraweeh, it only comes once a year!  So I've been thinking about this thing and so far I have come up with two possible garment options.  Now keep in mind, I don't do dressy.  I live in the "laid back" South and dressy for me is adding accessories to something casual.  

The first option is the Safiya Dark Blue Denim Maxi Dress with Adjustable Sleeves  from Artizara.com (OSH did a wonderful review of this abaya HERE).  Which is this cute, lightweight denim maxi dress (caftan style) with waist shaping, rolled tabbed sleeves that can be adjusted to 3/4 length, mandarin collar, two actual chest pockets and two mock hip pockets, it also has a mock front placket that is accented with tan top stitching detail.

My second option is SR-S15-VS12 from Islamic Design House.com a flowy empire waist garment in a Viscose Jersey fabric. The only detailing is the plaited belt, which runs across the upper body.

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, So what do you guys think?

 

oooooooh, I had to add this two from Artizara as well......

 

 

 

 



Islamic Libas Review

As Salaam Alaykum ALL :-)

 (Sigh) I should be working on this Power Point for one of my grad classes.  But I'd rather much do a review on one of the Islamic Libas that I purchased from Abaya Boutique (formally known as IslamicLibas.com:-)  An Islamic Liba you say (in my British Accent)??!!! What on Earth is an Islamic Liba????!!!! Well, according to the website the words

Islamic Libas is derived from the Arabic word "Islamiya Libas" which means Islamic clothing.  See ya learn something new everyday:-) Well, I know I did:-) Anyways, let me give you a little background on this  little Abaya Boutique that is based in the UK. Well apparently it has been around since 1995 and the company specializes in a modest array of abayahaat, hijabs, and accessories.  Side Note: I don't know guys why I have this OBESSION with ALL THINGS BRITISH....But when I come across a website that is UK based I instantly gravitate towards it.  As far as Abayaat is concerned I feel like the UK is cutting edge (as far as western style abayaat go) they do a fantastic job with incorporating traditional abayaat elements into their design without making them too over the top. In my opinion Western Abayaat are usually bad imitations of designs from overseas or just toooooo "Plain Jane"-think choir robe. But we are getting better (think BulBul Clothing and Shukr):-)  Authentic Dubai Abayas are just waaaaaaaaay too flashy for me and have way too much fabric for me to deal with out here on these country roads.  But UK designs are just right.  So it didn't take me long to fill up my shopping cart and check out....UNTIL I SAW THAT $35 shipping fee!!! WHEW!!!Yep $35 So I thought about it for two weeks and two weeks later I spent the $35 S&H for three abayaat (hey, its cheaper then flying there :-)  So, the first Abaya I will review from Abaya's Boutique is one of the new lined abayas that I purchased in grape.  I think the price was $61.50 (which is average for an abaya I think).  These lined abayas are made from a high quality Crepe fabric (I looooooove crepe! it's moves and swishes with you and its cool,....... but it also stains easily lol)! I do own Crepe abayaat that you can wash, however the label on this particular garment says to dry clean-so that's what I did. This garment has a minimalist look to it - which means it is very simple and has little detail. 

The garment features are a Mandarin Collar, Zip opening, Two deep discreet side pockets, and Shoulder pads.  Ewwwwwwww, I know shoulder pads!!! It reminds me of the Jordanian garments that I wore back in the day lol!  But I really wanted a Crepe abaya and the fabric selection in my neck of the woods is hit or miss so I overlooked the shoulder pads (with clinched teeth) and just sucked it up.  This abaya's cut is uber traditional, its wide, it's lose, its actually an abaya and NOT A DRESS....oooooh, this is new for me lol!!!  My garments tend to be "ahem" tailored.....but I made a "Ramadaan Resolution" to incorporate more modest fitting abayaat into my wordrobe ;-) And this one is a modest one!  It really took some getting used to.  But, I have been wearing this one for quite a bit now. I am not sure why, I suppose its due to the simplicity of the design and I just really love the fabric.  So, let's move on to Pros and Cons.

 I would say the Pros of the garment was the quality, fabric, the length and size were perfect, and its nursing friendly. Cons: was the color (the abaya on the website almost looks lavender.  The abaya is actually a deep gray/lavender color), shoulder pads, and this weird seam down the front-I'm not sure what the purpose of it serves. All in all I liked this garment. And I am getting a lot of wear out of it-mainly due to the fact that Francesca's and Target had the perfect shaylas available to match it.  Buuuuuuut I don't like it enough to buy it again in the second color that they had available which is a slate blue color. So what do you guys think of the new modest me lol?? Does it fit ok or does it look as if I am swimming in it?   

MyBatua Review

As Salaam Alaykum All!

Sooooooo, I figured I'd do a My Batua review and share it with you guys- since it is a company that was endorsed by Muslimah2Muslimah:-) Sooooooo, let's get started shall we....Well, I've never heard of MyBatua until I came across one of Najwa's and Nadira's  YouTube uploads.  So, when I heard them mention it I immediately logged onto MyBatua's website and I must say I was pretty impressed.  The website was very professional, they had quite an extensive collection of abayas, handbags, tunics ect. gasp they are REALLY reasonable!  A little too reasonable lol:-) The abaya I was eying was $46.10 -and any of you in the abaya world know THAT IS REASONABLE! So, I looked to see where the company was based and I found that the headquarters is based in India.  Now, for me personally  whenever I come across an abaya on-line company that is based in India, I get a little nervous, beacause 1)I think of poor quality 2) poor customer service, or 3) taking a chance of never getting a garment in the first place.  So, I was still a bit "ify" about it all. So, the first thing that I do before I order (as I do with any on-line clothing company) is search for any reviews on their garments and clothing.  And of course, I could find none.  Buuuuuuuuut, I decided to give it a go since it was recommended by Najwa and Nadira.    So after about a week of going back and forth of deciding whether or not I should place an order I decided to try out the Sehrish Aura Green Abaya. 

This particular abaya is a pull-over style, has a round neck with box pleats in the front, utility pockets on both sides, and green, navy blue, and brown colored borders on the hem and sleeves of the garment.  The fabric of the abaya is a Kashibo (polyester) and the care for the abaya is to dry clean only. It took me about 2 weeks to receive that garment. The garment arrived in a very professional looking box with the company's logo at the bottom.  When I took out the garment it was ready to wear, I was impressed with the quality and the craftmenship.  The fabric was AWESOME!!!! I'm a fabric junkie and if I don't like the feel and texture of the fabric or if the fabric looks cheap, then it gets a 0 in my book.  But this was decent Koshibo and for $46, well worth the price!

So the next part of the review will be fit which is extremely important t me as well.  I'm not a seamstress and hate having to wait to wear something because it needs to be tailored.  And a lot of the time a size that is presented on-line is completely different from the size that you expect to get.  I-m 5'3 and I weigh 120lbs so I ordered an extra-small and it fit perfectly.  Although I did find the sleeves to be a tad on the short size (and I have short arms), so  if you have long or average length arms you may want to keep this in mind.  Also, I didn't think that  the box pleats were the most flattering (when I wear this abaya, I either wear it with a blazer or a belt or both.)  The length as you can see was perfect and that was a 56 (I am normally 54) so you may want to go for a longer length then normal with any of their garments. 

But on a more positive note-this fabric is the coooooooolest fabric ever and very soft.  The garment itself is completely opaque but for some reason the air just flows through.  And I gave it the hot and humid Southern heat test-Yes the 100 degrees Southern Virginia test and I must say- I  didn't sweat  at all-AND I had my indoor clothes on underneath:-)  So if I could give this garment a grade it would get a B buuuuuuut because this abaya was only $46 I decided to give it an A-.  Yes, there were little issues here and there (the pleats mainly) But I would have to say for the price you can't beat it!  I would definitely order from them again and recommend others to order from them as well:-)

Abaya Alert!!!

Check out what these two lovely Sudanese Princesses are wearing above! Is it a skirt? Is it an Abaya? Is it a maxi-dress?  Well, I couldn’t tell-the only thing that I DID know was that I absolutely LOVED them and I needed to find out where I could get my hands on one of them!  So I messaged my friend and she gave me the scoop on these lovely garments.  So the first question I asked her was-What is it? And she told me that it is a Khalijee abaya from KSA.  Ahhhhhh, the Khalijee style-I would have NEVER guessed! Now don't get me wrong, I personally adore the shape of a Khalijee abaya – most abayaat that are marketed to the West are straight up and downish or aligned.   However,  Khalijee abayaat are elegant, and extremely feminine; yet they still manage to be modest and loose. They truly resemble dresses and gowns more than the typical abaya. And that is exactly what my problem is with them LOL!  I don’t know about you but I don’t go to many “events” and my version of “dress-up” is to style up a casual look.   So, while I do admire the Khalijee style from afar I could never justify spending so much on a garment that I would only wear once.  I don’t think I have EVER seen a Khalijee abaya that wasn’t dripping with crystals chiffon, pleats and folds. So, when I scooped these lovely Khalijee garments -sans the bling age.  I had to get more info.   The garment has two ropes on the INSIDE that you may pull from any side to modify the fit of the garment.  What I love best is that you can add a leather or jean jacket to give it a more casual look or add elegant accessories to give it more glamor.   I have to admit I am UBER excited about this.  So if anyone has seen a garment like this while perusing on-line  puuuuuuuleeeeeze comment below:-)

This is the garment with a more fitted look.

This is the garment with a looser fit.