AP reports that women in Saudi Arabia can now find abayas with designs on them for purchase in local boutiques. Jeddah leads the charge for most stylish abayas available. The transition of these abayas from taboo to mainstream is a mystery (at least to this writer):
No one really knows why or how it became OK to sell the new stylish abayas. Major stores in big cities carry them openly and there have not been reports in the local media of religious police confiscating them.
But like everything else in the kingdom, the change was subtle and incremental.
It's amusing how “Arab women like stylish things” and “fashion changes don't happen overnight” can become news! Anyone who has taken a stroll through any souk in the Arab world could have easily found adorned abayas. Unfortunately, the news will be if and when the mutaween start arresting women for wearing them.
