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Migration and the Egyptian Dress Code

By

Ayman Zohry

The typical dress of Egyptian males in rural areas is the Jellabiya; the Jellabiya is a traditional Egyptian garment. It differs from the Arabian Thobe in that it has a wider cut, no collar (in some case on buttons) and longer, wider sleeves. In case of farmers, these sleeves can be very wide. Jellabiya colors are often dark. Tan or striped fabrics are used. The Egyptian Jellabiaya is made of cotton or linen; suitable to the hot and wet weather in Egypt and made of national materials. With the massive migration to the Gulf countries in the mid 1970s, Egyptians started to introduce the Khaliji – Arab Gulf – Jellabiya with them. The top of the Khaliji Jellabia is almost the same as the Western classic shirts; with tight sleeves and a collar. This Jellabiya comes usually in a single color; white. Moreover, this Jellabiya is made of polyester – usually 70 percent polyester and 30 percent cotton. The Khaliji Jellabiya became a prominent item in the baggage of the return migrants from the Gulf for their own use and also as a gift for family members, relatives and friends.

Despite the fact that this type of dress is not suitable for humid, dusty, and hot weather in Egypt, the use of this dress became almost universal. Males, not only in rural areas but also in urban, replaced their traditional dress with this imported Jellabiya. In addition, Jellabiya replaced the Western Pajama in urban areas and became the main dress at home for males. The most important motive for males to shift from the traditional Egyptian Jellabiya to the Khaliji Jellabiya is the claimed connection between this Jellabiya and Islam. Since the white dress has a connection with Islam as the preferred color and since many Muslims wear the color white when they attend Friday prayers, and given the fact that this dress comes from Saudi Arabia, the country in which the Muslim holy land is located, this imported dress acquired a religious legacy to replace the national Jellabiya.

When Egyptian males migrated to the Gulf countries and associated with the white dress for males they have seen there, they found that women in these destinations are wearing black and fully covered. Because they don’t have a strong contact with the society, Egyptian migrants regarded this dress as the standard Muslim dress and made for importing this dress as well to complete the “Black and White” picture. This tendency was associated with the relief of pressure against Islamic Movements at the time of Sadat after a long ban at the time of Nasser. The Bedouin black robe replaced the traditional rural women’s dress and extended to include all segments of the society. It’s important to mention here that the Bedouin robe replaced the Western-styled women’s dress in urban not only for religious reasons but sometimes due to economic reasons since Bedouin robes are almost similar and can be worn many times without the need for having many of them compared to the Western dress which assumes maintaining a set of different styles and colors for different occasions and to show high social status.   

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