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Embellished Silk Trousers – Al Dhaid

Local Name	Sarwal, Shirwal
Object Category	Pants
Gender	Female
Date of object	c. 2021
Place Of orgin	United Arab Emirates
Region	Al Dhaid - Sharjah
Object Range	UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Iran et al
Dimensions	Length: 100 cm Width: 38 cm
Materials	Silk Metal
Technique	Machine Stitched Hand Embroidered
Color
Motif	Geometric
Provenance	Donated, Khasibah Ali Al Dhmani, Al Dhaid 2021
Location	The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative
Status	In storage
ZI number	ZI2021.500903d UAE

Object Note

Part of a set with four more items (ZI2021.500903 UAE, ZI2021.500903a UAE, ZI2021.500903b UAE, and ZI2021.500903c UAE) also in the collection.

Object History

This piece was donated to The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative by Khasibah Ali Al Dhmani of Al Dhaid, Sharjah, to commemorate the UAE’s historic mission to Mars on February 9, 2021, and to enrich The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative’s collection.

The donation was inspired by an image that caught the attention of Dr. Reem Tariq

Ṭariq: (Arabic; Synonym: tulle_bi_talli

Tūlle_bi_tallī: (French: Tulle – a city in France where fine material for veil was first made; Turkish: tel – wire; Synonym: tariq; talli; badla; khus_dozi ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the North African Arab region specifically in Egypt.

; talli; badla; khus_dozi ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in the Levant Arab region specifically in Lebanon.

El Mutwalli el Mutwallī: Founder (CEO) of the Initiative, a public figure, speaker and author. An expert curator and consultant in Islamic art and architecture, interior design, historic costume, and UAE heritage., founder and CEO of The Initiative. The photograph, which circulated widely on social media, depicted a woman holding a handwritten message on a piece of cardboard reading, “We reached Mars.” On the same day, Dr. Reem contacted the image's creator, Alia Bint Sultan Al Joker, a young Emirati photographer. Al Joker shared the story behind the photograph: during a visit to her best friend’s farm on this momentous day, her friend’s mother posed for the picture to express her pride. While the nation celebrated across media platforms, this simple yet poignant image captured the emotional resonance of the achievement.

The photograph quickly gained traction online, making Khasibah Ali Al Dhmani, the woman in the image, a public figure. Her story was covered by prominent outlets, including Vogue Arabia. Recognizing the cultural and historical significance of both the photograph and the attire worn in it, Dr. Reem successfully acquired the items for The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative’s collection. Both Ms. Al Joker and Ms. Al Dhmani graciously supported the suggestion to donate these artifacts to honour the occasion.

Khasibah Ali Al Dhmani was born on July 1, 1953, although her exact birthdate may differ due to historical practices of recording dates. Before the establishment of the UAE in 1971, birth dates were often not recorded according to the Gregorian calendar. Later, birthdates for those born before 1971 were generally approximated, with July 1 commonly used for official purposes. Birth years were often determined through recollections of significant events, such as notable leadership changes or extreme weather phenomena.

Married in her early teens, Ms. Al Dhmani is the mother of six sons and ten daughters. Despite not receiving a formal education, she became a successful entrepreneur, founding a local perfume house specializing in traditional fragrances and incense. An active participant in cultural heritage events, Ms. Al Dhmani frequently showcases UAE traditions, as reflected in her social media presence.

Alia Bint Sultan Al Joker, a Dubai native, holds a bachelor's degree in integrated communications and marketing from Zayed University and a master's degree in quality management from Wollongong University. A passionate and dedicated photographer, she was the Director of Family Development at the UAE Ministry of Community Development at the time of donation.

The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative extends its heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Khasibah Ali Al Dhmani and Ms. Alia Bint Sultan Al Joker for their generous contributions, which honour the UAE’s Mars mission and enrich the cultural narrative preserved by The Zay Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative.

Object Features

This is a pair of silk trousers (sarwal

Ṣarwāl: (Farsi: shalvār; Synonym: salwar, shirwāl), trousers featuring tapering ankles and drawstring closure of Central Asian origin. They disseminated in the Indian subcontinent between c.1st-3rd century BCE. Although exact period of its arrival in the Arab world is disputed their widespread adoption is confirmed from the 12th century.

) traditionally worn by women of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as south of Iran, especially Bandar Abbas and Hormozgan. They are an ankle-length pair of tapered trousers, loose with a gathered waistline and elastic fastening.

Constructed of a colourful woven striped silk fabric in pink, orange, and (turquoise Turquoise: (French: turquois – present day Türkiye; Synonyms: firuze, pheroza), is a naturally occurring opaque mineral mined in abundance in Khorasan province of Iran and has been used for making dye for centuries. The term is a derivative of the French word for the country Türkiye once called Turkey. ) blue, these sarwal

feature wide embellished bands adorning the pair along its slitted cuffs (; tariq; badla; khus_dozi), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ; ; tariq; badla; khus_dozi), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ; bādla, , ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment. The term is commonly used in India and parts of the subcontinent.

). The embellishment comprises traditional metal straw embroidery (; tariq; badla; khus_dozi), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

). It is worth noting that such striped fabric, often traditionally known as ( / ), has been one of the popular choices of fabrics for garments amongst Emirati women.

While multiple horizontally parallel rows of talli

Tallī: (Turkish: tel – wire, string), Gulf Arab – a woven braided trimming made with metal wire, threads and ribbons often sewn on detachable panels used as embellishments. Other – (Synonym: tulle_bi_talli

; tariq; badla; khus_dozi), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

bands over a pale pink base adorn each cuff of the piece, a thin vertical row adorns the edges along the slits of the cuffs. A zip is attached to the side of the ankles vertically to loosen or tighten the cuffs according to the wearer’s preference. A thoroughly machine-stitched but hand-embroidered piece, the is otherwise unlined except for the cuffs, which are lined with a silk striped fabric identical to the piece.

It is worth noting that these embellished broad cuffed sarwal

are not just unique to the Arabian Peninsula, such as Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, and Oman, but are equally famous across the Gulf in southern Iran. While the term ; tariq; badla; khus_dozi), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

for this type of embroidery technique is the same across the Arabian Peninsula, it is commonly referred to as (; tariq; badla; khus_dozi), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

; ; bādla, , ), series of small metal knots made on a woven net ground as embellishment.

) in Iran. However, upon crossing the Gulf and reaching the Arabian Peninsula, the nomenclature of the embroidery changes.

With cross-cultural lineages running deep between the communities living on either side of the Gulf, it is thus no wonder that material culture such as this has found firm grounds on both sides.

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