Silver embroidered net overgarment - UAE
Local Name | Thawb tur bu_nafah khwar_tulah |
Object Category | Overgarment |
Gender | Female |
Date of object | 1984 |
Place Of orgin | United Arab Emirates |
Region | Dubai |
Object Range | Oman, United Arab Emirates |
Dimensions | Length : 145 cm Width : 146 cm |
Materials | Silk Metal |
Technique | Machine Embroidered Machine Stitched |
Color | |
Motif | Arabesque Floral |
Provenance | Purchased, Fatimah Salim Ahmed, Dubai 1984 |
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 | ZI1984.50015 UAE |
Object History
When Dr. Reem Tariq El Mutwalli
Dr. Reem Tariq el Mutwallī: Founder (CEO) of the Zay
Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Initiative, a public figure, speaker and author. An expert curator and consultant in Islamic art and architecture, interior design, historic costume, and UAE heritage. was studying for her Ph.D., she organised trips throughout the Emirates to meet different groups in order to collect data and samples.
It was during one of these expeditions that she bought this overgarment (thawb
Thawb: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thobe
Thobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can also refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can also refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women in the Arabian Gulf region. ) from a Dubai native, Fatimah Salim Ahmed.
Fatimah Salim, born around 1956, is a high school graduate. She married her maternal cousin and bore him 3 daughters and 2 sons. She owned a fleet of taxi cars and operated the business from her home. In the early seventies up to just recently businesses in the UAE required 51% partnership with a UAE citizen to be registered. This was a deliberate act of government to ensure citizens supplement their income. Additionally, non-citizens were not allowed to register more than one car to their name, this, in turn, encouraged many UAE women, especially those with no skills or credentials, to partner in the taxi business. Where they would register anywhere from one to a fleet of cars to their name and share the income with Asian drivers.
Object Features
This overgarment (thawb
Thawb: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thobe
Thobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can also refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can also refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women in the Arabian Gulf region. ) is an important piece in the Zay
Zay: (Arabic: costume, Pl. azyaā’), a set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country or historical period. Collection, as it provides an excellent and rare example of pure silver machine embroidery work (khwar_tulah).
It is basically a folded length of silk net fabric, cut at the center point of the fold to create the neckline opening and hand stitched at the lower outer side edges to create wide sleeves allowing for the hands to pass through.
The heavily embroidered decorative neckline (tarchibah
Tarchībah: (Arabic: tarkībah: to fix or add on). In the UAE the term refers to ready-made silver embroidered dress parts, mainly the neckline (ḥalj) or sleeve cuffs (ḥyūl) on garments, imported from India before the 1970s. Because of its high value, it was transferred from a garment to another (jal’), or its silver was melted and sold when needed. The letter (kāf) in some Arabic regions is colloquially pronounced (cha). The term is also more widely used elsewhere to refer to any added applications such as ruffles or belts.) or (jal’) is composed of silver coil machine embroidery khwar_tulah and coloured silk thread (brisam
Brīsam: (Persian: Aabrēšam, Syriac: Aprišum
‘Um: (Arabic: mother), a sign of respect or formality, women are not addressed by their own names, rather as mother of, then adding the name of the eldest son as in Um Mohammed. Also can mean: with, for example (‘um mishakhiṣ) meaning with gold embellishment., English: prism). Generally, refers to the finest form of silk thread. Also pronounced (ibrīsam).), delineating the collar and central axis (bidhah
Bidḥah: (Arabic: qata'a or shaqqa: to cut or split). In Emirati dialect, the term refers to the chest area of a garment generally decorated in embroidery or other embellishments.).
The bidhah
Bidḥah: (Arabic: qata'a or shaqqa: to cut or split). In Emirati dialect, the term refers to the chest area of a garment generally decorated in embroidery or other embellishments. is typical of its era, as it is much smaller in size when compared to more contemporary examples. It sits completely within the shoulder line with the khwar_tulah embroidery is condensed into a much narrower area. A softer less overpowering bidhah
Bidḥah: (Arabic: qata'a or shaqqa: to cut or split). In Emirati dialect, the term refers to the chest area of a garment generally decorated in embroidery or other embellishments. when compared to those on subsequent, more elaborate garments of the nineties to the present.
The tulle (tur
Tūr: (Arabised from French: tulle), refers to a net-like soft, fine silk, cotton, or nylon material, used for making veils and dresses. In colloquial Arabic the letter (L) is turned into (ra). ) fabric locally known as (bu_nafah
Bū_nafah: (Arabic, bū: diminutive of abū: father, nafah: bethir: seeds, synonyms: bū_nūnah, naf_al _matar), a term colloquially used in the Arab Gulf region to identify mainly point d’Esprit tulle; shear net, adorned in small seed or pin like dots woven into the fabric. Used particularly for veils (shiyal) and overgarments (athwāb).), is widely used for overgarments (athwab
Athwāb: (Arabic, sing. thawb), the standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. It is sometimes spelled (thobe), (thaub), or (tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. ).) and veils (shiyal), because of its see-through, net construction. It allows for much of the garment underneath to remain visible. Women would pair this thawb
Thawb: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thobe
Thobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can also refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can also refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women in the Arabian Gulf region. with a contrasting colourful tunic (kandurah
Kandūrah: (Arabic: qandūrah, pl. kanādīr, synonyms: ghandurah
Ghandūrah: (Arabic, pl. qanādīr, synonyms: qandurah, darā’ah, dishdāshah, jalābah, jallābīyah, qaftan, mqta’, thawb or tobe), a loose, short or long-sleeved, shirt like (qamis) tunic with frontal neckline opening, worn by both sexes. Each Arab region has a different term for what is essentially a similar garment with various small differences., qandurah
Qandūrah: (Arabic, pl. qanādīr, synonyms: ghandurah
Ghandūrah: (Arabic, pl. qanādīr, synonyms: qandurah, darā’ah, dishdāshah, jalābah, jallābīyah, qaftan, mqta’, thawb or tobe), a loose, short or long-sleeved, shirt like (qamis) tunic with frontal neckline opening, worn by both sexes. Each Arab region has a different term for what is essentially a similar garment with various small differences., darā’ah, dishdāshah, jalābah, jallābīyah, qaftan, mqta’, thawb or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. ), a loose, short or long-sleeved, shirt like (qamis) tunic with frontal neckline opening, worn by both sexes. Each Arab region has a different term for what is essentially a similar garment with various small differences. , dra’ah, dishdāshah, jallābīyah, jalābah, jillābīyah, qaftan, mqta’, thawb or tobe
Tobe: (Arabic: thawb, Pl. Athwāb/thībān), can be pronounced thawb or thobe based on locale. The standard Arabic word for ‘fabric’ or ‘garment’. It can refer to a qamīs-like tunic worn by men and women in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, the southern and south-western ports and islands of Iran, and some countries in East and West Africa. More specifically, it can refer to the square-shaped Bedouin overgarment worn by women. ) loose, short or long sleeved, shirt like (qamis) tunic with frontal neckline opening, worn by both sexes. Each Arab region has a different term for what is essentially a similar garment with various small differences.), and striking underpants (sarwal
Ṣarwāl: (Farsi: shalvār; Synonym: Salwar
Salwar: (Farsi: shalvār; Synonym: Ṣarwāl, shalwar, sharwāl, salbāl, sirwāl, khalag), pair of , shalwar
Shalwar: (Farsi: shalvār; Synonym: Salwar, Ṣarwāl, sharwāl, salbāl, sirwāl, khalag), pair of trousers with tapering ankles and fastened with a draw string. Believed to have originated in Central Asia it has spread since in the Indian subcontinent between c. 1st – 3rd century BCE and the Middle East from c. 12th century. , sharwāl, salbāl, sirwāl, khalag), pair of trousers with tapering ankles and fastened with a draw string. Believed to have originated in Central Asia it has spread since in the Indian subcontinent between c. 1st – 3rd century BCE and the Middle East from c. 12th century. ) thus each garment individually stands out creating a vibrant outfit.