Veiling in Fashion: Space and the Hijab in Minority Communities (Dress Cultures)

Veiling in Fashion enters the worlds of women who wear the hijab, both as an aspect of their religious observance and community belonging, and as a fashion statement, drawing upon global Islamic fashion history. The book uses rich ethnographic investigation of everyday veiling practices among Muslim women in the city of Helsinki as a lens through which to reflect on and advance understanding of matters concerning Muslim dress in international Muslim minority contexts. The book provides an innovative approach to studying veiling by connecting varied realms of practice, demonstrating how domains as apparently separate as fashion, materiality, city spaces, private life, religious beliefs, and cosmopolitan social conditions are all tightly bound up together in ways that only a sensitive multi-disciplinary approach can reveal. It will appeal to scholars and students in fashion, gender, religion, material cultures, and the construction of space. Veiling in Fashion explores the worlds of women who wear the hijab, for reasons ranging from religious observance to making fashion statements. It comprises rich ethnographic investigation of everyday veiling practices in the city of Helsinki. Drawing upon a wide range of theoretical resources, it shows how veiling involves a complex mixture of phenomena, including the interplay of space and gender, diverse forms of material culture, and dynamics of globalization, trans-national migration and community-building. The book provides an innovative approach to studying veiling by connecting varied realms of practice: It shows how domains as apparently separate as fashion, materiality, city spaces, private life, religious beliefs, and cosmopolitan social conditions are all tightly bound up together in ways that only a sensitive multi-disciplinary approach can reveal. The book will appeal to scholars and students in fashion, gender, religion, globalization, material cultures, and the construction of space "Enters the worlds of women who wear the hijab, both as an aspect of their religious observance and community belonging, and as a fashion statement, drawing upon global Islamic fashion industry. Anna-Mari Almila uses rich ethnographic investigation of everyday veiling practices among Muslim women in the city of Helsinki as a lens through which to reflect on and advance understanding of matters concerning Muslim dress in international Muslim minority contexts. Almila provides an innovative approach to studying veiling by connecting varied realms of practice, demonstrating how domains such as fashion, materiality, city spaces, private life, religious beliefs, and cosmopolitan social conditions are all tightly bound up together in ways that only a sensitive multi-disciplinary approach can reveal"-- Provided by publisher