Traditional urban men’s dress of Saudi Arabia

Posted by on Aug 29, 2016 in Traditional Saudi Dress | No Comments

While some Saudi men have adopted “western” trends in fashion, the majority of the male urban population wears the traditionally designed garments, retaining the stunning feature of their rich Arabian heritage and national identity.

saudi arabesque - saudi men traditional dress

Traditional men’s outfit of Saudi Arabia

Image source

Saudi men traditionally wear full-length loose fitting garment with long sleeves called thobe. It is usually white, but occasionally you can see beige or other earth colors, especially during winter. It has a mandarin collar, although western shirt collars also occur.

saudi arabesque - man thobe colors

Saudi man’s thobe colors may vary from light blue to gray.

Image source

The design usually includes two deep pockets on the left and right sides, and one pocket on the chest. There is a high collar with a button, buttons or holes for cufflinks on the wrists, and a line of buttons in front.

saudi arabesque - man thobe design

Standard cut of an Arab man’s thobe

Image source The Art of Arabian Costume book by Heather Colyer Ross

Air drawn in by the chimney effect circulates keeping the wearer cool during hot season. The fabrics may vary from cotton and lightweight wool in winter, to inexpensive polyester ones.

saudi arabesque - man thobe

Saudi man’s white thobe

Image source

Long roomy underpants (sirwaal) are worn underneath the thobe.

saudi arabesque - man underpants

Saudi man’s long sirwaal or underpants with a drawstring.

Image source

The traditional Saudi men’s headgear consists of three items. The large white or red-and-white “checked” square of cotton material is called ghutra or shemagh (some sources suggest that ghutra is white and shemagh is the famous red-and-white scarf, but I can’t be sure). It’s folded diagonally into a triangle and placed on top of a white small skull cap (taqiyah).

saudi arabesque - man wearing skullcap

http://darulkutub.co.uk

Image source unknown

Taqiyah is made of soft cotton and often embroidered, crocheted or knitted. It helps to hold ghutra in place, but also keep natural hair oils from spoiling the ghutra.

saudi arabesque - men skullcaps

Saudi taqiyah skull cap

Image source

The ghutra is secured by an igal on top of the head. It’s a two-loop coil of black braided cord, heavy and coarse enough to keep a grip on the ghutra and prevent it from slipping. The diameter of the igal is smaller than the head, thus the weight is essential to hold the igal centered on top of the head. This garment was originally used to hobble camels or cattle, and back in time it was made of tightly woven black goat-hair and sheep’s wool.

saudi arabesque - man igal

Saudi Arabian igal

Image source

There is a modern way to make igals using machinery. Here white thick cotton thread is being stretched between the hooks, to be braided with black rope after.

saudi arabesque - igal making

Automation in igal making

Image source unknown, I found it on pinterest.

Some igals are still being made traditionally by hand.

saudi arabesque - igal making by hand

Image source unknown, I found it on pinterest.

Speaking about the pattern of the red-and-white ghutra, it is unclear where the pattern comes from. Some sources claim it arrived just a few decades ago from England, others say the checkered pattern has its origin in an ancient Mesopotamia, being a symbol for fishing nets. Who knows?

saudi arabesque - ghutra red and white

Red-and-white Saudi shemagh pattern.

Image source

Covering the head is a daily routine for Arabs since older times, as ghutra served as protection from the sun and during sand storms (and it still does). Nowadays this headgear is looked at as a marker of identity for an Arab man.

saudi arabesque - man wearing ghutra red and white

Saudi Arab fixing his shemagh

Image source

What you can see in the above photo is a man fixing the tip of the shemagh, which is supposed to form a sharp angle symbolizing eagle beak. Styling a shemagh is pretty much the equivalent of choosing which knot to tie a western tie in.

saudi arabesque - ways to wear ghutra red and white

Styles to wear a shemagh.

Image source Destination Riyadh magazine

There are stores in Saudi Arabia that sell only headgear accessories for men.

saudi arabesque - ghutra shop

In a shemagh store. The choices are endless.

saudi arabesque - shemagh shop

Same same but different. Slightly different patterns of red-and-white shemagh in a Saudi store.

Image source unknown

This outfit is completed with traditional sandals that have a characteristic design worn throughout Arabia.

saudi arabesque - traditional sandals

Traditional Saudi sandals

Image source

Although these sandals look bulky, they are quite comfortable and can be worn year around due to favorable climate in Saudi Arabia. Originally they were made of camel skin soles and goat skin upper parts, dyed or embroidered, all hand sewn and greased with fat for protective coating.

Related Posts

Leave a Reply

Scroll Up