Showing posts with label abayas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abayas. Show all posts
Exciting news!
Bismillah,
I've been incredibly busy these days and am now at a point where i can share my news with you!
*deep breath...*

After the overwhelming response to my abaya collection, I've decided to take the responses to a new level.

I am launching a new website business, Insha'Allah, that will showcase my abayas to the world!

Anyone can order any of my abayas from my website, and I will be able to ship them directly to the person.
All of the abayas on my blog will be featured on the website, as well as others that I've collected since then.

Customers will have the option to customise the abayas, according to their specifications.

My email will also be available to everyone so that they can contact me with special requests or anything else that they might need.

Sooo, my website will be up and running, Inshallah in about 3 weeks, all going well!

I will keep you updated, and ofcourse, I'll be posting up the link as soon as I get it!

Sisters in Canada, if you'd prefer to save on the cost of shipping, then you might like to wait till this summer, when I make a trip to Toronto!

Non-Muslims are all welcome and I know a lot of Western women in the Gulf like to wear trendy abayas, regardless of their religion.

Please make dua for me, Insha'Allah this business venture goes well. By the Mercy and Blessings of Allah (swt), I would like to be able to expand my business to a larger product portfolio.
Keep your comments, requests and input coming... I'm making a list of all of those who have contacted me "you know who you are!" and I will be contacting you personally, as soon as my website is up!

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An Update on Abayas

Bismillah,

I've been hunting around in Muscat for different stores that sell abayas, which might be interested in shipping their goods the US/UK/Canada/Australia.
Unfortunately, I didn't get much feedback from them about sending their goods out of the Middle East, so I've been sitting at home and brainstorming about ways of doing it myself.

I came up with two options that I thought I might share with my viewers:

1) There's a possibility of purchasing the items myself and paying for shipping from here to whichever country it needs to go to, and the receiver pays for the cost of the abaya + shipping.
- In order for this to work, I'd need to make sure that shipping costs and the price of the abayas are feasible for the receiver.

2) If the receiver isn't in a hurry to get the abayas, I can purchase the abayas and bring them with me to Canada, when I go back there for my summer-time visits. At that point, I could ship the abayas for a much lower price, from Canada.
-This would only be convenient for those people who don't mind waiting, and wouldn't want to spend extra money on shipping costs.

In terms of Abaya pricing, I can give you a rough idea of what it costs to make specific abayas.

- A Bahraini style bhisht abaya, completely plain, with no embellishments, can be stitched for about USD $ 60 (give and take $10). Obviously the more that are made, the lower the price is.

- Any kind of crystal work is extra, and things like: initials, names and crystal borders can be made, but it costs about $20 extra to do that, depending on the intricacy of the design.

- More complicated styles of abayas, such as Abaya 4 in my previous post, will be more expensive, based on the 2 different types of fabrics being used and the cut and style. Something like Abaya 4 will cost roughly about USD $100. Anything extra could be added to the Abaya, but that would cost more

- A balloon abaya, also completely plain, such as Abaya 3, can be stitched for about USD $ 75. Its a bit expensive because it requires A LOT of cloth to achieve the right effect.

I'll be honest, the first abaya is the most expensive due to the crystal work and tassels as well as the cut and the material. I could try to replicate that with a tailor, but I don't think it can cost less than USD $ 100.

Shipping costs are as follows:

Abayas are heavy due to amount of material used to make one. 6 meters of cloth is the minimum amount of cloth needed for an average sized person- who is not more that 5 feet 5 inches tall. Taller sisters would probably need more cloth.

I have appromixated the weight of one abaya to be a maximum of 5kg/10lbs.

According to that weight, I'm going to give a rough estimate of the cost of shipping to the US and its coming up to about $50 via FedEx, which ensures that the package arrives in about 4 business days.

I'm sure I could get a cheaper rate from UPS, especially if I set up a business account with them.

I'm tempted to open up a website to handle requests for abayas that people are interested in, but the only thing holding me back is the cost. If I could find a way of cutting costs in shipping, I think it might be beneficial to everyone.

I hope this post has helped in answering some of the questions that people have had regarding my abayas. As of now, I'm asking everyone who is interested, to let me know which one of the two options they would prefer for shipping, and if the prices I have quoted for the cost of abayas are something that they can work with. I'm still working on the shipping costs from the middle east, so I'll keep everyone updated on that. I'm gonna add a poll to the blog to see what everyone has to say, it will help me keep tabs on all the opinions.

I'm also in the midst of packing and moving my belongings to Riyadh, so please bear with me in case of delays. Once I'm settled in Riyadh, I might be able to offer more to everyone.

Thank you to all those who liked and commented on my abaya collection, you've inspired me to do more and to share my ideas with others.


May Allah (swt) forgive our sins, and grant us His Divine Shade on the Day of Ressurection.
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My Abaya Collection!
After much thought I've decided to do a fashion post!

...Ya its not really me, but I thought I'd give everyone an idea about abayas in the Middle East, more specifically in Oman. I've been back visiting my parents in Oman for almost a year, and insha'allah next month it will be time for me to move on to Riyadh. Before I leave in a couple weeks for my walima, I've decided to take pictures of some of the abayas that I've bought recently and post em up along with a brief description of their origin, name and style. So here it goes!



1) This first one is an abaya that I've designed recently. It's made in Oman and it has a Chinese collar, button down front and made from a shiny satin material. Its front and back are plain but the sleeves have embellishments. I've had them make 2 sleeves, one inner plain, fitted sleeve and an outer one which has crystals on the inside and also a bell shape to it. I've included a second picture of just the sleeve to give u a better idea. I also have buttons to close the outer sleeves if I don't want them to show too much. The sleeves have a single silver tassel and so does one corner of the shaila.


2) This second one is an abaya that I bought at the Omani Souk, and its a Bahraini style abaya that's very popular here, its called a Bhisht. Its similar to the farasha style that was popular earlier. Its also made from a satin material, and it has embellishments on the waist and cuffs of the sleeves. It also has a hidden waist band that you can tie under the abaya to give it some shape if you like.



3) This abaya is new Omani style that's really famous here amongst the girls. It's called a "balloon" abaya. I bought it ready-made because it's apparently a bit complicated to stitch. It's one of my favorite styles of abayas as well. I've included an up-close picture of the neck area to show how it's stitched to give it such a beautiful shape. It's plain except for a simple lace around the cuffs of the sleeves and the bottom of the abaya, which I added after I bought it.



4) This is an abaya from Dubai. I'm not sure if there's a name for this style, or if it's typically Emirati, but I really liked it when i saw it. It has a plain front and back, with a small neck opening. The sleeves are really pretty, an inner fitted sleeve and an outer flared sleeve.
The part I like best is the back of it; it has 2 outer folds that come together at the centre of your back, to be tied together based on how you'd like it to look. I'd also like to note that this is a loose fitting abaya, so no matter how tightly its tied, it doesn't show your shape or accentuate any curves because its simply too loose, it just adds a train-like effect to the back of the abaya to make it look more flowing.
The front:



The back:



5) This is actually a jilbab that I bought from Toronto before I left. Its one of my favorite ones and is a beautiful aubergine color. It has 2 layers, an inner layer that's closed, and an outer layer that has slits on either side going down the length of the jilbab. It has a very pretty embroidery pattern on both sides and on the cuffs as well. Its originally Jordanian.


6) Here's another Bhisht, Bahraini style abaya that I purchased from Dubai. In this you can see the waist band very clearly as I've left the abaya completely plain except for a line of crystals on either length of it, and on the cuffs of the sleeves. The waist band lifts up the front of the abaya about an inch so the front becomes shorter than the back, when its tied.




7) Last but not least, here's an abaya I bought from Abu Dhabi a while ago. It has got a Chinese collar and plain button down front, but the back of it features a strip of textured cloth that goes, in a single stripe, down the back of the abaya. I also has a matching stripe on the sleeves and the edge of the shaila.

Hope you enjoyed my lil fashion post, lemme know what u thought!
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