After spending 3 months in Jerusalem, it’s only natural that I’ve done and observed many things of both religious and secular natures. A byproduct of visiting for a substantial amount of time entailed observing the fashion trends of both Arabs and Israeli Jews, and reflecting on how, at least in some ways, they can be representative of culture and lifestyles.
One trend that sparked my attention involved make-up. A common trend I've seen during my stay—on both Arab and Israeli women-- is that of wearing one eyeshadow color on the eyelid and a different color eyeshadow/liner on the waterline/bottom lash. Clearly, it's one obvious way of wearing two different colors on your eyes at once. For some reason the bottom lash colors I've seen worn often happened to be bright blue. I’ve sometimes seen green, but very often bright blue or turquoise. Since I'm familiar with Arabic/Middle Eastern style make-up and have seen this trend in Arabic wedding and beauty magazines, it may be this influence at work on typical Jerusalemites. They might also be more up-to-date on the European trends than say, the US which—at least in my opinion—sometimes seems more resistant to and less adventurous with foreign fashion influences than other parts of the world.
Another make-up trend I've noticed is... 'straight' eyebrows. By that I mean eyebrows that are drawn/styled almost as a 'straight' line above your eye, instead of having an eyebrow that 'curves' above your eye. I'll admit I'm not a fan of this type of eyebrow, nor do I think it's very flattering, but I’ve definitely seen it a lot during my trip. I've seen it both on people and also in many popular Arab and Turkish-but-dubbed-in-Arabic TV shows. Why?! I have no clue...
I was also surprised to see a lot of colored hair on Arab women because I assumed it would be deemed too provocative (given it is a more conservative society), especially when the most popular color at the moment happens to be… red. I knew blonde is (and always has been?!) also popular (gah!), but red is what I saw the most, worn by both stylish older women and younger ladies. They sure proved me wrong! I'll admit I often rejoiced when I saw just natural, super black long hair... but I’ll have to say that part of the fun of being a woman is the ability to play with your look if you so choose.
In terms of shoes, I've seen pretty much a lot of the same trends the US has like flats, platforms, heels, boots, etc. But what surprised me was still finding pointy-toed shoes... Wasn't this the trend a few years ago? Or is pointy-toe considered a classic that will never go away?
Now for the clothes. In terms of clothing, I found Arab women to be very feminine and colorful. And it makes sense when I recall the amount of times I've been teased for wearing even just a black t-shirt: "black?! why black?!,” I’d get asked. If only they knew back in the Bay I often wear entirely black outfits; makes sense to me! But mostly, I was reminded how much black is perceived as a mourning color and as such, it’s understandable that some cultures limit the use of that color in their everyday attire.
On the other hand, I saw the Western influence on typical secular Israeli women in that they also wear a lot of black. At Israeli malls and on a daily basis, I’d see working women wearing all-black outfits, just like any American or European would do.
Maybe it's my European upbringing, maybe it's American influence, maybe it's that black never goes out of style and is rather forgiving... but really for me black has always been a default, or most importantly, a color I enjoy. But I’ll admit that after being there for 3 months, I did ask myself a few times if I was indeed wearing ‘too much black.’ Ah, the power society has on you… I like to think my wardrobe is pretty balanced, and at the very least, being surrounded by people who favor colors over black provided me with a different perspective. One which I gladly admit did rub off on at me at least a little bit. J
One thing I found fascinating was the way I saw both religious Arab and Israeli Jewish women incorporate fashion and color in their religious attire. Almost always, I’d see some black combined with colors throughout the outfit: veiled, but colorful and stylish in heels, or Israeli Jewish woman in long skirt with colorful make-up. One of my favorite memories I have involves a woman I once saw who was religious, but who was dressed in such a way that by appearance alone I couldn’t tell if she was Muslim or Israeli Jewish. It was only the spoken Hebrew that I heard as I passed by that revealed her identity. This moment was memorable because, aside from the fact that she was both beautiful and religious, it reminded me of how sometimes similarities can overcome differences between different religious groups. Although it’s clear that religious Muslim and Israeli Jewish women don’t dress the same way, both groups emphasize the importance of covering their hair and wearing loose skirts/loose garments which can at times make the identities blur, as it did in the instance I mentioned. Obviously, this may be more likely to happen in an area where both Arabs and Jews interact, such as in an Israeli mall. It’s a given that in Arab areas you can assume the women are Arab because Israeli Jews do not go there, so there won’t be any ‘confusing the identities’ there. In any case, in both Muslim and Israeli Jewish groups of women, I saw traditional religious attire worn as well as incorporation of fashions into religious attire.
There are a few things I noticed that were particular to Eilat. I definitely saw the ‘beach babe/boy’ trend there, complete with super-brown tanned bodies (which I doubt were all natural tans) and gratuitous tattoo displaying. Women wearing Brazilian bikinis on the beach and at swimming pools were also a common sight. This may testify to the area’s extreme heat, but I think it also highlights the (some say ‘extreme’) laid-back attitude and Western flavor.
Needless to say, I saw a variety of things pertaining to fashion and appearance during my stay. Some attires were secular and fashionable, some more religiously traditional while others defied traditional definitions of religious garb.
Clearly, it can be hard, if not impossible, to identify the sole authority on religious attire and to determine how fashion may—or may not—affect it. Personally I believe that that is for each individual to determine and to apply to their life in the way they best see fit. In my experience, I saw the variety as source of inspiration, and I definitely enjoyed the visual elements that testified to the ‘desert life’ influence, such as harem pants, loose skirts/garments and magic carpet-like shawls and scarves (and yes I did bring a few back home with me; thank you Old City merchants!!).
As my experience reminds me, if one thing is sure, it’s that fashion can allow a person to explore different areas of their identity, or simply to reinforce the aspect(s) of their identity they deem most important in their life.