The Signature 'Sha' Scarf Style

From friends to random ladies at the supermarket, many women have asked me to do a tutorial for this scarf style. And so here it is. I personally believe a light and wide cotton scarf is most suitable for this style because it will look more voluminous and it won't slip off easily. I don't usually use an inner or under scarf, so this is important to me! I apologise for how soft my voice sounds in this video. I should have spoken louder but I was pretty tired. Hope you find the video helpful, anyway. By the way, I recommend wearing a loose top or cardigan when wearing this scarf style because the scarf doesn't cover the chest area :) 

Dolce & Gabbana Abayas: Cultural Appropriation or Cultural Energisation?

There is debate among Muslims whether Dolce & Gabbana's recently released collection of luxury abayas is a form of cultural appropriation ('plundering') of the Muslim culture or a means of 'energising' it. We covered the issue of cultural appropriation when I was tutoring for an introductory paper on Media Studies last year and I think the Dolce & Gabbana abaya collection would make a great discussion for this topic.

To 'plunder' or culturally appropriate artefacts from their originating culture is to "strip away local meanings and introduce these goods into an alternative regime of value dominated by commercial interests" (Jenkins et. al 270). In other words, to use someone else's culture to make monetary gain from it. To 'energise' a culture, on the other hand, is to respectfully create visibility and awareness about a culture by educating others about it. 

Dolce & Gabbana's line of abayas was without a doubt a calculated business decision. The Muslimah fashion industry generates billions of dollars let alone the luxury and high-end industry in Muslim countries. Fortune reported that Muslims spent $266 billion on clothing and footwear in 2013 and according to Sporazine the sale of personal luxury goods in the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries amounted to $8.7 billion in 2015. Dolce & Gabbana would be crazy not to try and tap into the Muslim market because their goal is after all profit maximisation. Let's not forget DKNY and Tommy Hilfiger released their respective Ramadan collections in 2014 because research reveals Muslims spend more during Ramadan than any other time of the year.