Eid Mubarak

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam -- the religious obligations that all practicing Muslims should observe.  Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, the dates of Ramadan shift from year to year.  This year, Ramadan was observed from July 8th to August 7th.  When Ramadan falls during the long, hot days of summer, abstaining from food and drink from sun up to sun down is especially challenging.  Muslims use this time to engage in spiritual reflection, to practice self-discipline, and to develop empathy for the less fortunate.  Hence charitable works are also an important part of the Ramadan season.

The first day after the end of Ramadan starts the new month, Shawwal.  It is a religious holiday known as Eid al-Fitr, the festival of the breaking of the fast.  Traditionally the first meal of the day includes dates so Eid al-Fitr is also known as the Sweet Feast or the Sugar Feast.

My models are all preparing to share the blessings of the day by visiting friends and family or attending communal celebrations in fine, new Arrosa fashions.

***
Halima pauses to consider her selection.

The Arrosa trousers are a little roomy in the seat but no one will be able to tell under the long tunic.

"Yes.  That will work just fine."  Now to put up her hair.

Once she's dressed and ready to go she sends a quick text to Yacub, her fiance, to let him know she'll be hanging with her girls at an Eid party.

***
The white silk trousers are a little deep in the crotch.

Still Candace likes what she sees in the mirror.

After slipping on the filmy green tunic, she heads to the dressing table to put on her hijab.

She adjusts the flower just so.

Then retrieves her purse and heads out the door.

She loves how the green ensemble sets off the color of her eyes.

***
Kara sits on the edge of her bed to don the shoes that came with her Arrosa fashion.

"Uh oh!  Lost a contact!"  Fortunately the Arrosa trousers are a comfortable fit on her Baby Phat figure.

Contact back in place she luxuriates in the silky blouse and the wispy fabric of the over tunic.

"Worth every penny," she smiles to herself.

The matching hijab pulls it all together.

And now she's good to go.

"Who says hijab has to be dowdy?"

***
"Mom's probably dragging me out to meet some boy's mother so she can inspect the goods," thought Mulan as she rummaged in her lingerie drawer for a suitable bra.

The stiff brocade skirt was a little roomy.  "She'll be nagging at me all evening saying I'm too thin."

At school she had stopped wearing hijab but she would have to put it on for this stupid Eid party.

Somehow she could never get her hair to stay properly tucked under the scarf.

It was going to be a long evening...

***
"Yes.  Orange," thought Khadija.  It would make an arresting statement paired with the slinky black trousers.

She admired the over tunic for a moment before slipping it on.

Then she carried her swanky new shoes over to the dressing table

and sat down to put them on.

Finally, having smoothed her locks down under a sweet peach hijab, she picked up her purse and set out.

"I wonder what Kara will be wearing." 

***

Arrosa is another one of the modest Muslim fashion dolls on the market.  While Arrosa has dark hair and blue eyes, her fashions are made in Indonesia.  Given the record of sweatshop conditions associated with some manufacturing operations there, I had a few misgivings before I placed my order, but all of the clothes are carefully crafted from quality fabrics.  Workers in unsafe, oppressive conditions usually can't achieve this degree of fine workmanship.  Notice that the bands in the sleeves are separate pieces of fabric, which increases the number of seams in the design.

Some of the ensembles reflect traditional styles and textile designs from different regions of Indonesia.

The colors and shapes present a refreshingly different vision from recent Barbie fashions.  I also appreciate the Arrosa designs as fashions that more mature characters might wear with or without hijab.

In order to show how these beautiful clothes fit on a range of dolls I cast models with five different bodies:

• Halima is a discount store clone on an articulated Disney classic Princess Tiana body.
• Candace is a Kari Michelle on a Mattel poser body from the 1990s.
• Kara is an articulated So In Style doll.
• Mulan is a Mattel produced head on a clone body.
• Khadija is a play line Janay.

Reasonably priced at $10 - $12 for five or six pieces (counting the pair of shoes), Arrosa fashions are a blessing all your dolls will enjoy.

À Bientôt