Thursday, August 8, 2013

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

15 comments:

  1. I've been looking at those fashion sets actually, particularly the orange and green tunics, but it's always hard to tell from a single photo what you're going to get. Thanks for having your girls model them, they look really nice!

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    1. Hi Anderson's All-Purpose,

      Glad you found the photos helpful.

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  2. I really like these outfits. Thanks for sharing. As for the hijabs, are the directions clear as to how to put it on? I love what you chose for each of them to model.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Georgia Girl,

      The outfits don't come with directions on how to put on hijab. I looked at a lot of hijab tutorials on You Tube but still didn't get it quite right. The secret is to have a special cap or wide headband to tuck up the hair so none of it is visible and then use pins to hold the scarf in place. Hijab pins have become a very popular accessory item. Unfortunately they don't come in 1:6 scale.

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    2. I was wondering too so I looked it up, but there seems to be lots of different ways to do it. The technique with two scarves in different colors looked pretty cool (although that might be tricky in 1/6 :D). As long as everything is covered I don't think there's a One, Correct Way? (Not an expert, though!)

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  3. El glamour ante todo, cada una con un gran estilo, bien hecho, cuantos dioramas tienes?!!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lindaivette,

      I have 54 bins full of play sets. I actually enjoy collecting play sets more than collecting dolls. It was fun to get to use different bedroom sets for this post.

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    2. What great clothing! I like all the details and accents added.

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  4. What a pleasure to see dolls dressed more conservatively.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Grandmommy,

      My dolls also appreciated having some tasteful ensembles for dressy occasions.

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  5. Thanks for sharing the information about this company and fashions. The price is reasonable and the quality you have described is a plus. I enjoyed seeing the models prepare for their gathering.

    dbg

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    Replies
    1. Hi Debbie,

      Glad you found the information useful.

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  6. Standing applause - for the research, the storytelling, the posing, and the photography you did for this informative and entertaining post. Thanks for pulling it all together.

    I leave you with two links that you might find interesting - one is from our (Philly's) CityPaper and the other is from MideastPosts.

    Thanks again for this A++ article.

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    Replies
    1. Hi D7ana,

      Thanks for your compliments. I will check out your links.

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  7. Gorgeous outfits and gorgeous ladies. Thanks for sharing this with us.

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