Click on the image above to be directed to Rabia Z's webpage. And click HERE to be directed to the shopping Facebook.
I have always loved this lady and I have all adoration for her talent and passion for couture. I mean, what's not to like? She's doing what all girls want to do - to be a fashion designer, and making a change to something seen so strictly upon aka how the Muslimahs should dress themselves. When I first discovered her, my passion for styling was reaffirmed coz I know then that I don't have to leave what I love behind once I get myself covered full-time. Yes, that contemplation took a long time to reach a point of confirmation - that I'm ready to do this and commit myself to the hijab.
It was when I discovered people like Hana Tajima, A.K.F and Rabia Z that I was able to confirm staunchly how I'm going to tackle this issue that's very sensitive and may give rise to questions from a lot of people. Sure, I do wear the hijab during functions and events, and I did wear it full uniform when I was in school, but during that time it was more like a forced thing than a sincere commitment so as these things go, I rebelled against it and went all out on hair products and equipments! It was all mousse coz my hair's naturally curly, and straightening lotions after that whenever I feel like ironing the coils out, and all the bleach and dye that were applied to my hair. Come to think of it, that was quite a preposterous thing to do to something precious. I was hurting my hair, I knew that, and I was actually quite proud of the amount of work I did to it. But you know, let bygones be bygones, and I've learnt my lesson. Nowadays, it just doesn't feel right anymore to go out without covering my hair and frankly since I started wearing the hijab my hair's more softer and the volume just comes without me having to apply anything on it. Alhamdulillah.
As easy as it was wearing the hijab when I was in Melbourne (the place where I decided that I wanted to get covered full-time) it wasn't as easy when I came back to Brunei. Let's face it, Brunei is small and a lottt of people know you from somewhere. So the questions were always Since When, Oh you're pious now, Oh you've changed direction and You've changed image! and things along those lines. It was pretty hard to live with all these judgements especially when people associate wearing the shawl with going to weddings and hari raya. It was very very tough for me but eventually I lived through it because I'm doing this not for my boyfriend, not for my family, not for myself, but for my faith in myself, faith in my relationship with my boyfriend, faith in the safety of my family and faith in Allah especially. It was this belief that kept me going and Alhamdulillah it's been more than a year now and I'm very pleased with myself!
And thanks to these people who have inspired me to be a better Muslimah. Well, I am not better as yet but I'm learning to be. I know that my passion for fashion cannot die, but it has elevated to another level, with the coming of the hijab into my life. I know it's controversial because modesty is something that people have a different understanding of and my understanding of it is to throw away all those chest bearing and skin showing clothes and go for more modestly covered attires. This commitment doesn't only just stop there, with how much skin I'm covering I'm also learning and re-learning about Islam by research (something I've always loved doing!). I'm never one to care about it especially in school (so what more outside of it) but now I understand more and more about why I'm here being given breaths of life everyday to go through different stages of my life.
Girls, if you think that wearing the hijab is boring, well I suggest you get acquainted with Rabia Z for a start and I hope that it'll make you realise what I did when I learnt about what the hijab really is. The transition may be hard and whispers from shaitan is of course hard to resist but when you're strong enough to succumb all that, then the commitment just magically appears. It feels soooo good to win a battle against el diablo hehehe... So let me just post you some pictures from Rabia Z's line. And if you still feel that the hijab is boring after this well, that's OK :)
BTW I do not own ANY of these pictures (and they're screen captures). These are all courtesy of Rabia Z from her webpage and facebook pages respectively.
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