We have one very nice festival every year in Oslo, Norway, and that is the Mela Festival, or simply just Mela. The 2008 “edition” was held this weekend, and I just had to go and check it out. This is a multicultural festival, focusing mainly on Pakistani and Indian music and food, but music and food from other cultures are also represented.
These girls are rocking their hijabs with style. I wish I took more pictures, but it was getting dark. What I can say is that it was a true explosion of colors, and so much beautiful traditional Pakistani clothing all over the place. Gotta love it. Do you?
The Hijablog 
they look soooo colourful and cute š i love traditional indian and pakistani-style
cool eh! insha’allah if you EVER come to Dubai ill gift you one of these salwar kameezes š
Argh! I’m Pakistani and have to wear shalwar kameez all the time with my hijab. My family think jeans etc are immodest bla bla. But there are some really nice shalwar kameeza out there. š
Salaam Alaikum.
from a Pakistani currently living in Pakistan…
nowagays shalwaar kameez has become very westernised. So fo eg, you’d see most girls wearing capri’s , with a longish kameez giving the effect of a western dress. The dupatta is now just a thin piece of cloth danglling on one shoulder…
Oh the colors are just so pretty!
ummabdullah- I wonder whats up wid those kind of shalwars (the pants) which women these days wear *ABOVE* the ankles!
i think theyre so cute
Habayeb: The capris? Yep, they’re the latest fashion. But you have to wear them with loonng kameezes (beloww your knees) otherwise it looks bad.
Don’t you dare say anything against capri’s…
you’ll be insulting my Eid clothes insha’Allah…
LOL
Habayeb, I’m buying a one way ticket, hehe!
How wonderful that you have these festivals nearby!
I loved wearing my shalwaar kameez back before I expanded out of them. I hope to be able to learn how to sew some of my own and I’ll put in my favorite “hippie patchwork” style!
thesee pics are like exactly what i see every dayyy lol, i hav to say this is wat loadsa gals here wear but as umm abdullah said ppl wear it with see thru scarfs etc.lol the parents usualy arent covered but the kids r
Its a shame that it has been fashioned to look like western clothing…capris..see through..little scarves..what a shame..but i must agree the old style shalwar kameez is nice and the design is beautiful..:)
I must say, yes there are more ‘westernized styles’ for the salwaar kameez but that’s still only in very biig cities. I just went to pakistan 2 months ago and mashaALLAH most of the women cover their bodies to a certain degree and modestly. You must remember that the hijab culture is also very different in different countries and the same goes for pakistan. (note: upon observation, here in the UK the women who choose to wear salwaar kameez do so quite modestly mashaALLAH).
The beauty about the salwaar kameez is that its a traditional dress which is still worn to this day by asians and can still remain very much modest and modern. Its not necessary that they all wear short salwaars and sheer dupattas, there’s various different styles coming through every year, just like western fashion has various different trends.
I still love the pakistani dress and I gotta say, instead of trying to find wide-leg jeans or fussing around with skirts (no offence, I love my jeans and skirts too), the salwaar kameez is a practical and modest option.
By the way, great blog. I’m very much interested in doing hijab and please pray that I have the courage and maturity to do so soon. =) But your blogs awesome, with lots of pretty pictures!
I’m a Pakistani-canadian who recently started wearing hijab…(mostly turkish style!!) ( ā¤ )
Anyway..i went to paksitan this summer and the clothing there is getting imodest…i mean the shalwar kameez is not what it used to be with the shalwar (bottom part) rising higher and higher…eww…
seriously, there is not point in wearing shalwar kameez if they’re gonna wear it like that…
but whatever..i hope the pakistani people in pakistan realise that they are getting waaayyyy to westernized… i live in a westernized country and if i can manage, then i hope others can tooo..! anyway..awesome!
š
allah akrey sub ..pata nahi kya likoon may ether. š
how is hijab.
hijab sharta dai.
hvor finner man hijab
Read my article on salwar qameez… Because I hate them for sth else. To me, they are symbol of women’s slavery and Pakistani women have no choice but salwar qameez, if they want to wear something more Islamic, they are accused of betraying their culture…! Actually, this is also a symbol of national pride (read: nationalism), Pakistani one. Salwar qameez does not cover anything. Salwar, even loose, proper salwar, is almost always see-through and you can see clearly the shape of one’s legs inside! And they wear it with hijab?!… Qameez are generally way too tight, almost skin tight, moreover, they don’t even cover the arms at all, because the colour of skin has to be covered, too, and many of them have totally transparent sleeves…;(- And all these cequins… OK, permissible, but NOT too much… They have them really TOO MUCH. And they are made of these ugly and disgusting fabrics! Synthetic colour-falling fabrics, uncomfortable to wear, sticking to your body when it’s hot or cold, and disabling free movement…;((((- brrr! I just don’t like them, for all and each one of these reasons. Sure, it looks beautiful – only in the pictures, on very slim and tall make-uped models, but not really on everyone… And the worst thing is that women in Pakistan, especially Azad Kashmir, have really no other choice – even if they wear jilbab on the top, they HAVE to wear salwar qameez underneath, not any other clothes, which is a slavery to me – having no choice, having to wear only one kind of clothing, while there are so many beautiful and yet much more modest clothes out there, so why shall we blindly submitt to a cultural thing and wear just salwar qameez?!…
a.b.
Well Aisha i think the type of shalwar kamees u are referring to is the modern styles, all my Shalwar kamees are long sleeved, u cant see the skin on legs arms or anything it is to do with the person wearin the clothes as i make sure anything i buy which will be later sewn into a shalwar kamees is opaque before i buy it so i know i will be covering myself.
Aisha,
Sorry I don’t agree with you – I think there are some mere generalisations in your post above. You seem to suggest that people from Azad Kashmir have no other option? As a Kashmiri, I would like to say we do have a choice in what we wear, and I have yet to come across the notion of ‘ cultural betrayal’.
As for salwar kameez – it is a very flexible dress. There is not one exclusive way of wearing it. If one chooses to have sleeves tailored long, they can do so. Also, if one choose to wear thick or simple material, they can do so.
Therefore, I’m sorry but I don’t quite follow with you on your line of reasoning.
Also just a quickie on the ‘nationalist’ side of things. I beg to differ on that idea, as the salwar kameez is worn throughout the subcontinent ( though in varied styles), therefore it doesn’t really tally to say that it is a symbol of national pride.
Either way, your entitled to your opinions!
woah calm own girl n stop hating pakistani wat r u an indian this is an islamic blog not a soap box for ur emotions if u dont got nuting nice to say then keep ur mouth shut. N for ur information shalwar camis is not a forced choice if u knew a thing about pakistan and its fashion trend in shalwar camiz styles and styles in pakistan u would know NOTHING u have angrily stated is not true not a chance. So next time you want to accuse others culture and fashion or even just mannor of dressing plz think once again cuz i dont think u want to embarrass ur self on the internet for everyone to see once again eh?
Asssalamua Laikum