Fashion and Religion in Turkey

A thing as worldly and secular as fashion seems to have little connection to religion.   However the intersection between religion and fashion is visible everyday on the streets of Turkey.  The majority of young Turkish women who dress according to traditional Islamic notions of female modesty do so in a way that is modern and fashionable.  Women pin beautifully patterned scarves tightly around their face and wrap the ends around their neck or shoulders in a number of different trendy ways.  Blouses or layers of tops cover arms to at least below the elbow.  Long, swingy skirts or sometimes pants and tunics provide coverage to the calves or below.  Trendy and stylish shoes, often heals or wedges, are very popular as are designer bags and statement accessories.  The entire outfit is color coordinated and often topped with a long, fitted trench coat in a light color.  In contrast, the mothers and grandmothers of women now in their teens, twenties or thirties tie their scarves babushka-style under their chins.  Their scarves, long skirts and blouses or sweaters are seemingly chosen at random, and colors and patterns often loudly clash.  Western notions of "matching" or creating an "outfit" are largely foreign to these generations and clothing is chosen for its modesty and comfort only.

The phenomenon fashionable covered woman has created a market for elegant, trendy and beautiful modest clothing and scarves.  Stores like TekBir, Akar and Armine cater to the fashion conscious upper-middle class covered woman.  The latest trends in modest Muslim fashion as well as health and beauty are covered by magazines like Hesna and Ala.  These magazines have features and stories similar to mainstream fashion magazines, but are conscious of the needs and interests of the covered Muslim woman.  Fashion spreads feature items from Islamic fashion brands as well as pieces from mainstream brands that conform to accepted notions of modesty.  There is also a heavy focus on accessories such as shoes and bags since these are not subject to modesty restrictions.  Though interest in and the market for Islamically modest fashion is clearly growing, both Turkish-produced and Turkish editions of international fashion magazines still direct their fashion spreads and articles exclusively to secular women.  None of the secular magazines I surveyed had any photos of covered women, nor were their fashion spreads noticeably different from those one would see in Western Europe or the US.

I talked with four covered women in their twenties regarding their views of fashion and experience finding fashionable but appropriately modest clothing.  Unsurprisingly, the consensus among the group was that it is completely possible to properly modest while still wearing modern styles of clothing.  They described the difference between how they dress and think about clothing and how their mothers or grandmothers do.  They labeled the clothing choices of the older generations “traditional” and in contrast described their modern interpretation of Islamic modesty as “careful” or “conscious.”  Three of the four were very positive about the influence of fashion on Islamically modest women.  One woman felt it was important to dress fashionably because it has a positive effect on a woman’s self-esteem.  More importantly, she feels that when covered women dress in a beautiful and fashionable way, they make Islamic modesty an attractive choice for other women.  She thinks that through their example they can influence other women to wear hijab.  The one woman who had negative feelings about fashion complained that it creates conformity in society and feels that it discourages people from thinking for themselves.  However, she agreed with her friend that fashion can have a positive impact on how people perceive covered women and encourage other women to adopt an Islamically modest lifestyle.

The women I interviewed are in school or just starting out their careers and, like young people in the US and elsewhere, do not have much income.  Stores like Akar and TekBir as well as the designer clothing in Islamic fashion magazines are generally out of their price range.  They acknowledged that while it has become much easier for upper middle class Islamic women to find fashionable and modest clothing, women like them still struggle to find appropriate fashion choices.  Their outfits are pieced together from the bazaar shops and inexpensive chain stores that secular and covered women alike shop at.  It is not uncommon for these young women to layer clothing in order to wear fashionable pieces while simultaneously maintaining appropriate levels of modesty.

The phenomenon of the Islamically modest but modern and fashionable woman is clearly not a passing trend in Turkey.  Young women from both traditionally pious families as well as secular ones are adopting this style of dress as an outward expression of their desire live in the modern world while maintaining their Muslim faith.  This modern but modest lifestyle is clearly a matter of personal choice rather than a reaction to family or patriarchal pressure.  As is the case with one of the women I interviewed, some young women choose to adopt this mode of dress against the wishes of their family.  My interviewees were all quick to emphasize the difference between their interpretation of Islamic dress and that of older generations.  Their description of their mothers’ dress as “traditional” implies that they dress in certain ways because of societal pressure rather than personal choice.  In contrast, the women I interviewed described their way of dressing as “özenli” which roughly translates as painstaking or careful.  By implication, the carefulness these women want to demonstrate in their Islamically inspired dress is an outward reflection of the carefulness in which they feel they practice their religion.  In this way, through the very worldly medium of fashion, a woman reflects her inner spiritual state.