FASHION seems to be something intrinsic to human life and ranges from the stylistic details of the minimal covering used by some remote African and South American tribes to the near total covering often employed by women in the Kingdom and some other Middle Eastern countries. There is a certain irony, however, in the decision on the part of three young Jeddah girls to stage a fashion show focusing on the hijab, the head covering that protects a woman's face from unwanted gazes emanating primarily from men. Female dress in Saudi Arabia is traditionally designed to deflect any unwanted attention. Of course, human nature has brought a multitude of details to traditional Saudi dress that communicate everything from piousness to worldliness, poverty to affluence or simply an appreciation for the potential inherit in the production and manipulation of fabric. Whether it is a Thobe or an Abayah, Saudi dress is as communicative as any Western garb; it is simply a question of knowing what to look for. As examples of the clothing to be displayed at the hijab fashion show have not been released to the press, it is not possible to predict what kind of messages may be inherent in the fashion show. The hijab is almost always a symbol of piousness but a fashion show implies a certain flamboyance or, at least, creativity in the fashion on display. This means that women are selecting the style of hijab they wear.They are expressing their own individuality within the parameters of their cultural and religious beliefs. And with the increased social self-awareness of women that comes with the development of society as a member of the brotherhood of nations, such self
