so i wear black all the time...

so what?

im in abaya 24/7 and the thought of walking down the street in any other colour feels wrong for me. not in the islamic sense - im not one of those "any other colour but black is haram" kinda people. i love a patterned fluro green hijab and an orange bag and all my abayas usually have some kind of coloured detailing, so i guess its not completely black.

i look at the malaysian girls around me and see their very bright and very patterned kebaya outfits and it looks fantastic on them, but on me i would just feel uncomfortable - like a scribbled drawing by a five year old - done completely with highlighters.

i have seen some women of arab descent wearing coloured abayas but they usually look crap and/or like they bought them from some back road egyptian village store and fellahin (villager) is not the look im going for. and dont get me started on denim abayas. dear gawd.

someone i work with wears one and it looks horrible. add to that the fact that she doesnt iron it and it looks like she is just wearing a crushed piece of acid wash potato sack. i know its not all about style for everyone, but it should be about being and looking presentable. and denim abayas are really tricky. not everyone can pull them off - most people dont accessorise it properly either. lets look at some denim abayas that get a FAIL from me:

this one looks outdated to me - like it should be in style only in the early 1990's. "wheres my boombox at?":

this one screams "get me hoe and a wagon! it's harvesting time":

and this one here below - in the photo it looks kinda street funky/cool but i guarantee you in reality it looks frumpy and weird:

conclusion - denim abayas suck. and if you are gonna reply and write "i have one and it looks good" then let me pre-reply and say this: "no it does not. you are in denial and you probably look like crap but no one has the guts to tell you that so you continue to walk around looking like a villager from 1992, thinking you look good and Lady - you are mistaken." denim should be kept for a nice pair of jeans - the way Levi Strauss intended - not for abayas.

i think i have one non-black abaya and it currently lives in my backyard as i washed it a week ago (i lie - three weeks ago) - it fell off the clothes line in the rain and i havent bothered to pick it up. half because im lazy and the cat seems to enjoy sitting on it and half because im not interested in it. plus it looked a dusky pink from the online store i bought it from yet when i received it, it looked more baby shit brown.

i dunno people - every time i see a gorgeous non-black abaya my eyes nearly fall out of my head and i feel myself automatically reaching for my purse, yet when i try it on i start getting this evil voice in my head whispering "its not black. dont be a traitor to the black. stay on the darkside. the darkside loves you". and the darkside usually wins and stops me from wearing fantastic, mind-blowing pieces like this in public (i usually keep them for home/girlie parties or wear under an open black abaya to splice up the look):

(a piece from my girl Dian Pelangi's latest collection -{to be shown soon!} i love tie-dye)

what about the other abaya lovers out there? do you always find yourself wrapped in black or do you dabble in colours? and what are your thoughts on the *cough-hideous-cough* denim abaya?