Shirsh Shaghat dress from Irbid

Shaghat means 'slices' in the Jordanian dialect. In this dress from Irbid, in the north of Jordan, the shaghat were blue strips that ran up the sides of the dress, and gave it its name (from washing and use, these strips now appear almost white). The shaghat are a distinctive feature, along with the embroidery, raqmeh, which uses the black fabric underneath as part of its design. The dress is often worn for weddings or other festivities, then turned into an everyday dress. It was embroidered using a technique popular in the region, called Ibreh bint Ibreh, meaning ‘needle, daughter of the needle.’