Tiraz: Permanent Exhibit

Ramallah Summer Dress
1880

Dresses from Ramallah are well known for their wine-red cross-stitch, embroidered on hand-loomed linen called roumi.

In Ramallah, dress styles change color by season. During the summer, women use white linen, and in winter, black. The embroidery is based on geometric patterns, and applied all over the dress even including the back. One can distinguish the back of a Ramallah dress by the palm tree patterns on the lower section of it.

Dress from Gaza

This dress, made of fine linen dyed with indigo, has a rounded V-shaped neckline, and is embroidered mainly with a pattern called qeladeh, which means necklace.

Thanks to the intricate embroidery around the neck, women did not have to wear jewelry. One of the special features of this dress is the way the patterns fit together to form large units of embroidery down the sides. When many patterns are squeezed together, they are called wisadeh. On this dress, you can also see a large diamond shape, known as scissors.

Traditionally, the fabric for Gaza-area costumes was woven in Majdal. These costumes had a wide variety of cuts, including the wide cut of Faluja and the slim cut of Isdud, which is worn beltless. It is the only dress in Gaza to be worn without a belt.

Hebron Textile Fragment with Indigo

This fragment is likely from a woman's everyday dress. It is made of linen and silk thread embroidered overtop indigo died linen and is an example of Tallis embroidery.

Khaddameh dress
1925

This dress, called khaddameh, was made for daily use in Bethlehem. The main differences between this dress and the malak lay in the fabric threads and embroidery patterns.

Khaddameh vs. Malak dress

While the malak is made of silk and linen striped fabric specific to Bethlehem, the khaddameh uses plain linen without stripes. Similarly, the malak is embroidered on the chest panel and sides with an ornate couching stitch, while the khaddemeh’s chest panel is embroidered with the simpler and less costly cross stitch. The sleeves of this dress are done in the kumm ‘irdan style in which the sleeves are long, pointed, and triangular. The wearer of this dress would tie the two sleeves behind her back while working to make movement easier. Khaddama means service in Arabic, and this dress is for everyday service.

In Nablus and Tulkarim, which are part of the lower Galilee, women wore festive dresses with green and red stripes, called "Heaven and Hell." The dress has little embroidery and large pointed sleeves.

There were other Galilee festive costumes, known as Jellaye, which were open in front with delicate and colorful silk patchwork on the front and back of the dress. These were mostly found in upper Galilee.

Close-up of wool belt and skirt from Southern Palestine
1930

This was worn by Bedouin of Southern Palestine. The cowrie shells on the belt have amuletic properties, as do the patterns on dress and belt.

Dress of Naqab Bedouin
1960

Compared to village dresses, those of the Naqab Bedouin are more voluminous with longer, winged sleeves and denser embroidery on the front and back of the skirt, using a repeated geometrical pattern.

These dresses were originally made of hand woven, indigo-dyed fabric, although in the 1920s this changed to machine-woven cotton bought in Bir Saba’ or Gaza. At the bottom of the dress is a 5-centimeter band of running stitch done in blue thread, to protect the hem from wear and tear.

The Bedouin also believed that this band protected the wearer from the evil eye. Each tribe had its own distinctive style. The shape of the qabeh, or chest panel, varied from tribe to tribe, and was sometimes replaced by a narrow piece of red silk, rather than embroidery. In some tribes, widows had blue embroidery on their costume to show their marital status.

Shirsh or Shakhat dress

Shakhat refers to the'slices' of material found in white on the sleeves and sides of dress. In this dress from Irbid, in the north of Jordan, the shakhat were blue strips but now appear almost white from use.

Salt dress

The Salt dress is distinctive for its size; especially the length of the dress’s skirt and sleeves. The women wear it in what is called a double-drape where a belts is used to drape one layer over another. This creates a useful pocket at the wearer’s waist.

The dress requires fourteen meters of dubeit fabric. Blue bands of indigo-dyed fabric run vertically on the sides and sleeves, and also around the hem. These bands both strengthen and enhance the beauty of the dress. Salt has always been a prominent market center, and has drawn Bedouins and villagers from the surrounding area.

A Woman from Salt
Along with their dress, women from Salt often wore a beautiful headpiece, made of red silk and silver threads, and woven in Homs, Syria. This was also a prized possession.

Beni Sakhr
One can see the influence of Salt dresses such as this one in the costumes of other regions in Jordan (though on a reduced scale), for example the beautiful thawb of the Beni Sakhr

Headpiece from North Jordan

Along with their dresses, women wore beautiful headpieces, often sewn with gold and silver coins. The coins acted not only as adornment, but were also insurance, and an investment against hard times. If her family needed money for any reason -- for example, if she wanted to repair a tooth, or send a son to college, then she would use the coins. Women often received coins as part of their dowry upon marriage.

Ma'an, Thawb Heremzy

Called thawb heremzy, this dress from Ma'an is distinctive for its bright colors and silk fabric woven in Syria. Ma'an women didn't often embroider their dresses, instead they focused on the contrast of the bright fabrics.

The bridal dress of Ma'an, called a thawb heremzy, is made from panels of red and green silk fabric, which is hand woven in Syria. It has a large cut with minimal embroidery and uses a running stitch on the seams and neck. One sleeve is larger than the other, to allow the woman cover head is needed. The women of Ma'an used similar fabrics to make embroidered pillows which they used to decorate the house.

Because of its location, Ma'an was often a stopping-point for pilgrims on their way to make Hajj. The pilgrims would bring textiles from Syria and Turkey to sell in order to pay for their food and lodging. These colorful textiles attracted the local women, and became an important part of the distinctive Ma’an dress.

All these dresses and styles of Jordan and Palestine speak to a flourishing and unique craft, and the influence of women on fashion and dress in the region.

Women of Madaba, another market city, also liked silks and bright colors. In this bridal dress, called Thob Atlas, one pointed sleeve is attached inside-out, enabling the woman to wear it over her shoulder.