Modest wear going mainstream and becoming more stylish as women choose to cover up and Muslim spending power grows
In places such as Singapore there didn’t use to be much choice of modest wear. Now specialist retailers, mass-market chains and online retailers offer a much wider range of clothing, and modest fashion has become a style choice
When Shireen Ikhsan decided to wear the hijab, or headscarf, a decade ago, she experienced a fashion emergency of sorts.
The co-founder of Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak and the Crave restaurant chain in Singapore recalls having a hard time finding appropriately modest, yet stylish outfits to wear.
“There weren’t many nice long-sleeved tops at that time and most modest clothing was found in Geylang or Joo Chiat, where our Malay community liked to shop. It was frustrating sometimes,” she says. “I basically just wore plain tops, as I didn’t know how else to dress.”
Today, Ikhsan’s Instagram feed tells a different story. Her #ootd pictures showcase her flair for dressing modestly, her traditional baju kurung (short jackets) and kebaya (light tunics) in trendy shades of mint green and millennial pink interspersed with outfits comprising oversized shirts and sweaters artfully thrown over maxi skirts.
Instagram posts by Shireen Ikhsan