Traditional dress remains part of the lives of women in al-Hasakah Governorate (northeastern Syria), despite changes in lifestyles and clothing over recent decades. Older women continue to wear it daily or on various occasions, while younger women return to it for weddings and social events in an effort to preserve a heritage that women from the region consider part of their cultural identity.
Women in the southern al-Hasakah countryside call the clothing “Arab dress” or “the dress of the Arabs.” It consists of a set of complementary pieces, with details of how they are worn varying according to the woman’s age and the occasion.
Fidda al-Saleh, 70, a resident of the southern al-Hasakah countryside, remains committed to wearing her traditional clothing, which she sees as an extension of customs and traditions followed by successive generations of women in the region.
“We still wear traditional dress,” Fidda told Enab Baladi, explaining that her attachment to it is connected to local customs and to what women inherited from their mothers and grandmothers.
For her, wearing the clothing is more than a choice of attire. It represents part of everyday life and social memory, as she associates the individual pieces of the outfit with the image of women from earlier generations.
“Traditional dress is an essential part of our culture,” she added, noting that a large proportion of women remain interested in it, particularly older women, while younger women have also begun wearing it again on various occasions.
Four Pieces Make Up the Outfit
The traditional outfit described by Fidda consists of four main pieces: the dress, the Alzboun, which resembles an abaya, the head covering known as al-Habriya, and a belt called al-Shuwaihi.
Fidda said al-Habriya is made of silk, while al-Shuwaihi is made of cotton or colored wool and is distinguished by its bright colors.
The belt is about three meters long and four centimeters wide. It is wrapped around the waist as part of the outfit’s overall appearance.
Fidda said the way these pieces are worn and coordinated is connected to customs passed down among women, adding that knowledge of the details of the clothing forms part of the social knowledge transferred between generations.
For her, the continued use of traditional dress, despite the spread of modern clothing, represents a way of preserving an old custom that still has a place in the local community.
She said women did not completely abandon the clothing as social conditions and lifestyles changed. It has remained particularly common among older women, while younger women wear it more often at celebrations and weddings.
“Modesty and Authenticity”
Rifaa al-Khaled, 55, views traditional dress from another perspective, linking it to modesty and authenticity. “Wearing traditional dress represents modesty and authenticity,” she said.
Rifaa believes traditional clothing serves more than one function, with its appearance and the way it is worn carrying a range of meanings connected to social customs.
She noted a slight difference between the clothing worn by younger women and that of older women, explaining that younger women’s attire consists of the dress, abaya and headband, along with al-Habriya, and is most commonly worn at celebrations and weddings.
For older women, she said the outfit consists of the dress, the Alzboun, the silk al-Habriya, along with the headband and belt.
She explained that differences in the details of the clothing do not mean that the outfits have different origins, but instead relate to how they are worn, the age group and the occasion on which a woman wears them.
Social occasions provide a setting in which traditional dress is more visibly displayed, particularly among younger women who wear it at weddings, while older women preserve more elements of the traditional outfit.
Rifaa said this presence gives the clothing an opportunity to endure, as some of its details are passed from mothers and grandmothers to younger women, even if the way it is used changes or becomes limited to special occasions.
Continues for Different Purposes
The persistence of traditional dress in al-Hasakah reflects an intersection between social heritage and modern life. Older women preserve the way of wearing it that they have known for years, while younger women use it on specific occasions, allowing some of its elements to remain present despite changing clothing styles.
Rifaa al-Khaled said younger women wearing the outfit at weddings and celebrations represents a continuation of the custom, while older women’s use of it reflects a broader attachment to traditional clothing.
She considers this continuity important for preserving what she describes as the region’s heritage, particularly because the outfit includes pieces, names and ways of wearing them that women have inherited across generations.
She added that traditional dress still attracts considerable interest among the majority of women, viewing its survival as evidence of women’s connection to their longstanding customs.
Preserving Memory
Social researcher Ahmed al-Hassan believes the continued presence of traditional dress can be understood as a form of preserving social memory, particularly when its use is passed from one generation to another.
In his view, traditional clothing derives its value not only from its appearance, but also from the stories and customs associated with it, the people who wore it and the way it has featured in social occasions.
Al-Hassan said the shift from daily use among some women to occasion-based use among younger women may reflect changing lifestyles, but does not necessarily mean the disappearance of this heritage.
He believes the survival of the names of individual pieces, such as al-Habriya and al-Shuwaihi, along with knowledge of how they are worn, represents one aspect of preserving the memory associated with the outfit, even as younger generations adopt different clothing in everyday life.
He added that social occasions play a role in keeping this heritage present because they provide an opportunity to wear traditional clothing again and display it before younger generations, making it part of the community’s visual and social memory.
This preservation is not limited to women who wear the clothing. It also includes passing on knowledge about it, from how the pieces are coordinated to the names of its components and the adornments worn with it.
Clothing Beyond Its Everyday Function
For Fidda al-Saleh and Rifaa al-Khaled, traditional dress appears to represent more than traditional clothing. For both women, it is connected to the environment in which they grew up, the image of women in their community and customs passed down between generations.
Fidda keeps her traditional outfit as part of her life and customs, while al-Khaled sees it as representing “modesty and authenticity” and links its continued presence to the survival of aspects of local heritage.
As everyday clothing moves toward more diverse styles due to social change, pieces of traditional dress remain in some women’s wardrobes and at social events, reappearing at weddings and family gatherings.
Between the generation that preserved the outfit as clothing it was accustomed to wearing and the generation that puts it on again for special occasions, traditional dress continues to serve a role that goes beyond clothing itself. It remains one of the ways women in al-Hasakah evoke a social memory inherited from previous generations.