Jerusalem is an interesting mix of people- the Arabs, the orthodox Jews, and pilgrims from all over the world converge in Old Jerusalem, and each has their own fashion challenges. Modesty is (mostly) the name of the game in the Old City- and is interesting to see the contrast of how everybody interprets it. Both the Arab women and the Orthodox women have an imperative to cover their hair. The Jewish women will wear a wig, a fall, a snood, or a scarf around the bulk of their hair, while the arab ones cover every trace of their hair, and their throats with either a scarf that they hold in place with a strait pin, or a special kind of veil. The more conservative Arab women tended to wear a lightweight floor length suit jacket. Some of them were really interesting- with all kinds of asymmetric collars, pleated lapels, pocket detailing- almost matrix meets steampunk. The younger Arab girls could also be seen in everything from jeans to flowing skirts in addition to the head scarves, but with sleeves down to their wrists and not a single ankle showing. While the Jewish girls were still careful not to show any elbows or knees, there seem to be fewer rules for them. The majority of them worked with lots of layers, and frequently wore tights in the 75-80 degree weather. I really appreciated how people made their style their own, whatever the guidelines.
And then there were the tourists. . .
Orthodox man at the Western Wall
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