etinanwar
When I was a teenager, I went to a mode school to learn how to sew. I was fascinated with learning how to make Western dresses. At that time, many Indonesians Western dresses and at the same time some even started the tight veil. I even noted this trend within my own family. While many of us dressed in Western styles, my grandma still held on to her traditional ‘garb’, called ‘kebaya” and wore a veil.
The variation in fashion style was, and to this day remains common in the Indonesian settings— given the fact the country has had a fair share of exposures to both Islamic and Western dress codes. While Muslim women’s orientations toward dresses vary, they share one thing in common: they want to look modest and ‘modish.’ Modish offers an online platform to show Muslim fashion and share ideas of how to look and feel good about oneself. This motive is personal. It is not always easy to wear the veil within the minority contexts. While the veil serves as a marker for Muslim fashion, Muslim women’s costumes reflect cultural borrowing and exchanges. Modish offers designs that pay homage to the convergence of Islamic, Western, and ethnic fashion styles and share ideas that are empowering to women.