The Traditional Palestinian Dress - A Timeless Masterpiece
Featured As Part Of The Arab Heritage Palestinian Costume
The Palestinian costume and traditions have long roots and can be dated back as early as the Canaanite period during the late 2nd millennium BC. Handicraft is among the many contributing factors that make their culture a cut above the rest. They have been producing embroidery for over 5,000 years. Embroidery has been a way of life that has passed on from generation to generation. The intricacy of the traditional clothing of the Palestinians goes beyond style and fashion. It represents the geographical location and social status of the weaver.
The Palestinian Thobe is the traditional dress of women in Palestine. It is a long-sleeved dress with frontal embroideries as its main decoration. Embroidery is a custom of Palestinian women that allows them to show their artistic skills and display their identity in society. Each thobe is unique in colors, patterns, and styles because it represents a woman's distinctive identity. It will take comprehensive knowledge of the Palestinian culture to identify the location, social status, and age of the thobe's owner.
Color and embroidery are the two identifying factors that one can perceive in ascertaining the thobe's origin. Ramallah, Jaffa, and Bethlehem thobes are dark red. The Ramallah thobe is known for its al-Roumi design. The Jaffa uses cypress trees as its main decorative element, and the Bethlehem thobe displays a measurable amount of embroidery on the collar. Gaza thobes are known for the combination of red and purple colors. It also showcases floral and star patterns in its embroidery. Hebron thobes have red and brown colors. It uses geometric inscriptions in its embroidery that is more prominent on the collar, sides, and buttocks. The Jericho thobe takes excessive pride in its embroidery that can cover more than eight arms. Red and green are the colors of the Nablus thobe of rural women, while the women in the countryside are known for their thobe's richness in color and embroidery.
The Palestinian Dress has made women famous for their thobes that are very fine in texture and elaborate in design. Each thobe is unique for it tells the individual story and displays the identity of its wearer. A thobe is far more valuable than other clothing because it is a craft done by hand, and its explicate meaning is embedded in every thread. All Palestinian women should have at least one thobe that they can wear on special occasions. Events like weddings, graduation ceremonies, and Palestinian national celebrations are worthy of the thobes.
