The Saudi Ghutra

For Saudi Arabian males, the selection of clothing and accessories is very much shaped by a long and rich history in which adherence to traditional values, customs, and norms is prominent (Ross, 1981). Saudi males wear a multi-part headdress or head covering that can be dated to Persian antecedents observed as early as 700 B.C. and employing soft materials able to provide protection to the head and face from climatic vicissitudes.

Ryder (The functional history of clothing - 1, 2000) has pointed out that there are two different strategies available to protect people against the effects of heat in tropical or desert climates. One is to wear as little as possible as is the case with the Dinkas of the Sudan. The alternative approach is to wear multiple layers of relatively loose fitting clothing as is the case with the people of the Sahara Desert. The extreme temperature variations of Saudi Arabia has called for a layering of clothing to provide thermal insulation in conditions of extreme cold and heat.

The Ghutra has been worn by Arab males since the era in which the Prophet Muhammad lived and codified Islam (Ross, 1981). The Ghutra is made of 100 percent cotton fabric and is worn as both a symbol of the heritage of the Saudi and other Arabic/Islamic peoples and as a means of protection from a harsh physiological environment.

The headdress worn by Saudi males consists of three parts. The taqiyah is a skullcap, which is generally white and o

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ted by Saudi urban dwellers as well. Armstrong (2000), in a lengthy analysis of the cultural foundations of Islam, has argued that a return to Islamic dress has been evident throughout the Middle East and in other regions in which Islam is a powerful sociocultural and religious force. Males as well as females employ traditional dress as a tacit critique of some of the less positive aspects of modernity. Armstrong (2000) states that: in the West, people often flaunt their tanned, well-honed bodies as a sign of privilege; they try to counteract the signs of aging and hold on to this life. The shrouded Islamic body declares that it is oriented to transcendence, and the uniformity of dress abolishes class difference and stresses the importance of community over Western individualism (p. 172). Thus, it is also important to recognize, as does Armstrong (2000), that many articles of clothing worn by Arab, Islamic men and women have a significance beyond their physical ability to provide relief from the exigencies of a harsh climate. By prescribing a dress standard for all individuals, traditional Arab culture does work to reduce class distinctions and to provide a visible manifestation of the fundamental equality of all peopl

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