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The Palestinian Costumes
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The garments are representative of the different geographic regions in Palestine such as Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron, and Bir al Sabe', and illustrate a high degree of artistry, skill, and imagination. Each dress combines complex social and aesthetic meanings and interpretations through the interplay of pattern and color.
Most of the dresses are ceremonial in their function and were worn by women at weddings and other special occasions. Richly embroidered dresses were also part of a bride’s dowry, reflecting her family’s social standing within the village community. Outstanding amongst these ceremonial dresses is the Bethlehem al-malak (the royal) dress and the thob al-jallayah (wedding dress) from the Hebron region.
These dresses are made of a variety of fabrics, including the special locally-manufactured white and black rumi cottons that were manufactured in the small weaving ateliers of al-Majdal, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, Haifa, and Safad. The linens and silks were mostly imported; the satins and hirmzi silks were originally from Syria and the linens from Egypt. Other fabrics were imported from Europe, mainly from Austria and England.
Often the names given to the costumes are associated with the type and color of the fabric it consists of. For example, the double-striped red and green fabric is called janneh wa nar (heaven and hell), and other fabric names are al-ikhdhari (green), abu meteen (two hundred), and abu wardeh (the rose).
The Costumes Collection at Birzeit University contains one hundred traditional dresses and an equal number of headdresses, jewelry, and other accessories that the university purchased over twenty years ago.
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