Morocco was one of the countries represented at the Fourth Arab Fest Traditional and Modern Fashion Show, hosted by the Arab American Club of Knoxville (AACK) in October 2017.
Morocco, also called Al-Maghrib in Arabic and it means “west”, is a region of Northwest Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea. This beautiful country is rich in history, religion, culture, and tradition. This richness represents the diverse cultural identities and cultural heritage influence, and it is strongly represented in its clothing and the way Moroccan people dress. Typically, the traditional clothing for women and men consists of long flowing robes with full sleeves called “Djellaba” attached to a baggy hood called a “qob” that comes to a point at the back, and it protects the wearer from the sun. Additionally, they wear traditional pointy–toed slippers made by artisans.
These wonderful ladies, in the included photos, are wearing the most stunning item from the Moroccan traditional wardrobe, the kaftan or caftan. The word originates from the old Turkish “Kap ton”, meaning covering garment. It became popular in Morocco around 16th century. Kaftans, traditionally worn by women, and it can be worn on both casual and formal occasions such as engagements and marriages, depending on the materials used. They are usually a one-piece dress, a long loose–fitted one usually reaching to the ankles and with long sleeves. A wide ornamented belt is added so that the kaftan fits the wearer’s body well and accentuates her figure. These Kaftans are made of wool, silk, cashmere, cotton, or modern synthetic fabrics, and can be a single color, multiple solid colors or hue, or even bold patterns like flowers or paisley. Embroidery is often done with silver or gold thread, pearls, and jewels for fancy styles, or with plain colored thread and minimal decoration for simpler models.
Alternative garments of Moroccan kaftans are called Takchita or Taqchita and are also worn on both casual and formal celebrations, particularly weddings. It is composed of two-pieces with an underpiece consisting of simple short –sleeved dress called “Tahtia”, and a more heavily decorated long or short-sleeved part that goes over it called “Fawqieh”. It is also belted like a kaftan. The outer dress stays partially open to reveal the contrasting color or designs of the under layer.
Historically, the style of kaftan differ throughout Morocco, the key distinguishing feature is the type of embroidery used for decoration. Rbati Kaftan “Rabat-the capital” has a unique style of embroidery known as tarz rbati, which includes floral designs, leaves, and swirls stitched with lots of colorful thread. Meknassi “Meknes city” and Fasi “Fes city” embroidery, known as tarz meknassi and tarz fasi, is more geometric, with squares, triangle, and straight lines combined to form intricate patterns along the edges of the fabric.
These magnificent costumes are still living from the ancient time until today without any influence from the western fashions.
