Thawb

A thawb^[a][b] is an Arab garment mainly worn by inhabitants of the Middle East and North Africa. The thawb is long-sleeved ankle-length traditional robe; it is worn by men and women with regional variations in name and style.^[1] Depending on local traditions, a thawb can be worn in formal or informal settings; in the Gulf states thawbs are the main formal attire for men.^[2] It is also worn by Muslim men in the Indian subcontinent due to its modest appearance, and is believed to be a sunnah,^[3] and it is commonly referred to as a jubbah there.^[4][5][6] The etymology of the word “thawb,” the history and origin of the robe, its regional styles and versions, and its modern use help to characterize and differentiate the thawb from other traditional Arabic clothes.

The word thawb (ثَوْب) is a Standard Arabic word for "dress" or "garment". It is also romanized as thobe or thaub or thob.^[7]

The thawb dates back to the arrival of Islam in the Arab world in roughly 600 AD. It was a long- or short-sleeved gown worn over the qamis, an undergarment, by both men and women. The word thawb during this time was a general term for clothing and fabric because most types of clothing were mere pieces of cloth, or shiqqa. Between 700 and 800 AD, thawbs were perfumed and stitched with poetry along its edges to celebrate festivals like the Persian New Year. In 900 AD Egypt, eunuchs wore thawbs as funeral shrouds as they believed it granted blessings. In around 1,000 AD, the thawb was widespread in Arabia as a basic robe. By the 1300s, versions of the thawb emerged for every season and for special occasions for both sexes. While there is scant information about the actual cuts of the robe, a thirteenth-century manuscript from Iraq shows drawings of women in close-fitting gowns that differed from the previously common wide-sleeved thawbs. Paintings in Egypt from the Mamluk period show women either fully or partially covered in this robe. During this time, the thawb also became shorter due to a fashion trend for higher hemlines and elbow-length sleeves. By the late 1800s, Palestinian women adopted a thawb with foreign patterns and floral designs.^[8]

The thawb is commonly worn by men in the Arabian Peninsula. It is normally made with polyester fabric, but heavier materials such as sheep's wool can also be used, especially in colder climates in the Levant.^[9] The style of the thawb varies between regions. In Iraq, Kuwait, the Levant, and Oman, dishdashah is the most common word for the garment; in the United Arab Emirates and the Maghreb, the word kandura is used. In Pakistan and other parts of the sub-continent, it is often to referred to as a 'Jubbah' and designed in an ornate style in keeping with local traditions.^[10]

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In the Gulf states, thobes are typically made with white or beige polymer fabric, with coloured wool thobes worn in the winter months. ^[11] Thobes commonly worn by men and are considered as symbols of national and cultural identity, and are appropriate attire for formal occasions and religious ceremonies. In recent years, the thobes have become a popular fashion item, with many fashion designers adding their own modern twists to the traditional garment.^[12]

In some Gulf countries, thawb sleeves and collars can be stiffened to give a more formal appearance, front pockets and embroidery could be added and placket buttons can be covered, exposed, or replaced by zippers. ^[13] In the UAE and Oman, men's thobes have no collar, use frog closures as placket fasteners, and include tassels;^[14] in Oman, tassels tend to be short, and in the UAE tassels extend to the waist.^[15][16]

In Sudan, the term tobe is used to refer to women's outer garments.^[1] In her book Khartoum at night: Fashion and body politics in imperial Sudan,^[17] cultural historian Marie Grace Brown explained: "Meaning “bolt of cloth,” a tobe is a rectangular length of fabric, generally two meters wide and four to seven meters long. It is worn as an outer wrapper whenever women are outside their homes or in the company of unrelated males. The tobe's origins date back to the late eighteenth century when prosperous merchants in Darfur clothed their wives and daughters in large swaths of fine imported linen, muslin, and silk as a sign of their wealth and prestige."^[18] In the context of urban culture in Sudan since the 1930s, new and often colourful styles of tobes became fashionable, as Sudanese women "expressed their growing opportunities and desires through fashion."^[19]

The traditional Palestinian woman's long tunic is also called thawb (or thob, ثوب), and is generally considered women's Palestinian national dress.^[20] It is richly embroidered with tatreez patterns, with different colours and patterns signifying various aspects of the wearer's social position and most importantly its unique village, town or city.^[21]

A thawb is sometimes worn with a bisht (بِشْت), also known in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula as a mishlah (مِشْلَح) or ʿabāʾ (عَبَاء), meaning 'cloak'. It is usually worn on ceremonial occasions or by officials. A bisht is usually worn by religious clergy, but can also be worn at weddings, Eids and funerals. It may indicate wealth and royalty or sometimes a religious position. It was originally manufactured in Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and it is usually worn in the Arabian peninsula, Jordan, Syria and parts of southern Iraq.

According to H. R. P. Dickson,^[22] Bedouin women would mount a brightly coloured thawb on a pole in front of a tent in order to welcome home a traveller or an important person coming to visit.^[1]

Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan and the first Palestinian-American woman elected to that body, wore a thawb to her swearing-in ceremony on January 3, 2019.^[23] This inspired a number of Palestinian and Palestinian-American women to share pictures on social media with the hashtag #TweetYourThobe.^[24] Like the ghutra, thawbs were also popular during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.^[25]

• Jellabiyas, a traditional garment mainly worn in Egypt and Sudan differ from thawbs, as jellabiyas have a wider cut, no collar (in some cases, no buttons) and longer, wider sleeves.