Middle Eastern Headgear

[Baron Kurtz]

the way i see it i'm just getting prepared for my return to "Londonistan" . . .

bk

 

[Dreispitz]

Bowler from Tunis

Obviuosly this kind of headgear was worn in Tunisia at some stage...

 

[L'Onset]

Touareg turban

I'll try to explain without images (sorry I haven't got any) how to tie a tuareg turban.
First thing you should notice is that an average touareg turban mesures somewhat six to ten meters long and about one and half or two meters wide (the wealthier the owner the bigger the piece)

Now fold that piece over the long side once so you have the half of the wide.
Put an end over your head so it hangs on one side, over your ear and reaching your shoulder. Then take the long end wrapping down your chin and up the top of the head as if you had tooth-ache (once or twice). Now you can start winding it tight around (horizontally) your head and when you get to the tip, tuck it inside the folds you made around your head, and thats all. The part that remains under the chin can be used to protect mouth ad nose during sand-storms.
Its pretty fresh as keeps ones moisture from extreme dry and warm environments

 

[Speedbird]

The full Toureg/Berber affair is much harder to tie and wear - described above. It looks good and is eminently practical in the desert (see Almazy picture from BT) - pretty much useless anywhere else though.

The Saudi Sheik picture you showed - that's easy, fold into triangle, drape over skull cap, wear the head piece to hold it all in place. Adjust for a natty turn up across the brow. Again, kind of useful in the desert and much easier to tie - there are photos of LRDG guys wearing this style (I doubt they bothered with the skull cap). Virtually all Arab men in the Gulf wear this style when promenading in town. This is the 'dressy' version.

If you want the version I am wearing in my avatar, this is the least complicated, most practical and most often wore style when not 'dressed up' (unless you are Toureg/Berber/from somewhere like Western Sahara).

It's easy to tie - take cloth square, fold into triangle, fold over a hem (like you would for a scout neckerchief) and drape on head, point down your back. Then drag it so it is off centre - this is critical to make it look 'right'. You take the short end around the back to the opposite temple and hold it while wrapping the long end around the back snugly in the opposite direction. Tuck in, adjust - and probably start again three or four times! It's not easy to make it look neat and still be functional. If you have left enough of the triangle down the back, this can be dragged around to cover mouth and nose from dust by tucking up into the 'headband' when required.

However, you could just drape it anyway you like until you get something that doesn't look a nappy/diaper on your head. This piece of cloth is one of the most versatile travel items you can own - head dress, scarf, towel, bandage, etc etc.

There are many different versions of the Arabic name for this head dress because there are many different regional versions of Arabic. Shemagh isn't strictly correct as Mr Alan says. But it is recognisable to a Standard Arabic speaker if you get the pronunciation right - which for any Arabic word is really, really hard! Or it is for me! [huh].

 

[Italian-wiseguy]

Mine (Arafat style ghutra) was recently stolen from a bar in town. Must get another one.

There's nothing better, i've found, for keeping out the cold winds we get in the midwest blowing down from Canada. Worn just like a scarf or wrapped properly around the head for more protection and to remove the need for a separate hat.

And it helps me look like a euro student.

bk

here in Italy, while not as popular as, say, 10 or 20 years ago, keffiyas are still a very common sight on students.
I myself own two (black and white, red and white);
I'd don't know if they were intended originally to send some political statement, but I'd say all the students wore them simply cause they're highly practical as light but effective scarves.
They're were associated with "left", anyway.

So if you were some kind of right-wing, "military" style guy, all you had to do was to buy the same keffiya in some surplus store and call it "shemagh"
(actually, political orientation seemed to be reflected in the arabic term of choice, the garment staying the same... )

Ciao!

 

[Speedbird]

Just checked with my beloved wife;

Every term used so far is more or less correct depending on which Arabic country you are in! VonWotan is spot on for proper 'posh' standard Arabic.

Taking the Saudi King as the example:

The decorative cord holding everything in place is the Igaal (anglicised spelling)

The head cloth is the Ghutra in 'posh' Standard Arabic ('Shemagh' is an Iraqi Arab dialect name for the same thing).

The skull cap, not shown but certainly worn in the King portrait is the Keffiyah. - but she tells me she thinks this is also used widely to mean the ghutra in some countries. She tells me some Arabs are very 'lazy' with their language - always makes me laugh, it's like people in England getting upset with the Scottish, Welsh, Irish or even dare I say it, American accent and vocabularly! She gets quite uppity about it though so I have to laugh quietly ......

She kinda lost interest when I got to the Toureg and Bedouin versions - she always does when I stray that way - I love the desert and bedu - but she thinks I am insane. She grew up in a country full of sand and can't fathom why the English are crazy about the desert when we have greenery and trees and the like!

 

[carldelo]

... I am determined to find an ornately embroidered velvet smoking cap for our new smoking room.

fftopic:
This is OT of course, but here is a beautiful smoking cap - you might have to skip a couple of car payments, however:

http://www.lockhatters.co.uk/Smoking_Caps___Fez-Embroidered_Smoking_Cap-P100.aspx

 

[Speedbird]

Missed car payments? How about missed morgage:

http://www.lockhatters.co.uk/Trilbys-Superfelt-P324.aspx

oh my, she is a beauty but how much????

 

[hatflick1]

Here's a few other examples to add to the mix.
http://www.zarinas.com/otherhats.shtml
Notice under HEAD WEAR they also list: Pakols, Turbans and Turban caps.