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mancroft
21 Apr 2007, 12:03 PM
Here is a page about the management of a Saudi company:

http://www.maaden.com.sa/Maaden/English/TopU/OurManagement/

All the Saudi men are wearing Arab headdress.

Is this normal in posed photos?

Does it indicate rank or is it just sartorial tradition?

Ferrus
21 Apr 2007, 12:29 PM
Kafiyyahs are just standard attire, especially in formal situations. No more odder than a white shirt here.

mancroft
21 Apr 2007, 12:35 PM
OK. It's just that in the UK you would not normally see managers in a company pictured wearing bowler hats!

Ferrus
21 Apr 2007, 12:39 PM
Not now, but maybe 70 years ago and it is not inconceivable that in 70 years hats will be mode again. Fashions change, albeit very slowly in such a conservative culture as Saudi Arabia.

Kathara
29 Dec 2007, 10:43 AM
Why are some of them white and the other red and white? Does it have a deeper meaning, or is it a fashion statement? (By the way, the red and white ones are horrbile, they look like a table cloth)

sandwich
29 Dec 2007, 09:24 PM
Why are some of them white and the other red and white? DOes it have a deeper meaning, or is it a fashion statement? (By the way, the red and white ones are horrbile, they look like a table cloth)

"The keffiyeh is almost always of white cotton cloth, but many have a checkered pattern in red or black stitched into them. The plain, white keffiyeh is most popular in the Gulf states, almost excluding any other style in Kuwait and Bahrain. The black-and-white keffiyeh is most popular in the Levant. The red-and-white keffiyeh is worn throughout these regions, but is most strongly associated with Jordan, where is it known as shmagh mhadab. The Jordanian keffiyeh has cotton decorative strings on the sides. It is believed that the bigger these strings, the more value it has and the higher a person's status. It has been used by Bedouins throughout the centuries and was used as a symbol of honour and tribal identification."

-wikipedia

Ferrus
29 Dec 2007, 09:33 PM
Why are some of them white and the other red and white? Does it have a deeper meaning, or is it a fashion statement? (By the way, the red and white ones are horrbile, they look like a table cloth)
Did you say you were studying for a P.h.D?

Kathara
29 Dec 2007, 09:36 PM
Did you say you were studying for a P.h.D?

Yeah, but I still have fashion sense!