renowned for the rituals and ceremonial practices related to it. Its richness and originality evoke the heritage of the Berber-
Amazigh, the Roman, the Arabic, the Andalusian, and the Ottoman cultures which have stimulated the evolution of the
Maghrebi art of dress. The tradition of making costumes is still alive thanks to the skills of many craftsmen from different
fields, such as silk weaving, embroidery, and jewelry.
The ceremonial fringed headscarf, called
mendil, goes with the caftan dress. It is a
tradition that has been transmitted from
the ancestors and is still used by women.
For the velvet caftan, the embroidery
designer combines patterns having
an antique symbolic significance with
arabesques and volumes reinvented season
after season. The bride wears her mensouj
(hand woven) silk, her garments, her fouta
(a wrapped cloth around her hips), her
hzem (belt), her chechiya (headgear), and
her gold jewelry, before she leaves. Algerian
jewelers produce baroque pearl necklaces,
earrings, and all kinds of jewels which
are essential to symbolically protect the
bride’s head and chest. The jewelers still
work with the knowledge they inherited
from their ancestors. The khorsa (earrings)
are made with the same ancient technique.
New designs are created each time, but
in the same traditional concept. Lebset el-
arftan is the embodiment of the wedding
festivity constituting the most central
event of community life. The costume is
adorned and decorated with symbols that
have specific virtues attributed to henna,
pearls, red stones, gold, spangles, and other
elements known to have the power to chase
away negative energies. Again, families
who cannot afford such costly accessories
and jewels can always rent or borrow
them. Preserving the costume tradition is
a priority for all Tlemcen families. From
the age of three, young girls are dressed up
and adorned with jewelry emulating little
brides celebrating annual religious festivals.
The rituals linked to the traditional bridal
dress are a cultural heritage that spans
hundreds of years.
In Tunisia, the bride’s dress for the evening
Traditional Dress - Sahel - Traditional Bride Dress from the Sahel of Tunisia
Photo by Emna Mizouni [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]
Cropped from original
January 2020
The Belly Dance Chronicles
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