Hijab shopping

I find our hijab shopping expeditions more successful here in Algeria than in Saudi. My 12 year old daughter prefers to wear the 2 piece slip-on hijabs which are hard to find in Saudi in anything other than black or white low quality polycotton. For around about the same price I pay in Saudi, I am able to find nice quality fabric hijabs in various designs and colours.

There is Sajeda hijab and abaya shop just near to the Amir AbdelKader monument and another shop called Qasr Al-Muhajabaat just before the Quick hamburger restaurant on La Rue Larbi Ben Mhidi both stocking a variety of hijabs priced at 350-500 Dinar (20Dinars = 1Riyal/160Dinar = £1). The navy hijabs we bought for school from Qasr Al-Muhajabaat were 350 each or 500 for 2. The same shop also had some ‘Buy 1 get 1 free’ offers.

My daughter chose a few hijabs including the one below.

Hijab in Algeria

It’s quite a change being in Algeria after Saudi Arabia as regards the hijab and abaya. Wherever you see a lot of women in Saudi, it is a sea of black. The abaya shops are just a variation of black in different designs but I have noticed that black, particularly head to toe black, is really uncommon in Algeria. If a woman wears a black abaya she will usually wear a colourful head scarf. Abayas (long flowing coat-like garment) come in all colours here and are usually completed with a contrasting head scarf.

Whilst it is still not common, I have noticed over the past 7 years that more and more ladies are wearing the Algerian Djelbab which is similar to the Saudi head abaya or Iranian chador. Unlike the Saudi and Iranian counterparts they are generally not black but brown, navy or green and almost always with a white scarf underneath – sometimes with niqab, most often without. The lady on the right of the photograph below is wearing the Algerian Djelbab in sage green with a white scarf underneath.