Looking to acquire a traditional Lebanese headwrap w/o wrong message

September 18, 2021 5:44 PM

Looking for historical headgear for a Lebanese person, without accidentally sending a modern or political message by choice of cloth / pattern.

I am a 2nd generation American of Lebanese descent, with my mother's grandparents coming over from Lebanon when they were very young (almost making me 3rd generation). In recent years, I have wanted to try to express this while participating in historical or other reenactments (SCA, Ren Faires), etc. given I don't have strong ties to a specific Western culture (Dad's side is a mix, I don't identify as strongly with any of them as much as my mother's side). However, I'm running into a challenge when it comes to headwear - everything I find online seems to lean towards one of two tropes: The Palestinian fighter / rebel (including having guns printed on the fabric), or a plain white (sometimes red & white) Keffiyeh / Shemagh that is always modeled by a young man holding a cell phone and looking like the Hollywood rendition of a Saudi prince or Oil Baron. I've also seen a specific pattern that is associated with the Palestinian people, and is noted to be in support of their independence (a political statement that would inevitably be taken the wrong way at some point, given I just want to relax at a historical event).

I want to be very careful that I am 1) As historically accurate as possible for the Lebanese region, and 2) Won't send the wrong signal for a region or political statement that I did not intend. Given that every search I have done comes back with one of the above tropes, I can't get a trustworthy source to acquire headware from.

Is there someone that lives in the Middle East that can advise me on what would be safe for someone to wear in a historical setting without accidentally sending the wrong message? I would prefer responses from residents of Lebanon if possible (or Syria, I think my family was close to the border).

Thank you!

posted by GJSchaller to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (2 answers total)

Is there a particular religious/ethnic group you are trying to represent? Clothing for different religious groups in the Middle East often differed significantly (under the Ottomans, this was often set by law). Conversely, the modern distinction between Syria and Lebanon has only existed since 1920.

One thing you might want to consider is a white cotton turban rather than a headscarf. Note that this should be a circular turban rather than a peaked (Sikh-style) turban. Here is a Wikipedia page about the guy from the 17th century who is considered by some to be the founder of Lebanon that shows among other things the kinds of turbans he would wear. The article also contains the quote:

Under Emir Fakhr al-Din the Christians could raise their heads high. They built churches, rode horses with saddles, wore turbans of fine muslin and belts with precious inlays, and carried jeweled rifles.

The nice thing is that turban of various styles would have been worn by a wide variety of ethnic and religious groups over a good thousand-year timespan, and all you have to do is buy a piece of fabric of the appropriate length and learn how to wrap it. Make sure that it is not green and not peaked and you're good to go.

If you want to stick with a headscarf, a plain white keffiyeh is not going to mean anything special to anyone I believe.
posted by goingonit at 10:40 AM on September 20, 2021 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Sometimes, all it takes is posting the question for the universe to drop the answer in your lap via another source. Within a day of posting this, I ran across a friend at a Renaissance Faire that had done this legwork before me, and pointed me to https://www.kufiya.org - a Palestinian maker of head scarves that is native to the area, covers multiple styles, and gives the meaning and origin of each on the site / store. They do sell plain white, as well as several other designs that fit what I am looking for.

Thank you all for the help and input!
posted by GJSchaller at 7:54 AM on September 21, 2021