Djellabas

The Djellaba is mainly made by women. It is a long, loose-fitting unisex outer robe with full sleeves that is worn in the Maghreb region of North Africa. The main difference to the Kaftans is: a Djellaba has a hood, no matter if for male or female. The hood is called a qob (Arabic: قب), it comes to a point at the back. The hood protects the wearer from the sun, and in earlier times, it was used as a defence against sand being blown into the wearer’s face by strong desert winds. In colder climes, as in the mountains of Morocco, it also serves the same function as a winter hat, preventing heat loss through the head and protecting the face from snow and rain. It is common for the roomy hood to be used as a pocket during times of warm weather; it can fit loaves of bread or bags of groceries. Nowadays a lot of the hoods are simply for decoration so tend to be much smaller and are never placed on the head.

Traditionally, Djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colours, but lightweight cotton Djellabas have now become popular. Among the Amazigh, or Imazighen, such as the Imilchil in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, the colour of a Djellaba traditionally indicates the marital status (single or married) of the bearer: a dark brown Djellaba indicating bachelorhood.

Djellabas reached down to the ground but lightweight Djellabas are somewhat slimmer and shorter. Men often wear a light-coloured Djellaba, sometimes along with a traditional Arab red fez hat and soft yellow babouche slippers (balgha in Arabic) for religious celebrations and weddings.

Traditional Djellabas are generally made of two types of material, cotton for summer wear and coarse wool for the winter. The wool is typically obtained from sheep in the surrounding mountains.

There is a 2nd hand market for Djellabas in Morocco, some of them are very beautiful so we like to turn them into linings for our bags or a one-of-a-kind jacket that will accompany you in your everyday life. The Djellabas we use, already have a history, why not add to the memories with your story?