If you think abayas are too simple to be glamorous, you are wrong. It has been a long time since abayas came in a cookie-cutter design available only in thick black fabrics. The following are some of the modern abaya designs you can try.
1. Sheer Organza Abaya
Organza is a fabric woven from acid-treated yarn made of silk or some other fiber. It is a light, sheer, and breathable material that is a little stiff but not overly so. It is often used in wedding finery and formal dresses and gowns.
An abaya made from sheer organza could make a beautiful addition to your summer wardrobe as organza is both breezy and comfortable. It is long-sleeved like a traditional abaya, and the hem falls around your ankles. However, the light organza fabric is see-through or translucent, so it reveals as much as it covers.
The sheerness is what makes this type of abaya so interesting. You can reveal a little skin underneath (like on your shoulders or arms), but still be technically fully covered.
What to Wear Underneath a Sheer Organza Abaya
When wearing a sheer organza abaya, you need to pay more careful attention to the clothes you’ll wear underneath. To keep you cool in the summer, you can wear a breathable dress underneath a lined long-sleeved, long silk organza dress. You can also go for a sleeveless maxi dress or a long-sleeved kaftan dress.
You can wear anything you want. You can pair your sheer abaya with straight-cut or flared pants topped with a long or short-sleeved blouse, a long-pleated dress, a maxi dress, and a blouse paired with a pencil skirt.
Pretty much anything goes. Long dress, short dress, tunics, sleeved, sleeveless — as long as they look good on their own, you should be able to wear them with a sheer organza abaya.
For the truly modest dressing, of course, make sure whatever you’re wearing underneath the abaya is not too tight and adequately covers your shoulders, back, arms, and legs.
2. Abaya With Adjustable Sleeves
There’s nothing new to a long-sleeved abaya. However, some abayas can change in the way they look with a simple sleeve adjustment.
An example is the Glass Organza Abaya by Gabi. The abaya looks beautiful with its shiny fabric, overlapping front, and non-existent side. The abaya is like a mantle with a single panel at the back and two panels (left and right) at the front that you slip on and let drape over your shoulders.
However, fascinating as all that is, the thing that sets this particular abaya apart is the clasp button detail at the shoulders. With a simple adjustment, the cape sleeves can be gathered and fastened over the shoulder, so the abaya’s front panels look like a long stole that runs the length of the body, from the shoulders to the ankles.
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What to Wear Underneath an Abaya With Adjustable Sleeves
This particular abaya works well with a kaftan dress. If the abaya is black or some other dark color, you should wear a kaftan in beige or light gray underneath.
3. Two-Toned or Color-Blocked Abaya
Abayas are traditionally black or made in a single, plain, dark color. Modern abayas, however, have long departed from this restrictive color template. Abayas now come in various colors, and there are even color-blocked and two-toned abayas.
Color blocking is a clever way of adding visual interest to an abaya. This entails using two or more colors on a single piece of clothing. The color blocks are clearly and sharply divided. Two-toned abayas, meanwhile, are color-blocked abayas that have two distinct colors.
In color-blocked and two-toned abayas, the colors may be highly contrasting, such as in the case of an abaya that is black on the left side and white on the right side. They can also be the same hue but of different vibrancy or colorfulness, such as a silver gray abaya with dark gray sleeves.
What to Wear Underneath a Color-Blocked or Two-Toned Abaya
If you’re wearing a closed, high-neck abaya, it doesn’t matter what you wear under it. It’s a different matter if you’re wearing an open abaya or an abaya with a plunging neckline. In this case, you will need to consider the color blocks or the color tones of the abaya.
The general rule is to choose a color that goes well with the abaya’s color blocks. You also cannot go wrong with an all-black or an all-white ensemble.
4. Embellished Abayas
Modern abayas have subtle embellishments that make them look sophisticated and pretty. These embellishments are typically lace, pleats, embroidery, crystals, buttons, sequins, mother of pearl, and other decorative elements strategically sewn onto the fabric.
These embellishments can be found anywhere. They can be on the collar, down the length of the arms, on the cuffs of the sleeves, on the front placket, and on the hem. The whole abaya can also be dotted with embellishments throughout.
There’s truly no limit to what’s possible. For instance, there’s this black 4-piece abaya set from HOMAQ. The abaya is an open, well-constructed black piece with cream pattern embroidery running the length of the placket, from the collar to the hem. In addition, the abaya also has a delicate embroidery bordering the sleeves near the wrist line, across the front just below the chest area, and at the right and left front panels down to the hem.
The Alexis abaya by Anatomy has a fan crystal detail decoration that starts from the left sleeve and seems to continue and flare onto the left part of the torso. That is all the embellishment this abaya has, but it is enough to make a statement. The same brand also has a simple blue abaya (paired with a made-to-match pleated front hem maxi dress) embellished with unique tassel details at the cuffs.
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What to Wear Underneath Embellished Abayas
If the embellished abaya came with a dress or a pant and blouse pair, wear it with that. Otherwise, stick to a simple and plain dress to focus the attention on the abaya’s embellishment.
Try Modern Abaya Designs
Abayas come in so many colors and styles.
When shopping for your next abaya, why not try modern designs like sheer abayas, convertible sleeve abayas, color-blocked abayas, and embellished abayas and increase your style quotient.
Wings2fashion is one of the leading Abaya Dress Manufacturers in India and export globally.