International Islamic Fashion Design Contest – Last Day to Vote…for my 11yo’s 2 designs, please ;-)

No age restrictions, no expertise status required. “…we are looking for talent; raw or refined we are not here to make a distinction. If you have an eye for fashion and are passionate about designing then you qualify.”  The second year in a row, Silk Route Clothing is hosting the Silk Route Jilbab Design Competition. They’re looking for budding designers (professional or non-professional) to share their sketches for an opportunity to win many great and encouraging prizes, with grand prize for a 6-month paid internship, cash, and watching his/her design come to life. There are four themes: Urban Chic, Simply Sophisticated, Sassy Sport,  and Elegant Magic.

I apologize for not sharing this news earlier so you can submit your sketches, but I assigned this press release to two contributors and the month of Ramadan just quickly escaped us. Please know that I am still slowly returning back online after all the festivities, and although my daughter was playing around the past week to submit her entry, our intentions was really not to enter this year at all. The story is continued below.

Please vote for my 11yo aspiring MD/FD (Medical Doctor/Fashion Designer)

• Dainty Double – Click on the links to vote for designer JuJu11
• Bubble Bow – Click on the links to vote for designer JuJu11

JuJu wants to let you know, the abaya/jilbabs are NOT tight…that wouldn’t be modest The figures drawn are used to show that it drapes on the body’s curve slightly, but is NOT at all fitted.

Yes, it will take at least 2-5 minutes to login to make your 5-start vote…so, IF you’re feel obliged to help her in the rankings, you might as well make an encouraging comment in the process, inshaAllah.

Things to keep in mind while voting:

1. The contest is for Abaya and Jilbab. Abaya in Arabic is “cloak”. While, we’re not big wikipedia-family, a good definition is here and jilbab which “refers to any long and loose-fit coat or garment worn by some Muslim women.”

2. While its a popular, rating contest to some extent, it’s also an opportunity for the judges to add “Wild Cards” for designs they deem worthy. This is good, because “Islamic fashion” these days are are full range that does not necessarily include “Islamic” principles and very loose (literally) in their definitions of “modest”.

Fortunately, the designer who developed this contest only designs acceptable jilbabs and abayas…while not for this little mama, his styles are definitely like and acceptable for my fashionable girls, pre-teens, tweens, teens, college girls, etc. Okay, some younger stylin’ mamas who don’t wear all black like myself. He tends to neutral colors which is a preference of my girls too.

3. There’s no age-restrictions, and “raw” designs are acceptable. Having drawn Islamic fashion and wrapping her sisters and dolls since she was able to stand…in all due respect, a week ago, I told her her images look like a 11yo’s drawings. Since they extended the deadline a week, we spent 3-4 days at the library, reviewing websites, videos how to draw model bodies, etc. (inshaAllah, we’ll show her images as they progressed in just one-week). So, with much practice, and since her drawings are actually better than some other submissions, at 8pm EST the night of the deadline, we submitted her two designs. She spent a bunch of time in all of our closets, picking fabrics, necklines, cuffs, hemlines, and hijabs.

4. Vote in support of her work, or vote because you deem it worthy. Without being biased at all (and you will see in my comments as I voted), I will buy these 2 jilbabs once they are designed, and inshaAllah, hit the market via Silk Route.

Positive Homeschool Islamic Fashion Design Unit Study

At the very least, this International Annual Islamic Fashion Design contest is something that sparked our daughter’s interest…and at a young age, she has many more years of submissions to compete. But, it’s a great start. Alhumdulilah, it was such an incentive that we’re building a huge unit studies on Islamic fashion design, which so far included Math, Geometry, Art (obviously), Culture, History, Religion (dah!), Science (fabric-blends), Business (market demand and supply), Reading, etc.

The great part is, that just like their booming online business at Kid Bloggers Club, this desire to learn more about being an Islamic Fashion Designer, is an extra curricular activity. She’s ONLY allowed to get started with this AFTER she does her assigned course work and house chores. Needless to say, all her work gets done, superbly and well within time-limits AND the house has been fantastically clean. This helps, because alhumdulilah, I’ve been ill in bed for the past few days.

Exploring their passions is a great thing…if we only had her “When I Grow Up…I want to be a Muslim Fashion Designer” Powerpoint presentation she gave as a public speech when she was 8 yo, it was informative and FUNNY! It was on the harddrive of my old laptop…and forever gone, but vivid in our memories. It’s a passion she’s had for years, and only with the great advice and encouragement of Antonio Beuhler (college admissions consultant for homeschoolers, primarily to the Ivies), I finally gave in to letting her run with this…so, we’re curious: How much do you like her abaya/jilbabs?

If you like it the least, or just want to encourage her to continue with her passion, please consider voting and commenting. We’re open to see how we can re-pay you for your support, a feature to your blog? a comment in our various social media sites? Please comment below!

 

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Tags: jilbab/abaya competition, silk route, silk route 2011, silk route clothing, silk route style in

Category: Family