Today I bring you the absolutely beautiful style of covering, al-hayek, from Algeria. I fell in love with this style when I saw pictures on Pinterest. It's just so exceedingly elegant! I hope that my look was able to give it justice!
Women in hayek both with and without niqab, and Western clothing.
al-Hayek is a look from Algeria, typically consisting of a white half-niqab which is half plain with lace on the bottom half and a white sheet-like covering used as a jilbab (outer clothing). In recent years the hayek has seen a resurgence in Algeria with young women trying to bring back and preserve their culture. While many women wear it without a hijab underneath, it can easily be worn with hijab, as shown in my video. Some women also wear it without the niqab, but most do veil the face with it even if the hair is shown.
Woman in hayek with white niqab but no hijab. Edges are scalloped and designed, and she appears to be wearing casual Western clothing underneath.
Hayek with white karakou underneath.
Additionally, the other traditional Algerian outfit I re-created, the karakou, is a combination of an elegantly embroidered jacket or vest, typically with a contrasting belt and worn with a skirt or sarouel which comes up on the sides showing part of the calf. For this part I used a jacket which was thrifted, and and sarouel from al-Moultazimoun, which can be purchased here.
To wear al-hayek, first you need to find a white or off-white sheet or table cloth, usually with stripes or a checkered pattern like the one I purchased from a thrift store. If you are able to actually get a hayek from Algeria, they are very beautiful and some have lace or scalloped edges. The sheet used should be slightly rectangular for ease.
Here is the cloth I bought. It is about 5'x7'
To wrap al-hayek, wrap the cloth around you from behind. Take the upper edge and fold it over on the outside to a comfortable length.
Take a pin and pin to one side, near the armpit. You can either pull it in a bit on each side for pinning, making it tighter (as I showed in the video) or you can pin closer to each corner, making it easier to pull over the head.
Here is a picture of it wrapped looser.
Reach behind you and pull the folded portion of the hayek up over your head. It can be held open, as shown in one of the pictures I pulled from pinterest (above), or it can be clutched under the chin to cover the chest for hijab. You can also pin under the chin like hijab in order to free up the hands while wearing hayek so purse, groceries, etc. can be carried more easily.
Hayek wrapped tightly and clutched under the chin.
In Algeria, many women wear al-hayek with high heels, adding to it's elegant appeal. But it is also worn with casual clothing and sneakers, making it versatile. The fact that it is pinned to the chest makes it much easier than some other coverings as this can't get unraveled or simply fall off, alhamdulillah. Instead it is easy to move while still being secure.
Hayek with heels and mlaya.
Woman wearing mlaya.
In Algeria, el-hayek has a counterpart, called mlaya. Mlaya is worn in Constantine and consists of the same white niqab (or a black one) and an overhead garment which is sewn at the bottom. It is then held together at the top under the chin, similar to al-hayek and chador. This garment, however, is black and is seen less often than al-hayek as it is central to Constantinian tradition and culture instead of general Algerian culture.
Now a bit on my choices. One of the reasons I went with karakou, other than it also being a traditional Algerian garment, is because of pictures like these. In the early 1900s women in Algeria wore al-hayek with poofy sarouel rather than the skirts worn with karakou today. For those of us who try to keep our legs covered, sarouel are a great option to wear with with karakou and other similar types of outfits! Her we see two women in al-hayek in the poofy sarouel and flat shoes. Other images confirm that a century ago most of the hair was covered with al-hayek (some did show a bit of hair) and sleeves of clothing underneath this overgarment reached about to the elbow, as shown in the picture above. As for the heels, this is a choice based upon how many women are seen wearing al-hayek today. And the white niqab I used is a medical-mask style niqab which was gifted to me by a friend.
Thank you all so much for reading/watching and I really hope you learned something interesting! In shaa Allah more videos and blogs on cultural hijab/niqab will be coming soon!
Wow this is super cool! Any advice on where to find a good sheet to use?
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