Feldman and the fictional character of Esty both struggled with the pressures put on them by their communities, which extended to their appearance, but all three of the Jewish women interviewed for this article felt that there's more freedom to explore one's personal style than people might assume -- particularly within less conservative households or branches -- and many devout women do play with fashion to reflect their personal taste, while staying within the religious dress codes they have chosen to follow.
Orthodox Judaism encompasses many traditions and customs, with the Hasidim of Williamsburg being just one ultra-observant group. And while women living in this particular community tend to subscribe to more stringent rules for getting dressed, modern Orthodox followers, for example, choose to interpret some of the core principles differently. Specific style codes vary from community to community, with clothing often dictated by practicality or religious occasion -- Shabbat, Yom Tov meaning holiday , weddings and bar mitzvahs -- as much as personal taste.
But no matter where you are or whatever the occasion, in the Orthodox Jewish world, what to wear is governed by the concept of modesty, called tzniut in Hebrew and tznius in Yiddish. From Tel Aviv to Massachusetts, it is with tznius in mind that clothing is chosen.
Tamara Fulton, a fashion stylist and lifestyle editor, who is married to an Orthodox rabbi and lives in London, explained: "There are lots of different Jewish communities all over the world with much diversity yet the underlying principles they share are the same. Tznius is the word in Judaism that is slightly mistranslated to mean simply 'modesty,' but it's not just about modest dressing.
Tznius applies to both men and women, and is based upon the concept of humility. It's really about how you are in the world, and how you carry yourself in a reserved but dignified manner," said Fulton.
This usually means the following for Orthodox women: trousers are not worn, and skirts and dresses must fall below the knee, including when sitting; arms are covered to the elbow, and necklines are high-cut. Often clothing is altered -- with slits in skirts sewn up and false necklines added. Layering is also often used to create final looks. The scene from "Unorthodox" when Esty's hair is shaved.
Once married, covering your hair is another one of the key principles of tznius. Not all women will shave their real hair, as Esty does during one of the most memorable scenes of "Unorthodox" her hair is in fact shaved for her. But many observant women will either wear a scarf or a sheitel, the Yiddish word for wig. A Jewish teacher who taught in Israel in a girls' seminary and also lived in the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, community in Manchester in the north of England agreed to be interviewed for this article, but asked not to be named for reasons of modesty.
Bartenuro says that if the black clothes look good on her, then we change her into horrible clothes. It seems from the first part that she is less likely to look attractive in black clothes and that is why her dress is changed. If everyone ends up knowing exactly the same thing, you have a world of like-minded people, and this homogeneous group ends up acting like a single explorer rather than a federation of ideas.
People pile on the well-known bandwagon, even if it is a really bad idea. It happens in politics, in musical taste and, yes, in the world of fashion. From a kabbalistic perspective colors are associated with different sephirot aspects of how God relates to the world. So, for example if a person needs to perform an act that is related to gevurah the Ramak advises you to wear the color associated with gevurah see linked shiur above starting at around 40min.
From RebbecaBurns answer to this question :. It is important to remember that the purpose of tznius is not to be ugly or unattractive, but to not stand out or draw attention the eye to one's physique. This applies to men too. So a color that is slimming can actually be beneficial for tznius.
Because all too often, women are being told this or that color is not tznius. It gets to the point where the only tznius colors are black, dark grey, dark dark blue, and brown. First of all black matches with everything.
Second of all, if you have many kids or siblings it's most natural to get your clothes dirty and black covers most of that up.
For some people black is a sign that you are elegant and sophisticated. In extreme communities such as the Lev Tahor Jews, wearing all black is modest.
This is not true, wearing bright-colored clothes is permitted, as long as it does not attract too much attention. This is my opinion and you should not take what I say as a rule. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, have a great day! Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why do Jewish women wear so much black?
Ask Question. Asked 9 years ago. Active 6 months ago. Viewed 9k times. So I ask again, why do women overwhelming favor black clothing? Improve this question. Harel13 17k 3 3 gold badges 36 36 silver badges bronze badges. Maybe because Jewish men wear black so often? The styles of the neighboring peoples also had their influence.
But when the Jews were exiled 70 C. In some cases, over time the Jews adopted distinctive dress voluntarily, to separate themselves from the prevailing culture. In others, they were required by law to dress in a particular way, e.
Jews of Eastern Europe came to adopt fashions of the early modern Polish nobility, such as the black robe caftan and the fur hat shtreimel , which are still worn by various groups of ultra-Orthodox Jews. The origins of men covering their heads with a hat or yarmulke skullcap are not clear.
The Talmud relates several incidents where covering the head is considered a sign of submission to divine authority. By the 16th century, it had become common enough to be codified as normative behavior among the more observant, who still cover their heads all day or at least during prayer and study.
For women, the uncovered head was from earliest times considered immodest, if not worse. Married women covered their heads so as not to draw the attention of other men. The sheitel wig worn by very religious married women is a relatively late variation on this. These practices are observed today only in very traditional circles.
0コメント