Berber Woman's Dress

The Middle Atlas, Morocco. Where the dress was worn, the neck and chest were what people saw.

That is why Berber women’s dress in the region has long combined handwoven and trade cloth with needlework, and why garments were often embellished at the neck and chest. This one, cotton, 20th century, is long-sleeved and cut from deep indigo cloth, banded with vertical stripes of rose pink edged in narrow multicolored lines that continue along the sleeves. A square bib around the slit neckline is embroidered in a tight lattice of small diamonds in red, pink and blue.

Soft fading and mends add to its lived-in character.

Hang it on a door. It stays dressed.