Thedjellaba orjillaba (/dʒɪˈlɑːbə/;Arabic: جلابة), also writtengallabea, is a long, loose-fittingunisex outerrobe ordress with full sleeves that is worn in theMaghreb region ofNorth Africa.
In central and eastern Algeria it is calledqeššaba orqeššabiya. The mountain dwellers of Morocco call ittadjellabit, which is a Berberized form.[1]
The word djellaba is French derived from the Arabicjallāba, a variant ofjallābīya (originally meaning "garment worn by traders"); fromjallāb, trader or importer; ultimately fromjalaba, to bring, attract, fetch or import.[2]
Reinhart Dozy's theory that the djellaba would have been, originally, the "garment of the djellab", that is to say of the slave trader, has been rejected byWilliam Marçais who proposed to see in djellaba an alteration ofdjilbab which, in ancient Arabic, meant draped clothing, although the djellaba is sewn rather than draped. He pointed out that in Oman the formgillab designates the woman's veil. The disappearance of the firstb would have occurred identically in the Maghreb and Oman. As for the qeššabiya,Georges Séraphin Colin sees in this name the deformation of the Latingausapa, a term which would have been preserved in thegosaba form in theAdrar where it designates the shirt.[1]
Traditionally, djellabas are made of wool in different shapes and colours, but lightweight cotton djellabas have now become popular. Among the Berbers, or Imazighen, such as theImilchil in theAtlas Mountains, the colour of a djellaba traditionally indicates the marital status (single or married) of the bearer:[3] a dark brown djellaba indicating bachelorhood.[4]
Traditionally, djellabas reached down to the ground but lightweight djellabas are somewhat slimmer and shorter. Men often wear a light-coloured djellaba sometimes along with a traditional Arab redfez hat and soft yellow babouche slippers (balgha in Arabic) for religious celebrations and weddings.
Almost all djellabas of both styles (male or female) include a baggy hood called aqob (Arabic: قب) that comes to a point at the back. The hood is important for both sexes, as it protects the wearer from the sun, and in earlier times, it was used as a defence against sand being blown into the wearer's face by strong desert winds. In colder climes, as in the mountains of Morocco, it also serves the same function as a winter hat, preventing heat loss through the head and protecting the face fromsnow andrain. It is common for the roomy hood to be used as a pocket during times of warm weather; it can fit loaves of bread or bags of groceries.
Traditional djellabas are generally made of two types of material, cotton for summer wear and coarse wool for the winter. The wool is typically obtained from sheep in the surrounding mountains. Buttons for djellabas are made in the town ofBhalil.[5]
