Cotton Abaya or Caftan

Black dress with cross-stitched flowers and long colourful stripes down the front.

This embroidered and beaded cotton abaya or caftan dates to the 20th century. Beadwork is often added to embroidered garments to give weight and sparkle along the edges, and it is applied by hand with fine needles and thread. Floor-length black garment with long sleeves outstretched. A boxed chest panel is covered in stars and flowers in multi-coloured thread, and thin vertical bands of stitching run along the skirt and sleeve ends. It is 51 inches wide and 52 long.

Dark on the outside and full of tiny gardens.