Wedding dress

Description:	This outfit was worn by a bride of the Siwa Oasis, located in Egypt near the Libyan border. The Siwa Oasis are well known for their beautiful embroidery, unique designs and elaborate jewelry. Many garments and accessories are embroidered with a sunburst pattern like the one seen on this dress. Women’s wedding garments, including dresses and shawls, are embroidered with especially elaborate versions of this pattern. Both black and white dresses are worn, but all have the sunburst pattern. In ancient times, Siwa were associated with the worship of the Egyptian sun God, Amun-Ra. It is believed that the sunburst pattern may be associated with this God. The mother-of-pearl buttons incorporated into the sunburst design may serve as amulets, worn to ward off bad luck. A Siwa bride’s complete outfit includes a sunburst design dress, elaborate and abundant silver necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings and beautifully embroidered shoes. Although this outfit was made and worn between 1930-1980, dresses of this type are still worn by brides of the Siwa Oasis today.
Source:	http://www.digitalindy.org/cdm/ref/collection/tcm/id/626
Collection:	The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Rights:	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/;
Copyright:	Creative Commons (CC By-SA 3.0);
Geography:	Egypt
Subjects:	Siwah Oasis (Eygpt) Siwah Oasis (Eygpt) -- Social life and customs Weddings Wedding costumes Clothing and dress 20th Century

Further information on this record can be found at its source.