Genevieve said:
It is a traditional dress worn by Jordanian women. I am not sure what the proper name for it is.
Queen Noor has a wonderful selection of them. They are each extremely beautiful and she looks very elegant in them. I really liked the orange one she wore for the pre-wedding dinner for Felipe and Letizia's wedding. I really appreciated and had such respect that Queen Noor chose to wore a traditional Jordanian gown at such a function when many of the women were wearing designer gowns that were low cut, flashy, or whatever. I really liked that she honoured and represented her culture in such a way.
Sorry folks, but these are not at all the traditional Jordanian dress. Jordanian 'madragas' are very different. Queen Noor likes to wear ( and there is no reason why she shouldn't as many fashionable women in the region do ) a modern version of the outer garment of the traditional dress of the gulf women. Historically, these garments were made of a transparent fabric, and were richly embroidered, with a plainer under garment. Queen Noor's recent caftans are almost inavariably made from saris which she has further embroidery done on, and is usually of the same cut as the gulf one used to be. Madragas would usually be of black fabric with gold or white or coloured embroidery [ mainly red]. There could be many layers, over garments, under garments etc etc. made of different fabrics as well. Unless very well made, these could be quite bunchy and not terribly flattering. ( The Salti style of dress, for instance, was usually four or five feet longer than the actual length needed - the excess would then somehow be rolled up and tucked around - not the best design for a lissome look !) With their layers etc. most traditional Jordanian clothes were complicated to wear. These modern garments Queen Noor favours are comfortable, classical, forgiving and modest. It is a savvy way to dress. Jordanian women have generally been a bit slow off the mark in modernising their dress - for years traditional dress being deemed the dress of the rural, and disadvantaged woman. In Morocco, where women have always kept to wearing their tranditional caftans, these have evolved into wearable, chic, modern garements. However, there are in Jordan today, several designers who are successfully making wonderful dresses which borrow from the traditions of the whole region, including the India and Pakistan, from where they source a lot of their fabric and craftspeople. Queen Noor certainly used to patronize some of these designers, but I don't know where the latest sari/caftans are made. The traditional Hashemite ladies dress is yet another variation on the theme. It involved the same loose outer grament, which was floor length, but the under garment was shorter, and there were tight trousers underneath, with rich embriodery around the ankle. I think there were books and websites about the clothes which I will look for. My apologies to the moderators - now its not politics, but fashion, but again we have deviated from discussion about royalty!