Refashioning the Meanings of Dress in Palestinian Transnational Communities

This paper examines how Palestinian women in both the homeland and diaspora contexts have sustained and redefined cultural heritage through tatreez embroidery and revitalized the traditional thob since 1948. As designers, artisans, and entrepreneurs, they have transformed cultural dress into a site of socio-political agency, economic empowerment, and national identity-making. Their work not only preserves inherited forms but also recasts them as living cultural practices that resist colonial erasure and counter Orientalist and Western feminist narratives portraying Arab and Muslim women as passive. From post-Nakba efforts to safeguard thobs as tangible material testaments of Palestinian life to contemporary hybrid fashion lines circulating in global markets, women’s clothing practices disrupt male-centered nationalist frameworks and de-exoticize traditional dress. The tatreez-centered economy, often operating through NGOs and women’s cooperatives, fuses tradition and innovation, embedding political meaning in economic activity. By tracing these historical and transnational shifts, the paper shows how Palestinian women weave heritage into evolving narratives of modernity, nationalism, and diasporic belonging.