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wenty-nine-year-old Syaista never regretted her decision to start wearing a jilbab, the local name for a Muslim headscarf. Not only did it make her feel more dignified, the symbolic veil never got in the way of her daily activities.

“I started wearing a jilbab in 2002 when I was in college. My father asked me to put it on, and then my husband said the same,” she told The Jakarta Post recently.

Syaista said she thought there was nothing wrong about agreeing to the suggestion. Nowadays she must struggle with wearing the jilbab while living in a modern city. “I can in fact swim in one,” said the mother of one.

Going on holiday to the beach and taking her daughter to the swimming pool is no longer an issue, thanks to a swimsuit designed for Muslim women. The burqini, as it is known, is readily available in Jakarta.

“Now I can go swimming at the public pool,” Syaista said, adding that she had only gone to female-only pools when in college.

Back then, things were difficult for her. Whenever she felt like taking a dip, she wore a T-shirt and long pants in the water.

“Thank God, the fashion world always comes up with new designs that can accommodate our needs, like the latest model of swimsuit for Muslim women,” she said.

Nita Sugarda, a Muslim woman who also wears the jilbab, said the Muslim swimming costume had made her life much easier.

“I no longer have a problem whether it is a female-only or public pool. The Muslim swimsuit has made it easy for me,” she told the Post.

Muslim women can choose from a variety of styles from abaya, a swimsuit in the form of a long robe-like dress, to the burqini, a design launched around three years ago in Australia by Lebanese-Australian woman Aheda Zanetti.

Risdiyanti, a shop attendant at Hera Fashion, a store that sells swim wear at Ambassador Mall in South Jakarta, said both models of the Muslim-only swimsuit sold quite well.

“We can produce up to 100 pieces a month in our workshops in Kebayoran Lama,” the 26-year-old woman said.

“Now it doesn’t matter where I go, I just have to pick the right dress for the occasion because the Muslim fashion trend has accommodated all my demands,” Nita said.

Given the fashion sensibility that designers have infused in Muslim fashion, wearing jilbab these days is no longer about abiding by a religious code. It is fashionable and comfortable at the same time.

“I have no worries about wearing jilbab, because you can still have so many choices to express yourself through fashion. In fact the choices are too many sometimes it confuses me,” Syaista said. (ipa)