She knows she’s different.

It’s a word she openly uses to describe herself. After all, Coco Chanel said that in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.

Her typical outfit covers almost all of her skin head to toe – black jeggings under a black skirt embellished with florescent purple flowers, white Under Armour to cover her neck beneath a black, long sleeved v-neck, a metallic purple scarf with a gray flower clip, silver bangles on her wrist, a silver leaf necklace, her own head covering and shiny purple makeup to top it off.

“I don’t like blending in and feeling like part of the crowd,” junior Nadia Hamdan said. “I like the idea of standing out and people recognizing me.”

Nadia first began thinking about fashion at an elementary age. Whenever she got a new Bratz doll, it wasn’t for playing, but for examining their outfits and their makeup. Ever since then, she’s dressed in trendy outfits along with her classmates. Most notably, she upholds modesty all the while.

“She was more modest than a lot of things,” her mother Sameera Hamdan said. “She was respectful in knowing how far she could go in [how] she dressed.”

She’s modest because she was born and raised in a Muslim household. Some of the basic practices that she follows are praying five times a day, and one that is more obvious to others: preserving her beauty for herself and her family.
This is why Muslim women typically wear a head covering, also known as a hijab, once they begin the transition from childhood to adulthood. Most women wear it when they go out in public but not in their own household.

A typical outfit in the Muslim culture may be a long garment that isn’t form fitting and only shows the face, feet and hands. Nadia has always been interested in clothing, making for a unique combination of both her passions – religion and fashion. Her outfits are still fairly conservative, but at the same time, blend the American culture and the Muslim culture together.

“I think I probably have broken the stereotype,” Nadia said. “It’s not what people would expect or what they learn about in history class or see on the news. I don’t look anything like what I’m ‘supposed to look like.’”

Many of her outfits include a scarf – her signature accessory – and there are more than 50 of them in her closet. Her closet is also full of clothes from Macy’s, H&M, Nordstrom and Le Chateau in Canada, her favorite store that she orders from online. She even has some of the clothes she made last year in fashion design, like sweatshirts and a leopard clutch with the detailed zipper that she loves so much.

“My philosophy has always been to dress every day like it’s a party,” Nadia said. “I’m so involved with the glitz and the glam and the beautiful clothing.”

Nadia said she agrees with the Muslim standards and has made the decision that being modest doesn’t mean not being stylish.

“Over time, I’ve figured out a way to cover modestly and keep it in style with fashions and trends,” Nadia said. “That’s what I became known for and that’s why people recognize me.”

Even though she gets compliments often, Nadia said she gets a lot of negative feedback as well. She said that the cause of most of these comments stems from ignorance or a misunderstanding of the Muslim culture due to the way that Muslims are depicted in the news.

“I know how the news portrays us is completely wrong in every which way,” Nadia said. “I think it’s terrible because they have no idea who the real Muslims are and how nice this culture is and how peaceful we are.”

Sameera said the media is the most difficult aspect of living in a predominantly non-Muslim culture.

“We do not raise our children to hurt or kill people,” Sameera said. “I want the same things for my kids that you do for yours.”
Among some of the negative remarks Nadia has received, one of her classmates questioned if she is related to Osama Bin Laden. The comment that shocked her the most happened in the sixth grade when she had just started wearing a head covering. She was walking in the cafeteria when another student pointed at her and called her out as a “terrorist” during lunch. She calmly explained that was not the case and that the comment had crossed the line between funny and disrespectful.

Although it was intended to be negative, it actually had the opposite effect. Nadia said that the occurrence didn’t discourage her from wearing the head covering, but actually motivated her.

“I was more determined to wear it, because I don’t let anybody put me down,” Nadia said. “I always look up and make the best of situations.”

Her self-expression is key to her identity and Sameera said that she likes Nadia’s her determination to stay true to herself.

“I think all teenagers, no matter what culture they’re from or how they grow up, have a right to express themselves,” Sameera said. “That’s a time of expression and finding yourself.”

Nadia has expressed herself through her pursuit of fashion design at school along with multiple other arts, including fashion design and Art 3 Drawing, and she plans to take Art 4 AP in the future. She hopes to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design to study fashion design or graphic design, preferably at their Hong Kong campus.

As for her loved ones, Nadia said that they are all supportive of her style and her plans to enter the field of fashion in the future.

“I’m proud of her because she holds on to her faith,” Sameera said. “A lot of people try to blend in, and to me that shows weakness because I think you should be proud of what you are, whether it’s a Muslim or a Jew or a Christian.”

Nadia said that her confidence comes from simply finding herself.

“Be confident in who you are no matter what,” Nadia said. “Be the person you want to be and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.”