The safseri ( aeb, سفساري), sometimes also spelled sefseri, safsari or sefsari, is a traditional
Tunisian
veil worn by women.
Composition
The safseri is composed of a large piece of cloth covering the whole body. It usually has a cream colour and is made of
cotton,
satin or
silk.
Depending on the regions of Tunisia, it can also be very colorful, especially in the south of the country.
Jean-Pierre Filiu
Jean-Pierre Filiu (born in Paris, 1961) is a French professor of Middle East studies at Sciences Po, Paris School of International Affairs, an orientalist and an arabist.
Life and career
Before joining Sciences Po in 2006, Jean-Pierre Filiu ...
et Jean-Noël Jeanneney,
La Tunisie de Bourguiba
», ''Concordance des temps'', France Culture, 15 février 2014, 42e minute.
Wear
It is worn by women out of
modesty
Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word "modesty" comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means "keeping within ...
to avoid male looks. In contemporary Tunisia, this cloth is mostly worn by senior women. Often a grandmother wears it while her daughter will not wear it. After the independence of Tunisia, the president
Habib Bourguiba
Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...
had tried, in vain, to have people abandon its use.
« Bahia ou... ces femmes de Tunisie »
''Les femmes aussi'', ORTF, 8 janvier 1968.
The cloth is today largely abandoned.
References
{{Reflist
Tunisian clothing
Islamic female clothing