Can you wear an abaya over jeans?

Bulk at the hip and waist

Denim is thick, and jeans stack several layers in one place: waistband, belt loops, pockets, fly and often a belt. Under a roomy A-line that disappears. Under a straight, close-cut abaya it adds a couple of centimetres all round the hip and can make the front pull or the side seams swing forward when you sit.

If jeans are what you wear most days, take your hip measurement over them and say so in your notes. Our guide to how loose an abaya should be explains how ease is added to those numbers. Slim and straight jeans sit most smoothly; wide-leg jeans can fill out the hem of a narrow abaya and show as two shapes when you walk.

Rivets, loops and pockets showing through

Light or silky abaya fabric drapes over whatever is beneath it and takes its shape. Back pockets, belt loops, a buckle and the coin pocket can all show as ridges, and through sheer or pale fabric they show as dark outlines too. Metal rivets and buttons are also rough: over time they can snag fine cloth and rub a fuzzy patch on the inside of the abaya.

• Choose a mid-weight, opaque abaya fabric for days with jeans.
• Wear a long top or tunic over the waistband so the abaya rests on a smooth layer.
• Skip the belt, or choose a flat one.
• For sheer and delicate abayas, change to smooth trousers; what to wear under an abaya lists the options.

Indigo on pale abayas

Dark denim sheds dye. The blue that comes off on a pale sofa or handbag will come off on the inside of a cream abaya as well, most of all when the jeans are new, the weather is damp or you have been sitting for a long time. It appears as a bluish cast at the seat, thighs and inner hem. Wash new dark jeans several times before wearing them under anything pale, or keep pale abayas for lighter trousers. A lining takes the rubbing instead of the outer cloth, but it will mark too. There is more in white and pale abayas.

Hem length with trainers

Jeans usually mean trainers, and trainers change the hem. A chunky sole lifts you by two or three centimetres compared with flat sandals, so an abaya measured in sandals will sit higher and show more of the jeans and the shoe. That can look deliberate and neat, or it can look short, depending on taste. Decide which you want, then measure to the floor in the trainers themselves, as set out in abaya length to the floor with shoes. If the jeans are meant to stay hidden, check that their hems finish above the abaya’s.

Ordering an abaya to wear over jeans

Jeans differ from smooth trousers in two smaller ways. Denim’s rough surface drags on light cloth, so a floaty abaya may ride up a little as you walk, and denim is warm, which matters in summer. An everyday abaya in a mid-weight fabric handles both.

When you ask for a made-to-measure abaya, write “worn mostly over jeans and trainers” in your notes, give the hip measurement taken over jeans and the length taken in trainers, and send it through the quote form. We confirm what is possible on your fabric and design before cutting.