When King Abdullah II opened the third ordinary session of Jordan’s 20th Parliament in Amman on Monday, 2 November, with the traditional Speech from the Throne, Queen Rania’s outfit quickly became one of the most talked-about images of the day. Rather than an international label, she chose a custom piece by Funtazza Designs by Batool Al Abdullah, a Jordanian brand founded in 2018 that reworks folk dress and traditional embroidery into contemporary silhouettes.
A modern take on the Karak madraqa
The design was inspired by the madraqa, also called the Karaki thobe, the traditional dress of the Karak governorate in southern Jordan. Historically it is made from dark fabrics, usually black, and decorated with silk-thread embroidery drawn from nature: flowers, leaves and ears of wheat. Queen Rania’s version swapped the classic black for a deep purple velvet, finished with gold floral embroidery along the chest, edges and hem.
The look combined a long sleeveless overlayer with a straight, column-shaped dress, worn over a white blouse with a softly tied pussy-bow collar. A wide gold belt defined the waist, a nod to the belt that traditionally holds the thobe in place, and the gold tones were picked up by a metallic clutch and warm, burnished accessories. According to Vanitatis, the piece was made especially for the occasion as an adaptation of a design from the label’s latest collection shown at Amman Fashion Week.
Dress as a quiet gesture
The choice carried particular weight because Karak has been in mourning. Days before the ceremony, an attack on a Greek Orthodox church in the governorate left families grieving, and the Queen had travelled to Karak to offer her condolences in person. Several outlets, including Vanity Fair Italia, Vanity Fair Spain and CNN Arabic, read the outfit as a tribute to the region and to the women who traditionally embroider these dresses, although the Queen herself did not attach any specific message to it.
It is not the first time she has turned to heritage embroidery for a national occasion; she has worn traditional Jordanian designs for Independence Day celebrations before. It is a reminder of how much a single garment can say about place and craft. If the rich purple and gold palette appeals, our amethyst earrings, amethyst rings and amethyst pendants echo the same mood, alongside the wider earrings collection and our women’s bags.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia, Arab News, Vanity Fair Spain, Vanitatis, CNN Arabic, Elaph.
