Fashion Statements

One change I've noticed since my last visit to Maldives: more young women wearing the hijab, which is known here as the burugaa. Here are some pictures of one DhiTV newscaster who began wearing the burugaa after her recent wedding. In Maldives, it is theoretically a matter of choice, although there is religious pressure for women to reveal their hair only to their husbands, fathers and brothers. In my opinion, the burugaa focuses more attention on the woman's face, and especially her eyes. When worn on TV, it's important to follow the rule of solid bold colors and avoid patterns and prints. It's okay to hold the scarf in place with a jeweled pin, as long as it's not too distracting. Another challenge is to wrap the scarf so that it does not look too bunchy around the neck or interfere with the placement of the microphone. In researching additional tips, I discovered there is an entire web TV channel devoted to fashionable hijabs. Check it out at http://www.hijab.tv/ Talk about niche programming! Of course, some newscasters choose not to wear a head covering and the fashion choices are all over the place. Aside from the wardrobe issues, the shot is just too wide. Also, there are some odd shot compositions like this double over-the-shoulder box on TVM. This is not a wide shot toss to break or bump back, the newscaster is actually reading a story but gets lost between the double images.