By Marriam N Mossalli

It’s not about longer maxi versions of the latest Mercedes-Benz fashions, or a disposition toward all things gaudy and gold. We may have a reputation of decadent indulgence when it comes to strass, but we don’t all dress like the lip-syncing sensations on Al Rotana. The modern Arab woman is more than her media avatar and a lot more fashionably assertive than her Western counterpart.

She is the woman draped in Chanel and dripping in Moawad jewels, window-shopping on the Champs-Élysées. She is the teen at an East End club sporting the latest look from House of Holland, laden with Azza Al Fahmy embellishments. She is the girl with the envious Brian Atwood pumps and Balmain jacket over an oversized Rad Horani top, posing for street style photographers on the cobblestone roads of Milan. She is internationally present, yet regionally defined. And www.shoesanddrama.com is her fashion dictionary.

Her adventurous style, enigmatic persona, and how she celebrates this newfound era of fashion independence are revealed and celebrated on this site. A portal into the unique regional fashion scene, www.shoesanddrama.com presents fashion’s Arab Spring and the model underneath—the progressive Arab woman, embedded in her heritage and fully confident with her own sense of cultural identity.

Pleased to meet you.

Image courtesy of thesartorialist.com