Question: How do women wear abayas?
About the article "Saudi Arabia", section "Dress".

Candidate passages:
McSally was represented by the Rutherford Institute in a successful 2001 lawsuit against the Department of Defense, challenging the military policy that required U.S. and U.K. servicewomen stationed in Saudi Arabia to wear the body-covering abaya when traveling off base in the country.
At the time of the lawsuit McSally, as a Major (O-4), was the highest ranking female fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
McSally's suit alleged that "the regulations required her to send the message that she believes women are subservient to men."
In addition to the issue of religious garb, McSally noted that policies also included other requirements:In a "60 Minutes" interview broadcast on CBS on Jan. 20, she described the discrimination she experienced under the policy: "I have to sit in the back and at all times I must be escorted by a male .
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when questioned, is supposed to claim me as his wife," she said.
"I can fly a single-seat aircraft in enemy territory, but [in Saudi Arabia I can't drive a vehicle.
"During this process, she was granted audience with several high level officials, including two Secretaries of Defense, William Cohen and Donald Rumsfeld, which was atypical of a service member of her comparatively junior rank and position, especially in light of her public protest.
General Tommy Franks, then commander of the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), announced in 2002 that U.S. military servicewomen would no longer be required to wear the abaya, although they would be "encouraged" to do so as a show of respect for local customs.
Commenting on the change, Central Command spokesman, Colonel Rick Thomas, said it was not made because of McSally's lawsuit, but had already been "under review" before the lawsuit was filed.
News reports noted that McSally had been fighting for a change in the policy for seven years, and had filed the lawsuit after she had been threatened with a court martial if she did not comply and wear the abaya.
Critics of the policy noted that while female military personnel had been required to wear the abaya, the situation was not the same for "women diplomats" of the U.S. Department of State assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, who were actually encouraged "not" to wear the abaya when they were involved in official business, "...because they are representing the United States."
Embassy officials stated that, "...in their personal time, embassy employees can choose how to dress."
According to these U.S. officials, "...the Saudi government does not require non-Muslim women to wear a dark robe known as an abaya...
The official guidance, issued by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, says that foreigners should dress conservatively but they are not required to wear the robe.
"Eventually the U.S. Congress "approved legislation that prohibited anyone in the military from requiring or encouraging servicewomen to put on abayas in Saudi Arabia or to use taxpayers’ money to buy them."
While most issues involving the military and religious apparel involve requests from service personnel for permission to wear apparel required by their own religions, in December 2001 air force Lieutenant Colonel Martha McSally (a graduate of the Air Force Academy, and then the highest-ranking female fighter pilot in the air force) sued the air force because of the policy that required female military personnel assigned to bases in Saudi Arabia to wear the Muslim abaya, a "head-to-toe" robe, whenever they were off base.
McSally's suit alleged that "the regulations required her to send the message that she believes women are subservient to men."
In addition to the issue of religious garb, McSally noted that policies also included other requirements:General Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, announced in 2002 that women would no longer be required to wear the abaya, although they would be "encouraged" to do so as a show of respect for local customs.
Commenting on the change—which was strongly criticized by Saudi officials as both a violation of Islamic law and Saudi sovereignty—Central Command spokesman Colonel Rick Thomas said it was not made because of McSally's lawsuit, but had already been "under review" before the lawsuit was filed.
News reports noted that McSally had been fighting for a change in the policy for seven years, and had filed the lawsuit after she had been threatened with a court martial if she did not comply and wear the abaya.
Critics of the policy noted that while female military personnel had been required to wear the abaya, the situation was not the same for "women diplomats" assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, who were actually encouraged not to wear the abaya when they were involved in official business, "because they are representing the United States."
Embassy officials stated that "in their personal time, embassy employees can choose how to dress."
According to these U.S. officials, "the Saudi government does not require non-Muslim women to wear a dark robe known as an abaya...
The official guidance, issued by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, says that foreigners should dress conservatively but they are not required to wear the robe.
"Eventually Congress "approved legislation that prohibited anyone in the military from requiring or encouraging servicewomen to put on abayas in Saudi Arabia or to use taxpayers’ money to buy them.
"Nearly a decade after the abaya requirement was rescinded in Saudi Arabia, "strong encouragement" to wear the hijab, a female headscarf, was the military policy in force for female personnel stationed in Afghanistan.
Some female personnel wear it over their helmets and some chose to wear the scarves in place of their helmets.
According to McSally, "Some servicewomen have taken off the regulation helmet and worn just the scarf, even when on patrol outside, in their combat uniforms and body armor, M-4s slung over their shoulders.
The more common practice is to wear the scarf under one’s helmet or around the neck, pulling it on as the servicewoman removes her Kevlar helmet upon entering a village or building.
"While the military defends the policy of encouragement to wear the hijab as a "sign of respect" to the local culture that "“can help promote greater trust and a fuller interaction with the local population," McSally, who retired from the air force as a colonel, said that "especially in combat settings," when a superior tells a military subordinate that a practice is encouraged, “the very mention of the practice creates pressure to comply.” In a February 18, 2011 op-ed in "The Washington Post," she said that the policy of encouraging women to wear the "Muslim headscarves" is "appeasement, not respect" and that "American servicewomen will continue to be viewed as second-class warriors if leaders push them to take up the customs of countries where women are second-class citizens."
She wrote that "Top military leaders should issue guidance that U.S. servicewomen are not authorized to wear a Muslim headscarf while in their uniform conducting military duties.
If they don't, Congress should intervene again, as they did on the abaya, and prohibit its wear."
Adherence to traditional dress varies across Arab societies.
Saudi Arabia is more traditional, while Egypt is less so.
Traditional Arab dress features the full length body cover (abaya, jilbāb, or chador) and veil (hijab).
Women are only required to wear "abayas" in Saudi Arabia.
In most countries, like Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Syria and Egypt, the veil is not prevalent.
It is clear that religiously speaking, the mention of the burqa doesn't exist for Muslim women and today represents more of a politic position rather than a religious interpretation.
Nowadays, some conservative Muslims believe that hijab is not obligatory while others feel that it is. 
Saudi Arabian dress strictly follows the principles of hijab (the Islamic principle of modesty, especially in dress).
The predominantly loose and flowing, but covering, garments are suited to Saudi Arabia's desert climate.
Traditionally, men usually wear an ankle length garment woven from wool or cotton (known as a thawb), with a keffiyeh (a large checkered square of cotton held in place by an agal) or a ghutra (a plain white square made of finer cotton, also held in place by an agal) worn on the head.
For rare chilly days, Saudi men wear a camel-hair cloak (bisht) over the top.
Women's clothes are decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques.
Women are required to wear an abaya or modest clothing when in public.
 Ghutrah () is a traditional headdress typically worn by Arab men.
It is made of a square of cloth ("scarf"), usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles around the head.
It is commonly worn in areas with an arid climate, to provide protection from direct sun exposure, and also protection of the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand.
 Agal () is an item of Arab headgear constructed of cord which is fastened around the Ghutrah to hold it in place.
The "agal" is usually black in colour.
 Thawb () is the standard Arabic word for garment.
It is ankle length, usually with long sleeves similar to a robe.
 Bisht () is a traditional Arabic men's cloak usually only worn for prestige on special occasions such as weddings.
 Abaya () is a women's garment.
It is a black cloak which loosely covers the entire body except the head.
Some women choose to cover their faces with a niqāb and some do not.
Some Abayas cover the top of the head as well.
Among non-mahram men, women must cover the parts of the body that are awrah (not meant to be exposed).
In much of Islam, a women's face is not considered awrah.
In Saudi Arabia and some other Arab states, all of the body is considered awrah except the hands and eyes.
Accordingly, most women are expected wear the hijab (head covering), a full black cloak called an abaya, and a face-veil called niqab.
Many historians and Islamic scholars hold that the custom, if not requirement, of the veil predates Islam in parts of the region.
They argue that the Quran was interpreted to require the veil as part of adapting it to tribal traditions.
Traditionally, women's clothing must not reveal anything about her body.
It is supposed to be thick, opaque, and loose.
It should not resemble the clothing of men (or non-Muslims).
The strictness of the dress code varies by region.
In Jeddah, for example, many women go out with their faces uncovered; Riyadh however, is more conservative.
Some shops sell designer abayas that have elements such as flared sleeves or a tighter form.
Fashionable abayas come in colors other than black, and may be decorated with patterns and glitter.
According to one designer, abayas are "no longer just abayas.
Today, they reflect a woman's taste and personality.
"Although the dress code is often regarded in the West as a highly visible symbol of oppression, Saudi women place the dress code low on the list of priorities for reform or leave it off entirely.
Journalist Sabria Jawhar complains that Western readers of her Huffington Post blog are obsessed with her veil.
She calls the niqab "trivial":A majority of women say they want to wear the veil.
They cite Islamic piety, pride in family traditions, and less sexual harassment from male colleagues.
For many women, the dress code is a part of the right to modesty that Islam guarantees women.
Some also perceive attempts at reform as anti-Islamic intrusion by Westerners:"They fear Islam, and we are the world's foremost Islamic nation."