RUBA ZAI "THE HIJABHILLS DEBUT"
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We had the pleasure a few days ago to talk to Ruba from Hijabhills!! The beautiful Afghan Rotterdam born YouTuber talked to us about how she got into being a YouTube personality for fashion oriented hijabis out there. First of all, we'd like to say that we love HijabHills for her serious emphasis on Modesty in her fashion choices! A good personality with a bright sense of style with an unforgotten spiritual talk is never a bad choice!
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How did you get into YouTube?
"When
I started wearing Hijab, I was struggling with what to wear and how
to style my hijab. Alhamdulilah I eventually found the right style
for me. Right then, I got questions from people asking how I styled
my scarves and how to do it so I figured, more people would be
interested in this!
I
never really used to watch hijab tutorials at that time, I was more into makeup so I mainly got my inspiration from websites and blogs because it was easier then
to follow with the steps."
Was it a big step for you to start making videos on a public international platform?
"At
first I didn't tell anybody I knew about YouTube except for my
parents, I had a fear of what my friends and family would think! The
big question was ''Would they make fun of me?!'' I didn't really mind
people I didn't know because it's none of their business."
What about your blogging experience?
"Hijab-hills.com
isn't really a blog, it's more of a website, a platform where people
can find me and my videos. It's not really ready yet! I do post my
outfits of the day on it because I thought, instead of filling Instagram or filming videos, might as well have a space dedicated to
that."
What is it like wearing Hijab in The Netherlands?
"It
really depends on where you are and what you want. People don't look
at you with a staring look in the streets but it's definitely a
challenge when you are looking for a job. If you go to small towns
you will notice that people do look at you more. It's mostly because
they are not familiar with Muslims but let's say that in general, it
is okay. When you look at England, of course, it still has a long way
to go but Holland is getting there!"
Now
that you are well settled on YouTube, what is the next step for you?
"I
will be going to the United States in March, to meet my followers and
to be physically there on the International Muslimah Fashion Week. We will be doing
a meet&greet! I also plan on going to Malaysia and Indonesia soon
insha'Allah. That's basically what I want to do. Vlogging and
blogging is a 24/7 job so it is definitely challenging and time
consumming to make videos and be present on social medias so that's
what I am focusing on now."
When did you feel like people where now really following you on social medias?
"Last
year in october, I was invited to SmokyNotSmudgy and that was a
unique experience for me because it was the first time I got invited
on an international level (London). So when I went there, many girls knew me
and wanted to take pictures and were all shaky when they did! I was like ''oh my god, what is this?!'' Right then, It hit
that it wasn't something in my bedroom anymore, that it had gone
beyond that. Also, even in Rotterdam I noticed hijabi girls
recognizing me in the streets. I would say, after that, I understood
that YouTube and social medias do influence."
We noticed that you do everything in English when your mothertongue is dutch, why?
"I
have always been an international student so speaking English wasn't
a problem to me and I also noticed that each country had their hijabi
representative. For example, Koweit has Ascia AKF or Indonesia has
Dian Pelangi, Dina Tokio for England, or Amenakin, and so on. I
thought about how Holland needed someone who could be representing in
and out of the country."
Shot by Langston Hues for Modeststreetfashion.com
Favorites of Ruba
Favorite fashion trends at the moment?
- I
like to focus on what is coming ahead, so right now, I am focusing on
how spring is almost here, all the pastel colors I will be wearing! I
feel like in winter, I am more of a rock glam/chic kind of girl but
when the sunny days come, I tend to become super girly!
Favorite outfit if you have a classy event to got to?
- I
don't really have a go-to outfit for any event but I do work with a
stylist, who is the owner of SADOQ Muslimah fashion Wear (sadoq) and when I have something
planned, we sit together and choose, we plan way before time! But
it's always heels and skirt!
I
could call her at 2 am! I'll call her up and be like, "I have an event
tomorrow, you neeeed to help me!!" she would sometimes hate me for
this!
Policy on color
- During Spring and Summer I am a super colorful person! But in winter I will be automatically grabbing black out of my closet. I can
honestly say, you cannot go wrong with black! You can look bold, and
girly, make a statement and be classy just by wearng black.
A fashion advice to being more modest ?
- Definitely
a skirt or boyfriend jeans. Skirts make anything modest, you just need
a cute top.
And
boyfriend jeans, it can definitely look modest when you style it the
right way.
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We want to thank Ruba for her time, for answering our questions and wish her all the best, may your life be a success! as well as your afterlife InshaAllah!
Thanks for reading! If you want to know more about HIJABHILLS,
Follow the links below!
For great tutorials >
T H E B L O G G E R S T A L K
2014
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, one of my favourite youtubers xx
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, congratulations. I really love this woman, she's really inspirational, seeing muslim girls like that around the world make me proud. And when she said, that she somehow wanted to represent Holland, I though, hey, why don't I try and represent muslim fashion in Spain? but as she said, doing videos is a full time job, and I'm right now so focused on my architectural degree that I don't think I have that much time, for now I will stay with my blog.
ReplyDeletexoxo
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