Yesteryear, Woman's Adornment in Constantine

About this book

Constantine's women's adornment is read here as a cultural archive rather than a decorative accessory. Essia Benbakir Bougherra brings text and image together to examine jewellery, gold embroidery, fabrics, household rituals, and the visual codes through which women expressed beauty, protection, affection, rank, and belonging. The city's bridges, ravines, old houses, and rose-water traditions provide the setting for objects shaped by generations of craftsmanship. Historical inquiry meets sensory memory as each ornament reveals relations between body, family, and place. The volume preserves a distinctive Algerian heritage while showing how fashion can carry meanings that written records leave unspoken.