Each Palestinian traditional dress reflects the heritage, customs, traditions, and nature of the population. The coastal dress for example is a mixture of Greek and Roman, while the mountain dress is devoid of embroidery due women’s preoccupation with agriculture, unlike the Be’er Saba’a dress that is famous for its rich embroidery, symbolic of abundance of time. The embroidery also reflects the surrounding environment of trees, mountains, traditions, and beliefs.[1]
While every Palestinian city is famous for a specific type of women’s traditional dresses (Thoub) such as Dajani, Striped, and Veined, Al-Melis (the smoothie), known also as the Jerusalemite Thoub, is considered the traditional dress for women of Jerusalem.[2]
Similar to the city, the Jerusalemite traditional dress has a touch of different historical eras; on the chest there is the cupola of the queens of Canaanites, on the sides there are crosses from the rule of Crusades, while the crescent points to the Islamic rule over the city. Even the catastrophe (Al-Nakbah) appears on the Jerusalemite Thoub by the use of dark colors that show sadness and nostalgia and the disappearance of bright colors. On the other hand, turning to the machine and leaving the hand sewing indicates the poor economic situation.[3]
Design
The Jerusalemite Thoub is basically a black silk dress decorated with red or yellow hand sewing. The neck opening is circular and connected to another opening that goes down to the chest with a length of 7.5 cm.[4] While the shoulders and the upper back part are decorated with floral sewing, the chest area is divided into large rhombuses decorated with yellow sewing, and the lower and front parts are designated with two decorative units that are the Turkey and the olive tree.[5] Finally, the arms have a wide opening called the robes with a diameter of 80 cm.[6]
Design 
Design 
