Going through the small but well-kept collection of old magazines at the National Centre of Documentation and Research, I was excited to come across a stack of old Zahrat Al Khaleej ("Gulf Flower") magazines. This was the UAE's first widely distributed women's title. What strikes me as interesting about these covers is that, 33 years ago, ordinary girls from the UAE and other Gulf countries were happy to be photographed without covering their hair. Today, the vast majority of UAE nationals wear traditional dress and one would be hard pressed to find a Khaleeji (Gulf Arab) woman to do a magazine photo shoot without full abaya and shayla.