Re: Why do Pakistan women dress like Arabs in America?
See, if you were talking the hip-hugging jeans with a scarf then I could see your point but how is abaya better than a chaddar? It is like a tent!
Trust me, abaya is much better than chadowr. I don't wear an aabaya but the duppatas are huge enough to be taken as chadowrs. Sometimes, it becomes really difficult to hold the duppata, especially if you live in a city where wind blows 24/7. With chadowr, you not only have to take care of your shirt and hold it down at the corners but also make sure that the additional load of the chadowr stays on your head or remains firmly planted on your shoulders.
With abaya, its just the stoll or the head scarf and a long robe covering your body, starting from shoulders down to the ankels and at times ending just near the knees. Basically, your arms are free, you don't have to bother about the clothes, the scarf is either wrapped around your neck or is firmly covering your head. BTW, thats just my opinion.
Now as far as it resembling a tent is concerned, well , all I have to say is that its a matter of choice and a lot depends upon an individual's sense of style.
p.s: personally I feel its about modesty, you can wear a western dress and look all decent and elegant and choose an eastern attire and yet look cheap and immodest. To each his own.