The Southall Collection is a major collection of Palestinian Dress dating from 1900-1930. It includes garments and accessories worn by nomadic Bedouin people as well as men, women and children living in Ramallah and Bethlehem.

This pair of calf length boots was locally known as yezmeh. They would have had have iron reinforcements on the heels for horse riding, and been worn by Bedouin horsemen in particular. Boots like this originated from Damascus, where they were made in the cities by specialist shoemakers. Whilst headdresses had a noble associations, footwear was considered unclean and was always removed before entering a house or mosque, whilst headwear was kept on.