Wilfred F Southall, a prominent Birmingham pharmacist, businessman and Quaker was a great collector of Palestinian costume. His collection was donated to Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, in 1985. Palestine is part of the eastern Arab countries and shares borders with Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.Coats, coat-dresses and dresses were rarely worn without a belt or a girdle such as this one. The way they were worn and the material they were made of were an indicator of status and of regional identity.This girdle would have been woven by women at home and may have been used as a hair wrap.