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Carmelite nuns - Carmelite nuns, pictured in 1904, at work in fields in veils and hats. The Rome-based Carmelite order was founded in the 12th century.

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Coptic Christian - A Coptic Christian woman pictured in 1918 wearing a floor-length veil. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 2.5)

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Wearing the haïk - Women in Algeria wearing a haïk, a type of veil. (Photo: Wikimedia/CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Day of the Spiritual Indoctrinator - A worshipper attends the Day of the Spiritual Indoctrinator annual celebrations at the Vale do Amanhecer (Valley of the Dawn) community in the Planaltina neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil.

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Shi'ite pilgrims - Veiled Shi'ite pilgrims take part in a procession during the Arbain religious ceremony in Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad.

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The battoulah - A woman wearing the battoulah, a mask traditionally worn by Muslim Arab women in Arab states of the Persian Gulf, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Qatar, as well as in southern Iran. (Photo: Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)

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A whiter shade of veil - Jordanian women gather in Amman during a demonstration.

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Looking through the niqab - A woman dressed in the niqab outside Moustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Cairo's Mohandessin neighborhood, Egypt. 

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Fashion accessory - The veil has caught the imagination of many fashion designers. Here, a model poses on the runway at the Chocheng presentation during New York Fashion Week, New York City.

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A contemporary take on the veil - A model attends the Louis Vuitton gala opening of the Murakami exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum in New York City. Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami works in fine arts media.

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Modern Muslim clothing - A model presents a creation by Muslim clothing designer Feny Mustafa during a Fashion Week show in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Celebrity veil - Katy Perry dons a designer veil at the Rei KawakuboComme des Garcons Art Of The In-Between Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

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Widow's veil - French-Italian actress Catherine Spaak wearing a widow's veil during the filming of 'Tre notti d'amore' ('Three Nights of Love') in Italy, 1964.

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Hidden from view - A young Bedouin girl with her face hidden behind a veil explores historic Petra, in Jordan.

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Wedding veil - A veiled Kate Middleton arrives at Westminster Abbey, England, before her marriage to Prince William.

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Religious wedding ceremony - Monaco's Princess Charlene, wife of Prince Albert II, arrives at the religious wedding ceremony at the Palace in Monaco suitably veiled. 

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veiling for ceremony - A Palestinian student waits to receive her diploma during a graduation ceremony at An Najah University in the West Bank city of Nablus. 

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Creative look - A model presents a creation from the Marc Jacobs Spring/Summer 2019 collection at New York Fashion Week, New York City. 

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The veil as a political statement - A woman wears a veil as a demonstration of support for a feminist punk band jailed in Russia.

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Bride and groom - Jordanian grooms and brides take part in a mass wedding ceremony in Amman. The practice of veiling is especially associated with women and sacred objects, though in some cultures men are also expected to wear a veil.

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Veils for him and her - A bride and groom wearing traditional garlands, made of beads and cotton threads, wait for their wedding to start during a mass marriage ceremony in Karachi, Pakistan.

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Fashion statement - A model presents a creation by Italian designer Giambattista Valli. 

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Graduation day - University graduates attend their graduation ceremony in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. 

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Demonstrating the veil - A protester from the Christian rights group Release International wears makeup and a funeral veil during a demonstration for personal and religious freedom.

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The burqa - An Afghan refugee woman, clad in a burqa, waits with others to be repatriated to Afghanistan. 

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Covering up in public - A burqa-clad Afghan woman walks in an old bazaar in Kabul, Afghanistan. The burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions to cover themselves in public. 

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Mourning veil - Princess Akiko at the funeral of her father, Prince Tomohito, a cousin of Emperor Akihito, at Toshimagaoka imperial cemetery in Tokyo, Japan. 

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Traditional wedding costume - An Indonesian woman is decked out in a traditional wedding costume during a mass wedding for the poor in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Festival veil - A Bedouin woman wears a traditional costume as she sits in her tent during the Sanaa Summer Festival in Sanaa, Yemen. 

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Veil for dancing - Palestinian dancers of the Hanouneh troupe perform a dance entitled Guardians of Memory as part of activities to commemorate the division of the Palestinian state in Amman, Jordan.

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Veiled garment -

A model wearing a design by the House of Maheen, looks on before taking to the catwalk on the first day of Fashion Pakistan Week in Karachi.

See also: The world's wealthiest fashion designers. 

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