Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
A Muslim woman can wear any kind of clothes she like as long as it meets some conditions such as being loose, not attractive, and covering the whole body except face and hands.
Answering your question, Sheikh Kifah Mustapha, the Imam and Director of The Prayer Center of Orland Park and representative for Dar El Fatwa of Lebanon in the US, states:
There are three conditions for clothes that should be considered. It should be thick that you cannot see through and it should be loose that does not give the body its shape (meaning not tight) and it should cover what is considered as a private area.
Now (abaya) is a very practical solution to meet all these conditions and that’s why many Muslim women wear it. But if a woman wears any clothes that meet the above conditions, it should be fine.
As for colored scarfs, it is allowed as there is no clear and authentic Hadiths that prohibit certain colors on women. Now if you feel certain colors might bring unneeded attention to you, it would be better to avoid it.
As to the last question, Muslim women should avoid the use of make-up that is bold visible. If it is in light use in which it does not show, it should be fine.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.