I was looking at historical photos of Mecca and Medina and noticed that women rarely appeared in the streets. Like many conservative Muslim societies, it seems women generally did not go out without a specific purpose.

[https://saudiarabesque.com/outdoor-traditional-dress-of-a-woman-from-hijaz-saudi-arabia/](https://saudiarabesque.com/outdoor-traditional-dress-of-a-woman-from-hijaz-saudi-arabia/)

In the few, rare photos where women do appear, they are FULLY veiled. Looking into traditional urban Hejazi dress, I found descriptions of a black outer cloak, similar to today's abaya, paired with a long white face veil resembling a historical burqa or modern niqab.

What I find strange is that some modern Saudi Hejazis deny this tradition altogether, claiming women in the Hejaz were not veiled, and lying further to claim that they were unveiled.  
Yet the historical record overwhelmingly shows veiled women in the cities of Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah, while the few examples of unveiled women mostly come from remote mountain villages, which were not representative of the urban population.  
Hejazi historians have also documented and preserved these garments and burqas.

It's interesting how the holy cities influenced dress and customs across much of the Muslim world. Whatever one's views today, denying that veiling was a common practice in the urban Hejaz seems inconsistent with the historical evidence.

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Have you ever seen a Hijazi Burqa/ Niqab (veil) before?