SELECTS: Nadine El Layers Her Scottish-Egyptian Identity

Raised in Scotland by Egyptian parents, Nadine El describes her childhood as “a very niche and interesting experience” — the kind of upbringing that makes people pause when they hear her speak for the first time and realise she is both Scottish and Egyptian. Her family settled in Kilmarnock, a small town outside Glasgow, where the Egyptian community was almost nonexistent. At school, she recalls, it was just her, her sister, “two Iraqi sisters and two Pakistani sisters” among around a thousand students. “The identity crisis was so real growing up. But character building,” she laughs.

Home was conservative, school was overwhelmingly white and Scottish, and Nadine El found herself doing what many internet-era girls with too much personality and not enough local community did: she logged on and created her own world. “I’m like an internet kid,” she says. “I’ve been chronically online for as long as I can remember.” Twitter, Tumblr, fan pages and group chats became her social landscape. In one particularly iconic footnote, Justin Bieber once followed her fan account. “A little bit of a flex,” she says — and absolutely.

But beneath the humour was a search for familiarity. Online, she found Egyptians, Muslims and others who understood the small daily negotiations of belonging. Fashion came later, but when it did, it became the most visible way of working through those questions. “I’ve always, always loved fashion,” she says, “but I don’t think I intentionally expressed myself through fashion until I started wearing the headscarf.”

When Nadine El began wearing the headscarf around 2020, she felt disconnected from the modest fashion imagery she encountered online: soft pastels, pinks and hyper-feminine styling. “I never really related to that at all,” she says. “I felt like if I wore the headscarf, I would lose a bit of my personality.” So instead of squeezing herself into an aesthetic that didn’t feel like hers, she started building one from the pieces of her own life.

That meant tartan for Scotland, coin belts and jewellery for Egypt, and enough layering to make a Glaswegian winter look almost glamorous. “I really just see my identity through my clothes,” she says. Her wardrobe became a highly personal mix of tartan, texture, statement accessories, modest proportions and the occasional outfit that makes you look twice before deciding whether you love it.

Growing up online was not always easy. Faced with comments questioning whether she was modest enough, Nadine El often returned to what made her fall in love with fashion in the first place. “I think the only reason I continue to do what I do is seeing the feedback and seeing girls say to me, ‘I’ve kept the headscarf on because I found a way that can also fit myself.’”

Her thick skin also comes from building outfits that intentionally challenge expectations. “I want people to do a double take and say, ‘I don’t know if I like this.’” She isn’t interested in dressing to be universally liked. “If you’re pleasing everyone, you’re not being true to yourself,” she says. Her style is experimental, sometimes strange and often funny — but never accidental. She loves a trend, and she would like you to know that. “Don’t come for me,” she jokes. Still, what draws people in is not trend-chasing, but the fact that she has a point of view.

Today, Nadine El’s fashion world is less about maximal layering and more about silhouette, proportion and the power of one good accessory. She cites Japan, Copenhagen, Korea, Scotland and Egypt as points of reference, but her style remains unmistakably her own. In a fashion landscape often obsessed with polish, her appeal lies in experimentation, humour and a refusal to edit out contradictions. Scottish and Egyptian, modest and playful, online and deeply personal — she has turned getting dressed into a language for all the selves she once had to explain.
In this week’s SELECTS, Nadine El draws on Zamalek’s facades and Cairo’s energy to create three outfits built around her signature layered silhouettes.

Look 1

“I was inspired by Cairo’s layered chaos—the mix of textures, prints, and energy translating it into an androgynous balance of feminine and masculine, while still holding onto a sense of comfort that feels familiar.”
Zipper - from a London based brand called Zidouri
Lace dress and vest - ASOS
Lotus balloons trousers - Free People
Necklace and bag - thrifted from souqs in Marrakesh
Shoes - Vinted

Look 2

“In Zamalek, there’s an understated old-world elegance, refined, and timeless. I wanted to reflect that ‘old money’ feel through classic tailoring, while introducing a modern edge through accessories to make it feel current and personal.”
Jacket - Vinted
Trousers - weekday
Skirt - ASOS
Black belt - souq in Marrakesh
Chain belt - Thrifted from a market in Maadi
Boots - Cairo Vintage Store
Bag - Egyptian brand Mise En Place

Look 3

“This look explores my Egyptian–Scottish identity, pairing tartan details with a traditional coin belt, and grounding it with a simple base to let those cultural elements take the lead.”Headscarf - thrifted
T-shirt - H&M
Coin skirt - souq in Marrakesh
Black layered skirt - Vinted
Tartan skirt - Cairo vintage store
Boots - Cairo Vintage store
Necklace - souq in Marrakesh
Ankh necklace - khan el khalili market