Ramadan culture takes a fashionable turn, straining budgets

“We have to look our best when we are invited during Ramadan,” Amina says.For many Arab families, advertising, peer pressure, a growing middle class, and Gulf-led consumerism are steering the holy month – traditionally a period of fasting, spiritual reflection, and family affairs – toward a social season of high expectations on par with Christmas in the United States.Slowly creeping into the holiday the past two decades, Ramadan consumerism is hitting new heights in the r