British journalist Liz Jones wore a burqa for a week and chronicled her experiences in “My Week Wearing a Burka: Just a Few Yards of Black Fabric, but It Felt Like a Prison.” Her inspiration? Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman who will receive 40 lashes for wearing pants in public.

• An Islamic woman in France has accused local officials of religious discrimination after she was banned from wearing her “burqini,” a bathing suit that fully covers her arms, legs, and hair, in a local pool. Earlier this summer, French President Sarkozy announced that head-to-toe burqas were “not welcome” in the country. In this case, local officials said they forbid her body-covering garb for hygienic reasons. [Yahoo]

The debate over burqas in France continues, and this time, it’s within the context of Paris Fashion Week. It’s been a few months since President Nicolas Sarkozy has made it clear that “burqas are not welcome,” and that he may move to ban them from the country. Yet when the couture shows began opening this year, contradictions came to light when some designers, like Adam Jones, showcased haute couture abayas and burqas. The idea of the burqa being a fashion item hasn’t been considered in the debate, which takes a more political stance. But apparently, there is a demand for such items, and France is one of the prime exporter of such designer headgear. Another couturier, Stephane Rolland said, “If someone tells me, ‘design an abaya,’ why not, I’m proud of that. It’s just a garment.” Just a garment might be a light way of putting things, but it does put the product in perspective as a commodity, exemplified by the existing boutiques that sell large quantities of high-fashion head scarves.

Toward the end of last month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed Parliament, stating his position on burqas. He said the face-covering, body-length Muslim veils are an unacceptable symbol of “enslavement,” and that it’s not a religious issue, but simply a “sign of the subjugation, of the submission, of women.”

This discussion has resulted in threats from Muslim groups outside of France, but Parliament hasn’t made a decision on the matter just yet. A committee held its first meeting today, and Jean-Francois Cope, the head of the governing conservative party UMP, suggested a two-stage ban of burqas. Meaning there would be “six months to a year of dialogue, explanation, and warnings” before the ban would go into effect.

President Nicholas Sarkozy stood before the French Parliament today and proposed a ban on burqas, garments that completely cover a woman and mask her face, in France. According to The New York Times, he stated: “We cannot accept in our country women imprisoned behind bars, cut off from social life, deprived of identity. That is not our idea of maintaining the dignity of women.”