In pre-Islam urban centers of the Arabian Peninsula veiling was seen as a sign of privilege and a luxury afforded to women who didn't have to work.
They were distinguished from slave girls and prostitutes, who were not allowed to veil or cover (apparently not even later in the Prophet's time), and nomadic and rural women too busy working to be bothered with something so impractical as a face veil and extra layer of clothing.

The Unfurling
by Mecca descendant Nimah Ismail Nawwab.

"Some think I am hiding
Underneath my long black cloak
With little narrow slits for my eyes
Cloaked in mystery, medieval modesty
Wondering, what is going "