BootsnAll Travel Community

Hi,

I'm about to go work in Oman for 3 months in the summer. What should I be wearing to work? in the city? out exploring?

Do I really have to have my elbows and knees always covered? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

For workwear, you'd probably want both legs and arms covered, but on days off, you could probably get away with short sleeves. Indeed, I wouldn't just go below the knee...I think you'll want your calves covered as well.

I haven't been to Oman, but the established rule in the middle east is to dress conservatively. Long skirts or loose fitting pants. Loose fitting shirt on top. I think a lot of westerners forget that loose fitting clothes that cover your skin and breathe well can actually be cooler than having your skin out getting sunburnt. Stick with lighter colors, though. (I'll never understand the black that's so common there). As a foreigner, you're not going to be expected to dress like a Muslim woman would, let alone a conservative Muslim, but there's still some rules to follow.

i'm thinking about picking up some cheap lightweight cotton tunics like this for my egypt/syria/jordan trip. is the neck too low? i think it'd be 2-3 inches or so below the collarbones at the lowest part.

For work in a corporate sense I would invest in a number of light weight business suit 'covers'. What I mean is something that looks well made, professional, covers down the wrist and is long enough to cover the ass/hip area. Underneath that feel free to wear a sleveless shell that covers your cheast.

General rule is to cover anything an inch below collarbones. General rule in much of the middle east is to the elbows, to the knees. But Oman is a gulf state and gulf states are much more conservative then Syria, Egypt or Lebanon.

So my suggestion would be to find a number of lightweight cotton tunics with lightweight pants for your 'going out' time and business appropriate cover-wear for your work time. Google: Woman's Islamic Business Clothes. And look at the options out there. The Muslim world used to be very closed to woman's cloth. It was abaya and abaya and jelaba and hijab and that's it.
These days there are a number of other options. While the majority of woman you see on the street there may sport the regular gulf black abaya--feel free to wear whatever you want as long as it is loose fitting and covers.

To give an example...by many Gulf-State Standards: The skin showing should be your face and your hands. That's it. Now you'll probably not wear hijab, so dont worry about that too much. But be aware that face/hands is the general consensus around you...and if you do choose to show more then that...well...you're kinda throwing yourself at the dogs.

Good luck!