Middle East Fashion Update

The clothing choices here are worth noting.

In Dubai and Oman, almost universally, local men wore long white full length robes called dishdashas. In Dubai, men also wore a white headdress held in place by a black rope thing like a crown. In Oman, men also wore a headdress but it was tied a little differently and typically had a multicolor design.

Women in Dubai and Oman wore full length black robes, usually with a burqa covering the face completely.

In Jordan, most people wore western clothes. Many women wore head scarves though and many men wore headdresses. There are 3 primarily headdresses in Jordan - white, black checked, and red checked. We asked one of our tour guides if the colors had any significance. She said that historically white was worn by Arabs from the gulf, or by Jordanian Arabs in the summer due to the heat. The black and white checked was a historically Palestinian design and the red and white checked was a historically Bedouin design.

Today though the colors don't mean as much as all the headdresses are made in China anyway.