Social Interactions 103or woven fabric shirts (usually collared). Men generally do
not wear shorts or tank tops in public unless they happen to
be in a tourist area.
Women’s Fashion
Except in the highest fashion areas and around universities,
Egyptian women do not usually wear long pants or slacks.
Well-to-do women dress in the latest European fashions.
For social occasions, prominent Egyptian women wear high
heels and expensive (often silk) Western-styled dresses and
accessorise their dresses with good jewellery—usually gold,
but almost never costume jewellery.
When women think of Middle Eastern clothing, the
first thing that comes to mind is the long black cape-like
outer garment worn in movies. This is actually seen very
little in Egypt except among older women, Bedouins and
among those from exceptionally conservative elements
of the population. This type of dress is more often seen in
Upper Egypt, though there are neighbourhoods in Cairo and
elsewhere that conform to this traditional form of dress.
Short of dressing in a black shroud, what do you wear if you
want to blend in most effectively? And, how do you reduce
or totally eliminate catcalls, hisses and propositions as you
walk down the street? Essentially, there is no great secret
here. Just dress fairly conservatively and direct your wardrobe
choices to where you are.
What is least attention getting? Here you can combine
comfort with style. It is not necessary to dress in a traditional,
brightly coloured woman’s galabea to fit in with middle
or lower-class Egyptian women. Prominent women dress
in Western fashion pretty much everywhere, so this is
acceptable as long as you stay within some bounds. Women
find wearing long-sleeved, looser fitting garments with all
or most of their legs covered to be most comfortable and
least likely to attract attention when getting around in Egypt.
This can be as simple as placing the blouse on the outside
of the waistband rather than on the inside. Short sleeves
are certainly acceptable, but probably should cover most of
the upper arm. What you will find is that wearing garments