I already mentioned that it was quite hard to find Emirati in Dubai, but among the few I have seen, most of them were wearing the traditional Emirati clothes.
I really love the men’s outfit… It is quite elegant and flamboyant! I could imagine myself wearing that, but didn’t have the chance to try it on (and didn’t want to visit a store where they sell it, knowing that I would never be able to leave without buying something!). The white dress men are wearing is called a kandora. They cover their head with a white piece of fabric called a ghutra, which is held in place by a black cord, the agal. A similar outfit is worn in other Arabic countries but as I have been told, the color of the dress or of the head cover depends on the origin of the person. For instance, the red and white head cover is typical of rural Saudi Arabia (the Jassir Arafat head wear, as I call it, officially named a keffiyeh) and men of Bahrain, Qatar or Kuwait wear other color combinations as well. Since the UAE are a hub for the Arabic world, you see all kind of traditional clothing there, especially in the luxurious shopping centers.
Unlike the diversity found in the men’s dress or headwear colors in the Arab countries, the women’s outfit color is quite universal: black! While the Emirati men enjoy wearing their heat-friendly white clothes, their wives walk – often in fancy expensive clothes – covered with a black dress called an abaya. Surprisingly, Emirati women wear very rarely a niqab (the black thing completely covering the face that some people wrongly call a burka – burka are similar but worn in Afghanistan or Pakistan.) They mostly wear a normal black head veil to cover their hair. In some more conservative Emirates like Sharjah, where I spent one day, women sometimes wear a face mask covering only the nose, which looks quite weird! It’s a bit like a Venice carnival mask! I heard that these are also worn in neighbor Oman.
To be honest, seeing all these couples walking around, with the beautiful white-dressed men and the depressing black-dressed women, made me quite sad and even angry… and although I try to be respectful and understanding towards all religions and traditions, this is something I have a hard time tolerating…
To end on a funnier note (but is it really funny?!), the souvenirs also target the Middle East population… Does anyone of you want a new salt and pepper set?
Free like a bear 