Egypt Fashion

A question I got asked quite a bit when  I came home to the US this past winter was, "what do you wear in Egypt?"  which is a completely different question from "what do people wear in Egypt?" but hints at that.  I think it's time to answer both on the blog, so that people get to know something they're curious about, and people thinking to travel here get a better idea of how to blend in and dress appropriately.

On the Street in Cairo
-Locals:
 
Men: Doormen, some laborers, some small shop-owners will wear a garment like a long robe or shirt called a galabeya which falls to the feet with whatever shoes.  Most Cairo guys on the street wear jeans (of the semi-not-total-ball-crushing variety) and a T-shirt or casual collared work shirt in either long or short sleeves or a full-on suit if going to work.  Young men usually stick to jeans and a T-shirt with sneakers almost unanimously.  If they're real local they LOVE their fake designer-wear. If you're wearing a suit you better have some pointy-ish black leather shoes with either squared off or truly pointy toes. Extra local points if they're dusty and turn up at the tips from a rigorous life.  Shibshib is what we call the Egyptian version of flipflops and they are considered very casual wear, mainly worn around the house, so not many men wear these outside and barely any women except in the poorer areas as it's a bit like going out in your sweatpants in the US.  Because of that you can sometimes see people going around in shibshib, but not if they're going much farther than down the street to the store.

Women *: Here there is a huge mix, which you can see if you ride the women's car on the Metro.  Many young women wear hijab here, but they also dress in often very colorful, tight clothing.  The tightness seems immodest, so I don't exactly understand it except as a way to somehow make the clothes fit in with "modern" western clothing more. Matching is very popular, down to the accessories, no matter what esoteric hue they might be, so you can often see young hijabii girls rocking an outfit in 2-3 colors around town in a very fashionable way to them, which I as a Westerner could never pull off. Colors are matched from the (often layered) headscarves, to bangles, to footwear.  Long, A-line or trumpet skirts are popular here (but not to the exclusion of pants which are usually skinny jeans on the younger girls), including in denim, which I thought was cute enough to buy a couple. Older women usually will wear simple long pants or skirts and blouses or long casual dresses like the male galabeyas, but a bit more form-fitting.  Oddly enough it's my impression that is a generation of older women present in Cairo that don't veil possibly because of the events during their lives when the veil was considered "backward" or restraining.  Few women wear complete veils, but maybe 3/4ths cover their hear.  During the winter many girls were wearing skirts at the knee with tights or pants under tucked into cute ankle or knee boots.

*Please note: The veiling issue is very complicated and women on an individual basis have many different opinions and feelings about their personal choices regarding to be veiled or not. There are many works of scholarship out there about what veiling means or doesn't mean, but I think the most important point is to try and understand what veiling means to the individual and react to it on an individual basis, not on the penalty of assigning group homogeneity.  There's my two cents!  Lots of info out there for people to check out!

-Foreigners:
Women: Women are pretty safe in most major areas wearing long jeans, pants, or a skirt which falls beneath the knees; and any shirt that has at least short-sleeves.  Sleeveless is a no-go, or at least throw a scarf or shrug on over your shoulders.  Anything that shows much cleavage is probably best left at home or to other areas to be discussing following this section. No short shorts. Ever. Sensible footwear is good as the streets can go back and forth from sidewalks to none, to an inch of sand, to rubble, to puddles.  However, Cairo is a major city, so impractical, flashy footwear and short heels will make you blend in more. 

I typically wear:  I have a certain way of dressing that I consider a baseline of modesty to go on when in Cairo or traveling in Egypt in general.  It's important to wear long pants or skirts, and keep your arms partially covered, so I usually wear jeans and a T-shirt with a 3/4 sleeve shrug over, cute ballet flats for around town, or short wooden heels if I'm going to school or getting around on my own.  If someone is driving me, I will wear heels if I know for sure we won't be walking far or taking the subway.

Men: Foreign guys pretty much wear what Egyptian men wear, with the exception that shorts are probably best left at home if you want to blend in at all, and the foreigners are usually the ones wearing more baseball caps than Egyptian guys because the latter don't like to mess up their carefully gelled hair-dos.

Nightlife and Clubbing in Cairo
There is no distinction between foreigner/local wear at clubs in Cairo, because the kind of Cairenes who go out to clubs are usually pretty westernized, international, and not conservative.  I think most of my Cairo friends are conservative enough to not go clubbing, or they keep it to mainly dance-themed things like Salsa nights which are a bit more fun and innocent in a way than a hip-hop club or a belly dance cabaret.

Women:  Hiiiigh heels, skinny jeans, mini-skirts, skanky earthquake-inducing tops--pretty much the same as the US.  You will probably never see a Hijab while out clubbing, or if you do the girl wearing it is probably not going to be flouncing around like she owns the place as the truly outrageous Cairo girls do.  I have seen Hijabii women out salsa dancing though, but not much in hip hop clubs or some of the racier venues.  Egyptian ladies certainly like to dress it up, and then some though.  And hey, why not?  Egyptian girls are gorgeous!  Us foreigners just drag out one of the two clubbing tops we brought "on the off chance I would be on the Red Sea or something.." and jeans.  The key to getting in and out without being ogled to death on the street? Shrugs, scarves, jackets, getting rides from a friend or jumping into a taxi promptly after exiting any building, and large purses in which to stash a change of clothes to switch into in the bathroom!

Guys: Um...not much new here, jeans and T-shirts.  Big watches.

Weddings in Cairo:
Guys: Suits, many suits.  I've seen shiny platinum-colored ones, but most are basic black or navy with a tie that goes with it nicely.

Ladies:  Huuuge variety here. Weddings are a bit of a chance for people to let their hair down as they're just around family and friends usually, which shows in women's outfits.  You can see sleeveless and strapless dresses here on non-hijabii women from the mid-thigh to full-length ballgowns.  It's always good to bring a scarf or shrug though in case you get a bit self-conscious and for walking to/from the car. The hijabii ladies just throw on a mesh long-sleeved turtleneck undershirt and are good to go! The bride will usually wear the hugest cupcake dress she can manage while still being able to actually dance, with a slightly-less-huge veil.  It's adorable in a "awww, I fantasized about that as a little girl!" way.  Usually the sisters of the couple will be in full-on gowns hovering around offering tissues and carrying stuff for the bride, while the mothers of the couple stalk around in pant suits beaming and joking for some reason.  I don't get the pantsuits, not the beaming and joking of course.

At AUC:
Boys (there are no men at AUC except professors):  The foreign guys obviously wear whatever they would wear at their home college.  Egyptian guys like their designer shades, their brightly-colored T-shirts over carefully worked abs and biceps of a size that makes them walk around with their arms always slightly bent, designer jeans, designer sneakers.  Huge, expensive, imported watches. They can afford it because this is the most expensive college in Egypt. Even the more modest guys are usually a bit better dressed than in the US, sticking to smart short-sleeve, button-down shirts and designer glasses.  There is definitely a uniquely AUC fashion trend that's hard to put your finger on until you come here.  Oh, also Egyptian guys wouldn't be caught dead carrying more than one single notebook at a time, if that.

Girls:  Again, the foreigner girls wear whatever they would at their home college. The Egyptian girls at AUC are usually decked out in a way that makes foreign male tongues wag and foreign females roll their eyes.  There is a specific co-ed group called the "Guccis" that everyone refers to as the absolute consumer-whoreist group of students at AUC and who are the butt of every joke, but besides them the girls in AUC generally make me wish I: a) had Egyptian genes, b) a lot of money, c) could actually justify buying skinny jeans, d) had more time in the morning to look like something other than a colossal wreck e) a driver so I could wear whatever I wanted without worrying about the gauntlet of the open street.  Skinny jeans are prevalent.  Everyone carries large purses instead of backpacks. They can afford to get their hair "did" regularly and stuff waxed and plucked to perfection.  They look fabulous, and that sucks because Egypt hates my skin and my body generally.

On the Red Sea:
The Red Sea is home to many major tourist towns, and I think they've pretty much seen it all.  Women can wear bikinis on the beach or in the club (which is also on the beach), or a mini-skirt, or tank-top.  No one cares enough to give you crap or really say much about it, although expect the Egyptian males around to give you "a look" in a certain way at times.  Again, guys pretty much wear...yep, jeans and a T-shirt or a T-shirt and swim trunks on the beach or even in the club.

Alexandria:
I wouldn't say Alexandria is much more conservative than Cairo per-say, but I haven't spent much time there.  There are certain beaches you can wear bikinis, but beware strong surf causing boob-escapage (seriously, been there). When in doubt, throw on a long T-shirt over your suit and you're good to go! I'm not even going to mention guys this time, too boring.  Otherwise I would say just do as you do in Cairo, although somehow I got away with wearing a tank-top one night, but I was accompanied by an Egyptian guy friend.

Party in Hurghada!

I'm back from another trip yet again! This time Kara and I headed to the Red Sea again, but on the opposite coast of last time (check out the super-gorgeous-non-ghetto map).

Hurghada was a lot of fun, and definitely a refreshing change in some ways from Cairo. Still on my first night I was going, "what a tourist trap, I miss Cairo!" However, I chilled out and had fun in a resort town that seems like something more out of Hawaii or California than Egypt--except with ridiculous amounts of rather rude Russian tourists.

Hurghada is (theoretically) 5-6 hrs by bus from Cairo, but if you add in Egyptian time and the bus breaking down, it's more like 8. Yeah, you have to factor in the bus breaking down, but just pray that it's only in a minor, fixable way. On the way we got relatively lucky--the bus broke down twice, but we got back on our way fairly quickly. We said "maalesh" and started taking pictures in front of the broken down bus. Back on our way Mina and I cranked up the Lady Gaga on his mp3 player as we sped through the desert night. On the way back we got totally screwed as our bus broke down completely an hour and a half from Cairo and we had to hitch a ride (with all the luggage!) on the next bus from the company to come along!

The days were mostly spent at the beach or the pool, doing beach or pool kind of stuff. I got thrown off a dock too at some point because I refused to take the plunge! At night we got the Egyptian boys in trouble playing a drinking game when it was revealed us American and Aussie girls can hold our liquor like champs in comparison.

We went out clubbing at a place called "Buddha Ramooza" on the second night which completely reminded me of Hawaii or California, down to the thatched grass ceilings, jets of fire for show above the open air dance floor, latest American pop hits, and cabanas straight on the beach. Yes, the American hits included, "Poker Face!" It was great to be able to chill on the beach with a drink and then go straight onto the dance floor! Kara finally got into smoking shisha too, which led to some hilarious pictures which I will only include a few of for both of our dignities sakes.

The next day we woke up at the crack of 7:30am after an ungodly late bed time to catch a breakfast buffet in horrible shape before heading off to an all-day snorkling trip! I groaned to Kara, "I'm so tiiiiired...the last thing I want to do is get on a booooat," but we had paid up 200LE the previous day so I was committed. I staggered along onto first a bus, then the diving center, then the boat, and we warned the boys to leave us be as we were in an incredibly impatient, grumpy mood after the early wake-up call. Kara and I staked out a bench inside out of the sun and she promptly slept while I dozed behind my sunglasses.

We got into it though after a couple hours as the boat headed out to "Paradise" island off the coast of Hurghada. It was a bit crowded, but the staff (whom we called "the pirates of Hurghada") were all friendly and helped us to get into the swing of things. "Paradise" is a pretty island, but all the day cruises go there so it was a slog getting on and off the island via small feluccas chock full of people. The food on the cruise was quite tasty too, which I was nervous about after several days of so-so hotel buffets.

Snorkling was great, and I realized that I haven't snorkled since before I can remember...if I have it was in Hawaii during one of our multiple childhood trips that I only half recall. This was fun though, the boat was in a perfect spot for us to remain close by and near the surface but still observe some beautiful fish and coral. That was good, as I didn't feel exactly adventurous! We swam around near the boat for awhile too, which was when our intrepid captain decided to come dunk me!

Afterwards Kara and I dozed on the front of the boat with a couple from Holland, just enjoying the sun. Let's just say we weren't enjoying things so much when we arrived home exhausted and suburnt! Both of us promptly showered and collapsed into bed for a couple hours before most of us trooped out to the club again to discuss the mating fest or to the cinema. I have to say that after being in Cairo for almost a month, the dance floor scene at Hurghada made me almost nauseous for how sex-drenched everything seemed and how slutty the behavior was--and this is coming from a California girl not exactly famed for prudishness! Cairo has changed me already more than I first thought it seems.

Cultural Homogenization (the boring part of this post)
I have a couple things to say on this topic as it's something my courses at my home college have beat me over the head about. This has been a topic that has very much rung true to me in my studies. I'm feeling frustrated at what I want to call exchanging cultural generalizations. Cairo is a very international town, with plenty of foreigners coming through, so there has so be some sort of language to exchange ideas from different cultures and different lifestyles of living. However, if there is something my Women's Studies education has warned me of it's dealing in generalizations and homogenizing groups of people.

When we assume a group of people all share the same exact thinking and will behave in the same manner we remove them from the freedom of having individual personalities in our minds. Personally, this seems dangerous to me as it becomes an easy way to presuppose things about individuals, and prevent ourselves from getting to know other people/cultures on their own terms. This can even lead to otherizing groups of people and dehumanizing them, which is how prejudices and harassment become condoned. One of things I am trying to do in Cairo is not tell people back home about Egyptian "culture" so much as people I know, or personal things I have seen or experienced. Lila Abu-Lughod, an author I quite enjoy, has written about this topic in the introduction to her book "Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories" where she warns of "the danger of cultures." I highly recommend the book to anyone visiting a foreign country, especially Egypt. It's also simply a fascinating read!

To put it on the most straightforward, street-level terms: I'm tired of speaking for all of America or all of the Western world even. I feel like I have to preface everything with "Well, my experience is..." and end everything with, "but it really depends on the person."