Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Are Shorts a Complete No No??

I wear capri length pants on safari and long skirts in towns and on the coast. On my first safari I was wearing a knee length skirt when the female Maasai camp manager who was very critical about some traditions told me that she would never be as disrespectful as to wearing shorts. Skimpy tops or no tops at all are quite acceptable to Maasai tradition, but female legs have to be covered – men can show whatever they like. I asked if my skirt was too short and she told me my skin was so white I could wear whatever I wanted. The only place where I’ve heard comments about how tourists dress is in Mombassa where I was told that Italians dress like whores. The person complained about was Russian, but the complainer wouldn’t believe me when I told him. She was wearing very small shorts, a tank top and high heels. In Lamu I asked a Rasta if I could wear a hideously coloured sleeveless beach dress on a walk to Shela. He answered “Why not? Because of the Muslim community? Feel free.” The dress really was a tent like thing that almost covered my shoulders without sleeves, but over it I put on a Columbia shirt that I’d bought when I thought that you needed that kind of clothes to go to Africa, and it felt like plastic. I can’t stand anything that’s not cotton. I don’t even think anyone noticed my effort to look decent.