clothing customs in egypt
 

my family will be in egypt over xmas (cairo, nile cruise, sharm el sheikh). I am wondering about how my 16 yr old daughter and I (48 yr old woman)should dress. are shorts ok? are pants ok? how modestly should we dress? are tank tops ok for my daughter? she does not own any long skirts, and as it is winter here in toronto finding summer weight clothing to buy will not be easy thanks!

I would not wear shorts anywhere in the middle east. You will understand once you are there!

At the beach or whatnot then its fine...but on the street you just want to be as modest as you can be.

Pants are fine....and shirts to cover up the tank top are fine...you dont have to be in skirts and all that...but I would just keep it modest!

When we went, the advice from some Fodors members who live in Cairo was "no shoulders, no breasts, no knees", so I wore capris and short-sleeve shirts (we were there in brutally hot temperatures), and closed-toe shoes (because walking around is dirty and hard in sandals and flip-flops, not because those are frowned on). The "standards" for your daughter are the same. All that said, we saw plenty, PLENTY, of tourists in clothing that would not meet these standards - especially tank tops (again, it was HOT). The young women we were with mostly wore tank tops, long skirts and flip-flops. We saw a woman at the Great Pyramid in a bathing suit and see-through coverup, no exaggeration.

Simple advice....- no shorts or tank tops unless you are at the beach. Pants, capris, skirts are fine. Shirts should cover the shoulders and upper arms.

Also, remember that shorts are not appropriate attire for men (again, except for the beach).

In general, attire on the Nile cruises is more relaxed, but once off the boat (shopping, tours, transport) - then back to the "no shoulders, no breasts, no knees" rule!

Count Grcxx3 among those from whom I got that advice originally (and good advice it was :-) )

But I think the official "no shoulders, no breasts, no knees" saying came from Debbie! I just agreed!!! :)

So, Erin Brokovich would "need to rethink her wardrobe" if she went there! (They're called boobs Ed...I just saw the movie again!!)

<<So, Erin Brokovich would "need to rethink her wardrobe" if she went there! >>

DEFINITELY!!!!

We were there in 2001 - but don't think things have changed all that much. We had our teenage daughter with us. Sure, we saw some tourists dressed in tank tops, shorts, etc. But this was not the norm. While visiting a mosque, some of the women were given shawls to were to cover up to be appropriate.

It is not about what you can "get away with". Your daughter needs to dress as conservatively as possible (as do you) to avoid offending and getting unwanted attention. Long pants, shirts that cover upper arm - even t-shirts are OK. She must have some of these. Absolutely not the short skirts young women are used to wearing. They sell appropriate clothing in Boston in the winter in major stores - and they must in Toronto as well.

There are also on-line/catalogs - I would try TravelSmith and Coldwater Creek for light-weight, packable loose comfortable clothing. While it would be expensive to buy your daughter an entire new wardrobe, explain to her that she is going to have fewer wardrobe choices on the trip - packing light.

All good advice. Just to add a p.s., I'd also have to agree that you should wear closed in shoes at all the sites (tombs, temples, pyramids) because the sand is very sharp and will be very uncomfortable in sandals, and you'll be walking so much on rocky places that treating it like a hike is a good idea. Wear closed, comfortable walking shoes. Also, I had a very small travel umbrella that I carried with me everywhere and used and it was much, much cooler than wearing a hat.

As a follow-up to tiny's post, because you're traveling with a 16-year old, I will say that while my husband and I wore closed-toe shoes at all the sites, and were glad we did, the four 20-somethings we were with all wore flip-flops EVERYWHERE!