Dress Code in Turkey for wk
 

Hello I might be travelling to Turkey next summer with my daughter who will be 16 and I was just wondering what would be the appropriate dress code in Turkey for us?

I meant to type out women my bad

Just normal.

I have to be more precise: Dress like you would dress in New York City and not like in Wal-Mart.

Assuming you'll be spending most of your time in larger cities: Turkey is essentially a secular society where many women dress the way they would in any major city in the world. There are women who dress in conservative Muslim garb, but there's a mixture.

One would not wander around even Istanbul is halter top, shorts and flip flops - although you could at a beach resort. Dress as you would in any big city.

Some people do dress that way in big cities, however, I see it all the time on tourists where I live (Wash DC). I've seen that kind of garb in Paris, also.

SO given one doesn't know the OP's daughter, perhaps some advice other than dress the way you usually do would be in order.

When I visited an Islamic country that was supposedly "secularized", I did not dress the same way as at home. I dressed more conservatively. But I saw plenty of tourists (lots of Germans in particular) who still dressed in shorts and tank tops, for example. Sure, they "could" do it, but I saw some of the local men eyeing them a lot and I think it was a bad idea. I never wore shorts but I don't care for them, anyway, I wore lightweight cotton skirts that were about knee length (which I prefer when really hot anyway, I got a couple cute ones at H&M that just roll up for travel) or very lightweight cotton trousers longer than kneelength (to ankle or at least calves) and I didn't wear any top that was more exposed than a simple sleeveless blouse. OUr local guide, who was raised and educated there, did wear shorts, actually, but they were tailored Bermuda-length shorts that came to her knee. I was surprised by that, actually.

I have only been to Turkey once many years ago and that's the way I dressed when I was there, but lots of people do wear shorts, fliflops and tank/halter tops in big cities.

The OP doesn't say they are only going to be in big cities, anyway.

The previous recommendations are fine if you are not visiting a mosque. However, if visiting mosques is in your agenda, there are definite dress codes for both males and females.

Google "blue mosque dress sign images" to see the signs you would see at mosque entrances.

At highly visited places like the Blue Mosque, they would supply sheets to cover legs, shoulders, and head (for women.) I saw a lot of people coming with inappropriate clothes and they ended up looking up someone from the South Pacific with loose sheets wrapped all over. At Blue Mosque, you must walk past the "attire inspectors" who would provide free sheets.

Bring a scarf to cover your hair when you visit a mosque.

>>The OP doesn't say they are only going to be in big cities, anyway.<<

The OP doesn't say anything, other than "Turkey." All advice regarding cities was prefaced with "if you go to the cities."

Thank you for all the replies and I'm sorry if I wasn't being specific. We would be mainly staying in Istanbul

Istanbul is a surprisingly conservative city, except for the tourist areas in Sultanahmet, also in Beyoğlu and Taksim (which are on the European side around the Galata tower). In other areas, it's best to dress conservatively, with clothing covering at least to near the elbows and the knees, with nothing tight-fitting. If you're only going to the areas I mentioned, the local Istanbullians are quite used to foreigners and less conservative clothing, but for a general rule, conservative dress is a good idea.

<i>but lots of people do wear shorts, fliflops and tank/halter tops in big cities.</i>

Did not see that in the tourist areas when we were there in June. Generally I would say that Istanbul looks more conservative than in 2008, the last time we were there.

Istanbul has Islamist areas and regular districts.

Except for the Islamist districts of Fatih (non-touristic areas), Beykoz and Uskudar, you have no reason to be concerned with what you wear. Many wear shorts and halter tops during the day along the Bosphorus, at Besiktas, Nisantas, Tesvikiye, Sisli, Kurtulus, Harbiye, Cihangir and Kadikoy.

I would not advise wearing them at the Grand and Spice bazaars, but Sirkeci and Karakoy are fine.

You can check my photographs during the Gezi Park protests in June 2013 at, Taksim and Istiklal.

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