What can I wear in Dubai?

[blueberrymojito]

I’m off to Dubai for the first time soon. Obviously I want to dress respectfully when I’m there, but if anyone’s been before or lives there could give me some advice please that would be great!

Must I keep my shoulders and knees covered all the time? Or just in the malls?

What about when we’re sightseeing ie. going up the Burj Khalifa or around the hotel? Can I wear shorts, dresses etc?

Does anything go in the evening?

You are supposed to keep shoulders and knees covered in malls. There are signs on the doors going in. People don't always abide by this but now and again they have a bit of a clamp down and security will speak to people inappropriately dressed.

The malls are freezing anyway!

Invest in a pachmina. Great to throw round your shoulders.

Just been - it is relatively dressy. I went for breakfast in the burj Kalifs and wore a cream Midi skirt and smart lk bennet black linen t and that flet spot on

We went in November. I wore light material, cropped trousers past the knees and t shirts, covering the shoulders (not tightly fitted either) and sandals, in case of lots of walking in the daytime. I took dresses or long trousers for going out in the evenings. I also took a headscarf/pashmina for visiting mosques.

If you want to visit a mosque, they will lend you an Abbayeh - but it can be very hot, on top of your own clothes! I recommend wearing long trousers, a long sleeved top and a head scarf of your own. (We visited the big mosque at Abu Dhabi, which is stunning; and did the cultural tour in Dubai, which includes a small mosque.)

Walking round the malls, you can see Western tourists wearing practically anything, but we were staying with a relative, who works there and needs to respect local culture, and we did too!

We went to a brunch in a nice hotel on the Friday - a smart dress is good for that. However people were in shorts, swim wear, etc round the pool and on the beach. We also went to the desert show at Al Hadeeyrah in the evening - a cardigan might come in handy, as the desert gets cool at night in November and probably still is at this time of year! Both were fantastic!