"Moroccan Clothing and Fashion" by Colleen Daley
Traditional Moroccan clothing is widely known in both high fashion and media for featuring long robes, “dresses with pointy hoods”, and colorful patterns. In the past 20-30 years, however, most people in Morocco have stopped wearing traditional clothing except for special occasions such as weddings and festivals. We, at Amideast Morocco, wanted to share what our staff and teacher wear on a normal day, as modern working young people.
In general, urban Moroccans follow a mix of European, American, and traditional fashion trends. People tend, overall, to dress in more conservative ways, but also following the most up-to-date styles. Here, we have Soukaina, our Homestay Assistant, dressed in her favorite color, mauve, with an oversized jean jacket, white pants and sneakers, and a matching purse (and manicure, thought it doesn’t appear in the picture!).
Next, we feature Malika, our Program Assistant who is a favorite among students for her fashion sense. On a warm summer day where she had to meet with many outside vendors, and therefore represent Amideast, Malika was wearing a loose floral shirt with khaki pants and wedges with woven fabric as the main shoe.
As much as we talk about traditional clothing receding from the public sphere, however, many young people do own a traditional outfit or two. Our Arabic teacher Youssef decided to wear a more traditional outfit on the first day of class, to welcome students and show them a traditional outfit. He is wearing a sheer burgundy djellaba – a robe with a hood worn by both men and women – with hand-detailed edging on the sleeves and collar, and a white embroidered shirt and traditional wide-leg pants underneath. He completed the outfit with brown formal shoes.
Below are a few more looks you might see around the Agdal neighborhood of Rabat.
Colleen Daley is the Program Manager at Amideast Education Abroad Morocco.
