What Women Wear in Turkey

Most Turks are Muslims, but Turkish society is modern and predominantly secular, so European dress styles prevail. For your holiday in Turkey, dress the same as you would to visit France, Germany, Italy or the UK.

Many observant Turkish Muslim women (perhaps 30% of the female population) dress in tesettür, a headscarf and light cover-all topcoat, when going out in public. This satisfies the Islamic admonition to modest dress without infringing Turkish law which prohibits religious dress in public places.

You may see women in burka (full-body covering, with veil), but they will most likely be visitors from other countries with a stricter interpretation of Islamic dress traditions. Actually, the veil is outlawed in Turkey (but the law is little enforced), and even the wearing of headscarves in secular contexts (universities, government offices, etc.) is controversial.

Quick dress rules:

1. Stylish casual dress for most places. Dress up more for the cities, less for the seaside resorts. The nearly universal summer tourist dress of shorts-and-a-T-shirt is fine except in mosques, but in Turkish cities--as in New York, Sydney or London—most of the local people around you will be more stylishly dressed.

2. To visit mosques, clean and modest dress is appreciated and often required. In short, don't show thighs, shoulders or tops of upper arms. Slacks, or knee-length skirt or dress; blouse or top with sleeves to at least the mid-upper-arm. Have a headscarf to cover your hair. In cooler seasons, a light hoodie is a great idea: just raise the hood when entering a mosque, and you needn't bother with a headscarf!

No shorts, sleeveless tops (tank tops) or revealing clothing for men or women, please. Shoes don't matter as you will be removing them before entering the mosque in any case (so slip-ons make it easier). At the most-visited mosques (such as Istanbul's Blue Mosque), attendants may provide cover-all robes (free) if your manner of dress is questionable.

3. In seaside resort towns, dress as you like. Outright nudity is illegal, but some tourists go topless on Turkish beaches and are rarely questioned (though sometimes photographed by other tourists and the Turkish press!)

4. In the better restaurants, dress is somewhat more formal than in the USA or Australia. Avoid wearing shorts to a good restaurant or dining room for any meal. In the evening, stylish dress, slacks or skirt-and-top are preferred, and men will feel most comfortable if they wear jackets—even if, like many Turks, they remove them half-way through dinner!

5. In rural areas away from the tourist throngs, Turks will readily accept you as you are, but women in more modest dress (sleeved tops, slacks or knee-length dresses or skirts) may be seen as worthier of respect. A foreign woman wanting to fit in with traditional village life would wear slacks (or, going native, the comfortable Turkish bloomers called salvar [SHAHL-vahr]), a top with sleeves at least to the elbows and perhaps even to the wrists, and a headscarf, when out in public.

You'll want to dress for the weather, also. See Tom's Turkish Almanac for a month-by-month summary of weather and temperature.

Tom's Turkish Almanac

Women Travelers

Women in Turkish Society

"Burka Beauties"

Women Travelers Forum

Safety

Travel Details

TTP Homepage

Above, meet a typical young Turkish Muslim woman out shopping in Istanbul. Note the fashion mag.

Below, university students at an Istanbul outdoor cafe. No headscarves here.

Typical village dress: long-sleeved tops, salvar (bloomers), and, in two cases out of three, headscarves.