What to Wear in Beirut

People have asked me how people—especially women—dress in Beirut. I’ll say right off that mercifully, Beirut seems to be pretty liberal in its dress code. Mercifully because it is so hot here that the idea of long sleeves makes me sweat just thinking about it. Lots of women—probably about half of the ones I see—wear tank tops, some of which are akin to those worn by UMF undergrads: tight, with spaghetti straps. Perhaps one out of every 10 women I see dresses in traditional hejab, with a long, flowing robe-type garment obscuring the shape of their bodies and covering all but hands and face. Perhaps one out of four women wears a head scarf. Even some in head scarves—especially the younger ones--wear fairly tight short-sleeved shirts and cropped pants. Some of the head scarves are really colorful and pretty. Even some of the full-length hejab robes that I’ve seen have really pretty embroidery on them. You won’t see people in shorts, however. Nor any skirts much above mid-calf. I can’t think of anything that would say “American tourist” quite like the sight of pasty-white legs sticking out from LL Bean hiking shorts, so I’m leaving mine in the drawer.