Heading to Morocco and wondering how to dress? Check out Lucy’s travel fashion tips! Image by Lucy Copp.
This time last year I wrote my first blog post for Wanderful about driving cross-country with my best gal. Throughout the year, my posts ran on a spectrum of gentrification to Georgia beaches. As it turns out, being an anthropologist has not helped me focus my attention on one topic. (Let’s leave that to the PhDs!) It has, however, given me a set of tools to explore a wide range of interests and curiosities that make this world endlessly exciting!
That brings me to this month’s post, which is a combination of two of my worldly loves: fashion + Morocco. Because why choose? Here’s everything you need to know about traveling in style as a visitor to the lovely Morocco.
Dress in Fez
We’ll start our three-city style tour in Fez, the cultural capital of Morocco. Set in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, it is the most conservative of Morocco’s most-visited cities.
Here are the important things to keep in mind:
1. Wear closed-toed shoes in the Old City.
Too many run-ins with donkeys in small alleyways, and you’ll learn this lesson the hard way! Instead, take my word for it, and keep your sandals in your suitcase.
2. Try a silk scarf.
Why? Well, when you visit the tanneries, you may be thankful to have a buffer between the smell of soaking cow hides and your sinuses. Most tourists are offered a handful of mint leaves to keep pressed to their face, but you can never be too prepared!
3. Keep it simple.
I would recommend this for all travel in Morocco, but even more so in Fez. This city is an incredibly inspiring place — the colors, the aromas, the textiles — but it’s not a city to draw attention to yourself. Keep your clothes comfy, loose, and unassuming.
Ready for Rabat
1. Break out the sandals.
In Rabat it is all about those sandals! Unlike the Old City in Fez, Rabat has much wider passageways and far fewer donkeys. Plus, you’re a short walk from the Atlantic Ocean, and there’s no reason not to soak your toes in the sea. Everyone else is!
2. Don’t worry about bare arms.
Rabat is a hub of international activity and home to a large number of French expats. If you’re blonde and blue-eyed like myself, you will get looks and stares regardless, so enjoy a stroll down the corniche with your bare arms free.
3. Bring out the colors.
I was never a fan of the color orange until I met specific hue of Moroccan saffron.
After Fez you might be itching to break out into a more colorful palette. Don’t hold back! This capital has coffee shops galore, and, unlike Fez, there is an amazing public transportation system waiting to embrace your colorful fashion.
Made for Marrakech
1. Go monochrome.
We all know white keeps you cool, and now that we’re in the desert, it’s time to go monochrome. It’s cool, it’s classy, and — as you’ll notice below — white works best for nighttime photos.
2. Embrace the shorts!
Finally. In Marrakech it seems as though every tourist has arrived and promptly changed into shorts and tanks. The collective effort to combat desert heat results in a very lax dress code.
3. Try a big, floppy hat.
I haven’t pictured one here, but some sort of brimmed hat is essential. Depending on how long you’ve spent in Fez’s Old Medina, you’re probably ready for a suntan, but don’t be fooled. A cloudless sky and a desert sun were not this pale-skinned girl’s friend, and they might might not be yours, either. Bring a hat!
