"Dress Advisory" Dubai Local Custom Tip by DesertRat

Women: Even though you'll see Western women running around Dubai wearing exactly what they'd wear in London, Chicago, or Sydney, do please take the local Muslim population into consideration by NOT wearing spaghetti straps, sleeveless dresses or blouses, shorts, or two-piece bathing suits. You can get by with a bikini on a private beach owned by a 5-starr hotel, but otherwise, never.

Men: Do not wear shorts except when obviously participating in a sport, and stay away from tank-tops as well.

Both: Remember, Dubai, for all its 21st century trappings, is still a predominately Muslim city. The way non-Muslims dress is seen as highly provocative and morally repugnant. Frankly put, women who dress this way are seen as being very little more respectable than a whore.

Although many Emiratis themselves are very sophisticated and could care less how visitors dress, a large percentage of the resident population comes from other much more conservative Muslim countries where such tolerance is unknown.