Oman's National Dress

Friday, October 14, 2016


Back in October of last year I did a post on Women's Clothing in Oman. I wrote briefly on the do's and don'ts, as well as the common fashion. I also said I would do a post on men's dress, but never got to it. Fortunately for me, I found some AMAZING infographics on Oman's National Dress. So I will revisit the topic. I will post photos for both male and female, followed by the amazing infographics. Click the (YES I'LL SAY AMAZING AGAIN, sorry I fell in love) infographic to open the source and see it closer. It's super interesting. Photos are from Pinterest. EDIT: inforgraphics are from Times Of Oman (click for interactive website).

On the original October post, I focused on the abaya:


Abayas are the common dress for women in the GCC, but it is definitely not the Omani woman's traditional dress. Abayas are most commonly black (October post shows an array of designs), but the national traditional dress is much more lively and vibrant.

Women's Traditional Dress





The last two are more Bedouin style & they are wearing the Omani Burqa



Quick Points:

  • Traditional Silver jewelry (statement pieces, think BOLD)
  • Wear Henna & Kohl (eyeliner)
  • Omani Burqa is more of a mask (pre dates Islam)
  • Wear Headdress
  • Bottom half of infographic shows all the diverse attire

This is a quick video on women of Oman, although I find the hostess slightly annoying. 😬  The first bedouin woman cracked me up, she was cute. 

Men's traditional dress














Quick Points:

  • Main garment: Omani Dishdasha
  • Wear with either Kumma ("cap") or Mussar (turban and usually for formal occasions)
  • Dagger around waist: Khanjar 
  • Staff in hand: Khazeran (also the Omani equivalent to the Mexican chancla aka how you get it handed to you) 
  • Khanjar & Khazeran not worn daily, mostly special occasions. At least in Muscat.
  • Sandals are worn on every occasion with dishdasha
  • White dishdashas are the common color, soft colors are also the norm. 
Special blurb on the Wizar. Seriously it's my favorite thing LOL. So for underwear the men wear a white shirt under their dishdasha as well as the wizar. Which is a fabric that is tightly wrapped around their waist and the length is almost, if not the same, as the dishdasha (See photo below). I think mostly the older men wear just that. But some of younger men will wear boxers (or briefs) underneath the Wizar, at least in Muscat. 

Funny-not-so-funny story, we were passing a sign that said "Wizarat" on the road and I asked my friend what it meant. I heard him say "MYSTERY." So in my head I immediately thought of a joke that combined wizar and wizarat, but withheld from saying it out loud. It wasn't until a week or two later that it dawned on me that we were driving through the MINISTRY district and I had understood differently. Thankfully, I saved myself on that bad joke. 


melissa

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