Wrong.
The bright printed fabrics are worn all over (in the summer) and are known as “lawn”.
They are made of a light material and are cool to wear.
The heavier cloth which is “soft” is worn mostly in winters, Its usually plain although with different colours.
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Those responding, please note that this thread is over seven years old.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Yep. The Soviets just couldn’t get their hands on enough decadent Western hard currency. My great aunt when to the USSR more than once (as well as several other Eastern Bloc countries). You had to book tours with Intourist (the state tourism authority), and usually stayed in special hotels for foreigners (from non-socialist countries). Which according to her were of the same quality as Western Europe. In fact on one trip there was some kind of snafu with the foreigners’ hotel and her tour group ended up staying at a guesthouse for CPSU members.
Cuba loves American tourists. They’ll even give to a stamped card to put in your passport instead of stamping it to avoid attracting scrutiny with the US border guards. It’s even possible to visit North Korea on vacation; provided you book a tour with the Ministry of Tourism and don’t mind government minders accompany you everywhere. Ditto for Burma/Myanmar.
A couple years ago I travelled through Armenia with two young Spanish women who were working in Iran and we had a conversation about the dress codes there. One of them had once been arrested because too much of her hair was visible from under her veil. However, she said this arrest occurred only because she “looked like” a native Iranian and as soon as she was able to produce documentation that she was actually a foreigner, she was released. Nonetheless they were both very clear that visiting women have to expect to cover up.
Neither of them thought that being Jewish and/or American would be much of an issue. I mentioned that I’d like to visit Iran but I wanted to wait until I had a non-US passport to do so, and they thought this was silly of me. They also said that there are plenty of Jews there and as far as they knew they mostly got by ok.
Of course, if you’re the sort of ideological American Jew who can’t stop talking about Israel’s divine right to the West Bank, you might have a problem… but I don’t think Eva Luna would have too much to worry about 
According to a news blurb I saw, Spanish female soldiers would sometimes be met with surprise, but it’s not like those uniforms can be accused of being unmodest; they kept their caps on constantly, the locals accepted that wearing a scarf would put them “out of uniform” and be therefore unacceptable. They talked to a corporal who said the locals had asked male privates how come they took orders from women and the privates had answered along the lines of “dude, she’s in my chain of command, of course I obey her. Don’t you obey your mother?” What was weird was seeing military women, but that a military woman will wear military clothing was seen as perfectly logical.
Reporters usually wear covering clothes and a scarf which covers their hair completely, with the hair in a bun if necessary. Tourists seem to dress like shit in every country (seriously, what is it about being away from our closet that makes even the most reasonable human being grow a fondness for white socks and sandals?). Medical personnel have their own dress code, in general people who are going to a foreign mission for medical attention are too busy being in pain to worry about dress codes.
May I point out that salwar kameez and a scarf are wonderful traveling clothes? Loose cotton fabric, no real metal unless you have metal buttons [my favorite 3 or 4 sets are elastic waist, and just tunics with no fasteners, perfect for TSA shit] and the shawl that comes with the set is great for an impromptu shawl, scarf, sunshade and light blanket type wrap for snoozing. Add some comfy ballet type slippers and it is fantastic on a plane for being comfy, and the best thing is that the outfit is modest for ANYWHERE. Not ethe picture used above is not me, I found it online. You can google shalwar kameez and find all sorts of links for buying them. Some come with scarves and some do not, there are a variety of styles, the prevalent shopping pages seem to be indian.
So what would happen if a woman unintentionally found herself in one of these countries and had no veil or full body covering or whatever was required?
Like, if her plane was re-routed and had to do an emergency landing in SA and all she was wearing was short-shorts and a tank top? What would happen to her upon de-planing?
I lived in Saudi Arabia for 11 years, yes I had an abyah an only wore it when I went to Riyaidh. I covered my hair then too(but the scarf kept falling off) During my time there (1993-2004) most Western women did not wear the abyah, but very modest clothing that covered most of your body, Not tight jeans/leggings, tank tops etc. Flying into Saudi the Saudi/or other Arab women would be in western clothes and once they got into the Saudi airspace, the abyahs would come out. Samething in reverse, going out the abyahs came off.
Women friends of mine went to Iran. They had headcoverings that they wore all the time,in public, when there, sort of like a black cloth ski hat that fit close around the face., No hair showing at all. They wore these along with long black abyahs. (they had their pictures taken in front of a sign that said “Death to America” in what was I believe was the former Intercontinetal Hotel in Tehran.)
As far as Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, the UAE and Qatar, as far as I have experienced, the hajib is for the Muslims.
So they’re only wearing them b/c they’re forced to, not because they believe that they should wear them in respect to their relgious beliefs? 
Most likely sombody would give her something to coverup with. Also what woman goes on an international flight wearing short-shorts & a tank top with no other clothes in her carryon (or checked baggage)? :dubious: She’d spend most of the flight freezing or covered with cheap blankets.
Like who? And what if no one did?
Could easily happen, especially with a young woman who has never flown before or took a spur of the moment trip. She could be flying Hong Kong to Greece, and the plane gets diverted to SA enroute. Also I never said she had no other clothes in her CHECKED bag. What happens in the airport while she is waiting to access her bags?
IMO, I think it is more a cultural(read tribal) thing in Saudi. There is a lot of pressure to conform. In gerneral the Saudi women will were the hajib even out of the country , not the full abaya, for religious reason. This is my experience, knowing Saudi women personally. Can’t speak about EVERY woman in Saudi.
Not wearing an abaya would be the least of her concerns then. I take it you have never been stranded. I have, Let me tell you; what you are dressed as is not even on the local authorities minds; its more like; how the hell do I get these people away.
