Clothes

Hi Mella,

This was one of my my big panics as well.  Knowing what I know now, I realize that I was much too worried about it. 

Common sense prevails.  No boobie shows, no skin above the knees, (if you are walking about without a male companion I would suggest you keep it down to the ankles but to each his own), keep your shoulders covered.  Long skirts and pants are both fine, focus on lightweight fabrics.  Shoes can be open or closed toed, no problems there.  The young local women here wear all the latest fashion through the power of multiple layers of clothing so you can follow their lead on that one if you like.

Try not to worry about it too much - just use your head and you'll be fine.

laurieloo82 wrote:

The young women here wear all the latest fashion through the power of multiple layers of clothing so you can follow their lead on that one if you like.

Top it all off with the de rigeur amorphous black sack, and of course not forgetting to omit the Bono-style sunglasses 

What a cheeky bugger!

Judging by Sandman's profile picture he likes his ladies to be without the d'rigeur 'black sack' but doesnt take offence for the colour with plenty of skin on show?  No need for a response in the forum but if you feel you must, you can send me a note offline.

Getting back to advice on the post, I brought cotton long sleeve blouses and trouser for work.  I have t-shirts and cargo pants and leggings for leisure.  I made a mistake and didn't bring vest tops and shorts as I was too concerned they would be risque but shouldn't have worried as I live on Regatta and lots of Italian ladies here show plenty of skin.  Depends where you will be suppose.

I brought mule type sandals and shoes and ended up just living in my sandals at work and crocks and trainers at home.  Bring a couple of wraps or pashminas as they can be thrown over most things to protect your modesty.  Also it will get cooler next month and certainly in winter I'm told you'll need a fleece on a night.

Hope that helps.

008Angel Jay wrote:

Judging by Sandman's profile picture he likes his ladies to be without the d'rigeur 'black sack' but doesnt take offence for the colour with plenty of skin on show?  No need for a response in the forum but if you feel you must, you can send me a note offline.

Seeing as you've made the comment in the public domain, I'll respond in the same.

I'm not entirely sure what your point is here?

The fact that I show the pic of a vaguely attractive black girl as my avatar or that I mock the "black sack" culture? I am not offended by either.

What I do find sad is the disrespectful way in which Libyan men (including the married ones) publically taunt and insult women, irrespective of the woman's culture, religion or race. Don't kid yourself, it still happens if the woman is wearing the "black sack", which they, the men insist they wear. Doesn't this make a complete farce of the idea?

hi mella

i hope you doing well.

Regarding your mail above kindly be informed that in tripoli you have to wear long clothes not short to wear long clothes,and winter here in tripoli is heavy raining and summer is nice anyway if u have any further question don't hesitate contatc me,regards

Hi Mella,
Covered or not, Sandman is right, you will be catcalled and taunted when you walk down a street. Use your common sense and try not to attract attention to yourself.Dress for comfort in the summer.

at first for sure you'll feel like Lady Godiva regardless of what you are wearing

but then you get used and don't pay attention and all is fine!
and to be serious, try to cover the shoulders and no shorts as many have written, though a friend of mine demonstratively walks around the city center in a wifebeater shirt! and nothing happens!

nothing that is worse than what happens when you are modestly dressed if it happens

Again - Palachakh I must disagree with you.  Gosh - no personal vendetta, I promise, but it seems you and I do not see eye to eye on a few things .

I don't suggest walking around with a bunch of skin revealed if you value your personal safety.

The only woman I knew that did so was groped/grabbed by a local man.  When she started to yell to get him away from her he punched her in the face effectively splitting her lips in half the wrong way.

A black sack/modest dress may get you a disrespectful comment whereas dressing with complete disregard for the local culture may get you punched in the face.  Kind of a difference.

With all these women I know getting thrown in jail and punched in the face I may think about getting some new friends eh?

Not scaremonering, but ladies please be aware that robbery and rape is prevalent in Libya, both female and male.

No one will admit this of course, it is rarely reported and virtually never acted upon by the authorities.

Be sensible, don't go out alone at night ANYWHERE in town and avoid travelling in a car alone in case of breakdown.

Lauriloo82

personally I do agree that a girl is and must be sensible in this country And in any country: my personal idea of it is that if a girl rather obviously appeals to sensuality, she's got some problems with her boyfriend/husb/partner/whatever. a mature girl, the teenagers are not considered

just told about a bold friend of mine, we're just talking, eh?

and you do have many unlucky friends. Or does it depend on how long one stays in the country? Direct dependence?

"nothing that is worse than what happens when you are modestly dressed if it happens "

Sorry if I misunderstood you Palachakh.  I thought what you were trying to say here is that a person is likely to be treated the same way if they are dressed modestly or not which is a point that I vehemently disagree with. Maybe I missed your point? 

Both girls whose stories of trouble I have re-iterated in the forum had/have been here for about 1 or 1.5 years when the incidents arose.  I don't think time frames had anything to do with it.

Sandman6 wrote:

Be sensible, don't go out alone at night ANYWHERE in town and avoid travelling in a car alone in case of breakdown.

I second that.

Clothes

Thanks for all the advice - I appreciate it - and had a good laugh at some of the comments - I am in for an adventure and just love the Blog and conversations, thanks again

Mella

laurieloo82

well, it may depend on the time spent in the country - this is only a third month that I'm here. The more one stays, the more stories one learns, the wiser becomes.

I worded it somewhat provocatively , agree. And this is what I was interested to learn your ideas about - the reason tells me to wisely respect the local clothing traditions, and on the other hand my friend feels quite OK - the comments are no more in number than any given to other girls we get together with. But I told her the story - being abroad one is to watch for herself.

Forgot to mention that my friend doesn't walk alone in most cases.

laurieloo82 wrote:

[i] Maybe I missed your point?

There was no point - I am lost to make it , because like you, I really believe that if you are modestly dressed here, you'll be better of, but this is what I see, if not every day, than quite often.

I find it very strange question ,
where do you think libyan is ?

just bring your ordinary cloths , just dont go naked  in streets and dont put very tight or very short cloths

and believe me ,no one wd touch or bother you,, but they will stare if you look sexy ,,

anyway

good luck here ,,

And don't forget it is actually quite cold in winter.
And wet.