1. Find an occasion that requires an outfit. 

When you think of the Middle East, what comes to mind for most Americans are images of either war-ravished waste-lands or wealthy, fossil fuel tycoons. Culture, in the sense of visual and performing arts are usually assumed to not have much of a place in the desert. And yet Oman’s sultan, a fan of classical music himself, ordered the building of an opera house in 2001. Fletch and I knew nothing about this, but when Stefan and Tanja asked us if we wanted to go to the opera, I was all too excited to say yes. Living on isolated islands for the past few years, there hasn’t been much in the way of culture in our lives for quite some time. 

That left the question of what to wear to a fancy dress event in a Muslim country? The internet offered little to no help with that query. I had dress clothes, but perhaps not conservative enough ones for the place we were going. How modest would I have to dress? Shoulders covered? Shoulders and arms covered? Everything down to the ankle? Full burqa? (Hopefully not). I didn’t want to disrespect anyone’s customs, but I also didn’t want to be the only white girl not dressed up in normal, western, formalwear, if the standard long, evening dress was acceptable. (Spoiler alert: it would have been.)

So we decided that we would all go shopping in Oman. Fletch and Stefan would have suits made, and Tanja and I would find nice dresses. Surely if it was available in Oman, then it would be appropriate to wear in Oman. 

2. Understand how to dress in other situations, like at the resort. 

As long as we’re discussing clothes in Muslim countries, I might as well share my other tips for dressing in Oman. As long as we were in the resort area, normal clothes were perfectly acceptable. I mean I should hope so, as I’ve already said, there was absolutely no one there. So my daily attire was short board shorts and a short-sleeved t-shirt. Just to be safe, I only packed t-shirts with sleeves, and left all the tank tops behind. In retrospect, tank tops would not have been an issue around the resort.

These come in all different colors and were my go-to shorts while working at the dive shop.

3. Or in town… 

Going into town, all four of us would wear long, cotton pants and normal, short-sleeved, t-shirts. Basically keep your ankles and your shoulders covered and you’re good. Think that collection of elephant pants you bought in Thailand. (Except skip the crop tops you paired them with in Thailand.)

Haven’t made it to Thailand yet? Click image to order on Amazon.

The capital city of Muscat was much more of a melting pot of different cultures than I had expected, and everyone wore the clothing from their home countries. The Indian ladies dressed in brightly colored long tunics with matching pants. The Saudi men wore the traditional headdress of a square piece of cloth with a black cord doubled around to hold it in place. The Filipinos wore the closest thing to Western-style clothing. No one gave us a second look wearing our normal (though more coverage than we might wear at home) white-person clothes. 

Keep it modest though. Anything too form-fitting or revealing and you’re going to get stared at uncomfortably. I decided to walk the five minutes from the dive shop to the apartment one day without putting my shirt back on over my bikini. Hey, there was never anyone around. Except that day all the groundsmen were out and had absolutely zero shame in staring me down. No one said anything or made any uncomfortable moves, just ogled unblinkingly with blank stares. That was the last time I ever walked home without a shirt on. 

4. Or at the Mosque… 

Visiting a mosque is an entirely different affair. If you care to see the inside of a mosque, that is when all your pre-conceptions about how to cover every inch of skin in a Muslim country will come into play. Ladies must cover everything down to the wrists and ankles, and wear a scarf to cover their hair. 

Loose, flowy tops are a good staple to pack. I bought one with a little more flair that I would wear again, but wore an extra shirt underneath it at the mosque. And pants obviously… Why does Amazon have to have a picture of a half naked lady for the shirt I wore to the mosque? This is how I kill my credibility as a resource.

5. Figure out how to get to a place with shopping.

I’m getting off track, so back to shopping. The capital city of Muscat was an hour away from the resort town in Sifah. Oman didn’t have anything in the way of public transportation as far as we were aware. Hired transfers were available but could be costly. Tanja and Stefan had a company car, but as he was the only one with a work permit, he was the only one who was allowed to drive it. Plus they shared the car with the liveaboard crew who would commandeer it on the weekends. You’ll understand now why any trip into town was something that had to be planned and coordinated. 

The four of us finally did manage a trip into town and Stefan brought us to one of the larger malls. The malls in Oman, were much like the malls in the US: large indoor areas with bright artificial lights, white tiled floors, endless arrays of stores and food courts… The stores were even many of the same name brands we were already familiar with: Aldo, Claire’s, Crocks, Steve Madden, Pandora…

6. Start with the familiar to get your bearings. 

We spied the Pandora shop and had to go in and see if they had an Oman charm for my bracelet. The Omani options were a palm tree or a camel. I pounced on the cute little camel who had his legs folded under him. I so wanted to see a camel in the desert. We were out of the store again in a jiffy. Now if only the rest of our shopping could go as seamlessly. 

7. Men are easier, suit them up first. 

Fletch and Stefan had no issue finding a suit shop to tailor a matching pair of suits for them. They were even able to find ties, belts, and shoes, all at the same shop. Tanja had flown to Dubai to buy her dress, so then it was just attire for me left to find. 

8. Search for a dress. 

We searched the entire mall for lady’s apparel.* I was surprised by how few options there were, especially given how modern and Westernized the mall was in every other respect. I mean it even had a Chili’s and a Cinnabon! Side note, the usual, delicious Cinnabon smell was not wafting through the rest of the mall like it does back in the US. It was highly disappointing. Everything smelled of the kiosk perfume samples instead. They are very into perfumes in Oman. 

The few women’s stores we did find had almost nothing in the way of dress apparel. The one or two dresses that were to be found looked like something even Laura Ingalls would be ashamed to wear. The closest thing I could find to an evening dress was one, random flamenco dress covered in frills and tassels in every color. I picked it up for a moment before Fletch said, “Friends don’t let friends wear that to the opera.”

I get that all the Omani women wear burqas in public, but does no one ever decide to dress up underneath for their own enjoyment? 

*This mall was the City Centre Muscat. Their website boasts 68,000 square meters (732,000 square feet) of retail space, and more than 220 international brands, but when you click on woman’s fashion, 7 stores come up. 

9. Give up on the dress and settle for a pantsuit. 

When we had scoured the entire mall, I returned to the one store that had had a couple jumpsuit type outfits that would probably have been more suitable for clubbing. They looked even sadder and more unshapely on my defeated frame than they did on the hanger. I was so desperate to find something to wear, anything to wear, that I even took a spin through Forever 21. That was when I realized it was hopeless, when I found myself shopping at Forever 21 for the opera. 

A lot of women at the opera did try to appease the dress code by wearing pantsuits in some shape or fashion. Just be sure shoulders and knees are covered.

10. Give up on the pantsuit and settle for a stiff drink. 

Defeated, we headed to Chili’s for a bite to eat. I flipped straight back to the drink section which had some creative sounding cocktails, only being a Muslim country, they were all mocktails. Apparently no one bothered to tell the designers of the mall that the full name of the restaurant was “Chili’s Grill & Bar.” It’s kind of hard to have a “grill & bar” without the “bar,” but there we were…

11. Realize that giving up isn’t actually an option if you want to attend the opera. 

All I had back at the apartment was an assortment of swimsuits and beachwear. I really should have had the forethought to bring a backup dress option, but I didn’t, so there was no choice but to make another shopping trip, and if you know me, then you know how delightful the prospect of repeating the whole process was. 

12. Consider going full princess. 

We returned the following evening to another mall,* even grander this time with a Cold Stone Creamery that didn’t have any cake-batter ice cream scents wafting out (what was with that? I love the smell of Cold Stone…). This time there were a couple formal options, but over-the-top, formal ballroom gowns with feathered skirts and jeweled bodices that cost a left kidney. I might have even considered being the most over-dressed person at the opera except there would have been no easy way to transport all that frill home to the US. Could I just find some middle ground, please? 

*This mall was the Muscat Grand Mall. 

13. Rejoice at the first, and only, simple black dress, and fancy it up with some sparkly shoes. 

I finally found what was basically a long, fitted t-shirt dress at a Canadian, casual-wear brand called Garage. It was black so I would blend right in. That was as good as I could ask for at that point. Hopefully I wouldn’t be barred from entering the opera due to it being too form-fitting. Finding shoes and accessories afterwards was easy. Apparently Omani women love to pair fancy shoes with their burqas, and the options in that department were endless. 

I ended up with something similar to this, but with short sleeves…

So even though I’ve written this whole post as a mock tutorial, my advice to any tourists wanting to attend an opera in Oman would be to skip shopping in Oman and just bring clothes with you. The dress code for the opera was to have the shoulders and knee-caps covered. Besides that, I saw a lot more skin from some of the western ladies than I expected to, so don’t worry too much about trying to go over-the-top modest. If the opera police decide that you are dressed inappropriately, there are burqas for rent. One white girl was given one at the performance we attended and she wore it all open down the front so that she looked like she was attending her college graduation. Ahh the loopholes we jump through to try and make a fashion statement…

I will write about the actual opera and the beautiful, Royal Opera House in another post. Until then, take an extra moment to appreciate being able to wear whatever you want to wear today. Pajamas? A prom dress? Skinny jeans? Maybe you enjoy wearing Little House on the Prairie dresses! And that’s great, because it’s your choice. 

Disclosure: Please note that some of the images above contain affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I use Amazon and recommend them because they rock and have made my travel shopping easier.