Did you ever feel like living abroad? Yes? Well, you’ll most likely have to think about one thing in particular before choosing your country. Let me introduce to you, the fashion sense.

Not what you had expected, hum? This doesn’t surprise me. Even more if you come from a western country. Indeed, in the “modern countries” we tend to see all kind of styles, and even if judging people are everywhere, we have the chance to be free to wear mostly whatever we want. However, if you plan to go to a more traditional country, you may have to be more careful about how you choose to dress. Unfortunately, respect will not always be the only reason. You will have to do it for your safety as well.

Many countries are way more traditionalist than the U.S. or Canada who have no problem going to the groceries store in pyjamas. On the contrary, in countries with more traditional or religious cultures, people are not used to seeing women wearing revealing clothes which can even be illegal.

Some Muslim countries, for example, made mandatory for women to wear the hijab. Even if you are in a country like Morocco, where women are free to keep their hair visible, it would be disrespectful to not wear a scarf in religious places, just like how people would take their hat off when entering in a church.

Similarly, in India, many corners of the country are still far from the modern culture and people still wear traditional attires. Indeed, cities like New Delhi or Goa that are very touristic are more aware of the western fashion style and even Indian youngsters are now far from the traditional dressing style, but if you plan to visit some villages, make sure to dress accordingly to avoid both offending villagers and attracting unwanted attention.

On a side note, there is something I noticed that bothered me. In many countries I lived in there was a lot of hypocrisy.

Western countries tend to claim they are modern and love to pretend that freedom is one of their main characteristics. Unfortunately, even in France, Spain, Italy, or Canada, I encountered many judgemental looks because I was wearing high knee boots. Yes, yes, you read that right. I also saw many girls being insulted because they were wearing either shorts or a hijab.

To sum up, no matter if girls are completely covered, or dressed in revealing clothes, they are judged, or even prevented from entering in some public places. Is it really freedom these countries are defending? Or hypocrisy? I guess that is the question you will have to build your opinion on during your travels.

Angelika, a Frenchie with limited patience and very low social energy. She very often hates people who are loved by everyone and complain approximately 100 percent of the time. She generally talks way too much when she stresses and always promises herself that she would never do that again, before, of course, doing it again.