Dress

Mauritania is an Islamic Republic. As such, you will notice that the dress code here is very different than our standards. I want to be careful to say more or less conservative, it’s just plain different as you will see. It is very common to see men and women in what you might consider to be “traditional Arab dress” in the Moor communities. In the other cultures however, you will see more of what you might think of as a “traditional African dress”. I believe that there is a difference between the Soniké, Wolof, and Pulaar community’s dress, however I really can’t tell the difference. It is very obvious though how these cultures differ from the Moors. There some common threads among all of the groups that you should be aware of that concern the dress code.

Legs: Both men and women must always cover their legs. There are exceptions for when you are participating in sports for men in all cultures, and women mostly just in the South. For sports, it is acceptable for men to wear what you would consider to be normal athletic shorts – usually for soccer. When I’ve been out running, I’ve seen other Mauritanian runners (only men), but I have never seen anyone in the short running shorts that runners wear. I saw women in Rosso who wore shorts to play basketball (what you would think of regular basketball shorts), but the shortest is just above the knees. Apart from sports, it is unacceptable to see the outline of a woman’s leg generally speaking. That means obviously no pants, but also you must be very careful to make sure that you can’t see the outline of your legs through your dress at all. So, you’ll see women double layering and wearing slips often. For men, it is acceptable to wear a very baggy pant that almost looks like a skirt that goes to just below the knees. It is however then accompanied by a boubou, which is basically a king sized bed sheet draped over you.

Women and heads: Women generally speaking always cover their heads once they reach puberty. In Rosso, there were some women who bent the rules, but I think this was mostly due to the liberal atmosphere and proximity to Senegal. Here in the North, I always cover my head.

The torso: In general, one should cover their sholders (both men and women). However, on very hot days, I’ve seen men walking around with no shirt under their boubou, and some women in the South will wear cover only a little of their shoulders. Around the house (not on the street) both men and women may walk around topless. This is only for when they are working in the house with only family present.

Moor dress: Women will wear what is called the veil in English, in Hassaniya: the Mulafa. It is a 6yd long piece of fabric that is wrapped around the body and then around again to cover the head. Generally women do not cover their faces, unless it is very windy when it is best to cover up to avoid getting sand everywhere. Underneath this women will traditionally wear a full length skirt as well to make sure you can’t see their legs. With the younger generation we’re starting to see young girls wearing jeans and such underneath the mulafa, however that is not mainstream. The traditional dress for men is the kafta and boubou. These are the shorter baggy pants with the big sheet. They will usually wear a t-shirt (with sleeves) underneath. It is becoming very acceptable for men to wear “western style” clothing as well, especially in cities.
Other cultures: Unlike the Moor population, these cultures will use a tailor to make their clothes. Women will wear what is called a “complete” meaning a shirt, skirt, and head piece. All the pieces are made from the same brightly colored fabric, but separate from each other. Men will also wear very brightly colored clothing. They have a boubou that is apparently different from the Moor boubou, but I can’t tell a difference (but I also haven’t seen many non-Moors wearing a boubou). Men will very often wear either western dress (jeans and a t-shirt) or what we like to call the pajama outfit. It’s just pants and a long-sleeved shirt made out of brightly colored fabric. Many times they will have the tailors embroider fancy designs on this outfit to make it very dressy.

This is my host Mom standing outside the front door. She is wearing the traditional Moor outfit.

This is a picture of some other volunteers with their host family. Notice the woman in the veil, and the man in the “western-style clothing”. The regular dress code as described in the text is applicable only to those persons past puberty. For this reason you can see kids in shorts, and no head cover on the girls. This picture was also taken in Rosso, so the female volunteer does not have her head covered.

This is me in what my family called my “Wolof outfit”. All three pieces are from the same fabric, and it is obviously quite bright!

This is my host sister, again in a Mulafa.

Here I am with some other volunteers and a host parent. The Mauritanian man is wearing the “kaftin” – which is usually white. Notice that the male volunteer’s legs are only covered past his knees – this is acceptable for a foreigner, but usually Mauritanians would accompany the shorter trousers with a boubou.

Here you can see a variety of dress on some volunteers. From left to right, you have a male wearing western attire on top, with the “chis” on bottom. The chis are the short, baggy pants men wear usually under a boubou. Next is me, in a Wolof outfit. The guy to the right of me is wearing a boubou, but you really can’t see it. The next female is wearing the Mulafa. Next to her is another non-moor outfit (but made of Mulafa fabric). The next man is wearing the “pajama outfit” as described in the text. This was made of Mulafa fabric as well, but his host mom dyed it because it was too “girly of colors”. The final guy is in a fancy boubou with complete western attire underneath.

I had three more pictures... but I did something to the desktop that I'm going to have to fix... hopefully I'll put these up in a few days. Thanks!