Saturday, July 14, 2007


Nearly all Moroccan men wear baboosh—those soft leather slippers with no heel, often in yellow. Many women do as well but others wear high-heeled sandals, often in silver or gold tinsel.

Women are strongly attached to their "Moroccan wardrobe", despite the financial costs involved. The production of such garments is relatively expensive, as most of the work is done by hand. Despite the costs involved most women purchase a minimum of one new kaftan every year, normally for a special, social event, such as a religious festival or a wedding.

This jellaba is a national garment for men in Morocco and is beautifully made of polyester. The jellaba is hooded and long sleeved.Jellabas have a hood, while a Kaftan does not. The women’s jellabas are often colourful with ornate patterns, stitching, or beading, while men wear jellabas in plain and neutral colors.

This Moroccan garment is called gandora and is worn by men in Morocco. The gandora doesn’t have a hood and doesn’t have long sleeves like a Moroccan jellaba.

In Morocco, this beautiful piece is called
Burnoose or Selham. It is made in Morocco from a nice blend of wool and cotton. This Burnoose also has a hood with an elegant tassel. The Burnoose is worn by both Imazighen (Berbers) and Arabs. This garment is traditionally worn on a long garment such as a Moroccan hooded jellaba or a white Saharan gandora or robe as you can see on the image. The Moroccan Burnoose is a garment for any occasion.

This garment, traditionally called a
Gandora, is worn by men in the Saharan regions of Morocco. It is prestigious for men of the Sahara to wear lots of cloth. A long cotton turban is a traditional accent that is usually worn with these Saharan garments.

This Saharan turban is traditional and is a very practical head dress that men use for many purposes. Men in the Sahara Desert would use this turban to protect them selves from the wind, from the dust, from the cold during those harsh dry cold winter days and also against the pounding heat. Men in the Sahara, especially among the Kel Tamashek people also called Tuareg would wear a turban like this and cover their faces except the eyes even when they need to eat or drink. You would wonder why they would put theme selves through this, but it is a cultural practice to show respect to the others especially the elders in the community.

For special occasions, men also wear a red cap called tarbouche and mostly referred to as Fez.


Hillary Clinton in Moroccan attire


luihamu said...

Habari Afrikan Liz
Goodpost,Liz i know you have watched the GODS MUST BE CRAZY,i would love if you tell us a story about the AFRICAN ACTOR.

Nuff,Nuff Respect African Liz.


Habari Luihamu,

I have watched the "Gods must be Crazy". Very very hilarious!
I watched a documentary on Nxau the lead bushman in the flick. Nxau passed away a while back. He was very poor and living in squalid conditions despite the fame. I remember reading somewhere there was controversy over the pay he got for his role in the film as having been so low. I will dig for more information and post what i find on him soon. Stay tuned.

LallaLydia said...

Liz, this is a lovely post combining some great images and good explanation of the clothes. I'll link to you when I do one of my own. Cheers!


Thanks Lydia...reminds me I need to complete the Morocco country profile

Sabira said...

Thank you for this post too- Morocco is practically my motherland - I was really glad to see such a plenty of beautiful kaftans fnd dresses!

Keelan Clark said...

Where can I buy a burnoose like the one posted(third garment down)?!?!??

Keelan Clark said...

Where can I buy a burnoose like the one posted , third garment down?!?!?!?!?

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