Clothing

I took a scarf for mosques and gave no thought to anything else. Keep in mind you'll be removing your shoes so you may want to carry some socks to put on.

When I was in line to enter the Blue Mosque in August, I saw women wearing knee length skirts being loaned a longer garment to wear over their own clothes.

If their head scarf didn't fully cover their hair, they were also given a loaner scarf.

Other than mosques, in Istanbul, there was every extreme of dress from the most conservative to the most revealing. I felt very much in the center with long pants and lightweight but long sleeves to keep the sun off.

Outside of Istanbul, some cities will be more conservative in dress styles.

I traveled in Turkey last October, and it really wasn’t shorts weather most of the time. I was perfectly comfortable in long pants. I think I took a longer (over the knee) skirt and/or cropped pants for warmer days. I just now looked at the weather predictions for the next week in Istanbul and the highs were in the 60’s and low 70’s. Personally I would not wear shorts at those temperatures.

You’ll see all kinds of clothes in Istanbul, but other areas are more conservative. I tend to err on the side of somewhat conservative clothing when I travel. Take a light scarf that can be put in your purse or backpack for those occasional times you may need it when visiting a mosque. There’s no need to cover your head or ankles at all times.

I will say it depends on the mosque and the staff at the door - some are more lenient than others. And as noted, depending on the part of Turkey you may need to be more conservative. I wore a skirt that hit me mid calf and longer capri pants and did not have a problem. You will definitely need a head scarf and if you have any sleeveless tops it should also cover your arms. And yes, the restrictions are always for mosques though there are some sacred tombs that require wearing a head scarf (e.g. Sultan II Selim Turbesi in the historic area near the Hagia Sophia and Mevlâna's tomb in Konya). There are usually signs, but take a cue from the other people entering the building - when in doubt, don a scarf.

As valadelphia noted, take some socks to put on if you are wearing sandals, as you'll otherwise be walking barefoot. I also kept a small packable grocery bag in my purse to use to carry my shoes with me so I didn't have to leave them in a cubby (and remember where I put them).

October is a little cool for shorts in Turkey, regardless of any cultural considerations.

Keep a scarf in your day bag for mosques. I would also wear long pants if you are thinking about visiting a mosque, just to be on the safe side.

Outside of a mosque, you can wear pretty much whatever you want. Central Turkey --- Cappadocia and especially Konya --- is considerably more conservative than Istanbul and the coast. Even in the heartland, though, I don't think that crop pants and sandals would turn any heads.

You can wear what you'd like in the city, and need to cover your hair, shoulders, and knees when visiting a mosque. You'll probably be cold in shorts this time of year. When I was in Istanbul last spring, I was comfortable in T-shirts and knee-length skirts and capris.

Our guides also suggested a longer top, as she had women flagged because they had pants deemed too tight. Mosque will lend you a scarf or skirt stamped ]Property of the Mosque

After we took our shoes off there were mats that were painful to walk on

Not all mosques have loaner garments.

In 2023 I saw pictorial signs at some mosques that forbade leggings, so I guess it would be smart to avoid really snug pants. There was never any signage about cropped pants. I did notice, though, that the women who seemed to be local were wearing really long skirts at mosques, not even full-length pants. No one raised an eyebrow about my full-length slacks, though. This year I entered one or two mosques in Albania that had someone near the door. I indicated my clothing by way of asking whether it was OK, and the doorkeeper said it was.

I don't think anyone has mentioned that the courtyard near the door of a mosque is considered to be part of the mosque, so a headscarf should already be worn when you get that close.

At the blue Mosque this week I had on crop pants, but because I'm so short, there's only about an inch of flesh thst shows between pant leg and sock top. You will want socks instead of walking barefoot

Istanbul is a cosmopolitan city depending on where you are dressing and people are kinda different. We only had hard times to visit the mosques with short dresses