Women’s need to cover up in Istanbul

I should preface this by saying I am by no means an expert on Türkiye, but we are here in Istanbul at the moment - plenty of women wearing short sleeves, some wearing sleeveless tops. If you go to a mosque (including popular tourist spots like the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia) you must cover your shoulders (preferably your elbows as well, but some weren't) and knees, and of course wear a headscarf. If you don't have them with you, these can be provided. My wife and daughter opted to wear sleeves covering their elbows and long dresses, and their own scarves. I am wearing long trousers and a short sleeved shirt. Elsewhere this is not required.

My novice's impression is that Istanbul seems very welcoming and safe. We're loving it so far. It's a short trip, a few days on the way to and from Uzbekistan, but we'll definitely be back.

I'm sure someone more experienced can give a more detailed answer.

Istanbul is mostly secular. It’s only if you’re visiting the interior of a mosque that you’ll need to cover your head and shoulders along with the legs. Often, the mosques will provide loaner garments for accomplishing this.

I believe Rick has pointed out that the courtyard outside the entrance to a mosque is part of the mosque complex, so the clothing rules should be followed there as well. I didn't wait to don my scarf until I entered the door of the mosque building.

In recent years I've seen pictorial signs outside some mosques, Catholic churches and Orthodox churches, showing prohibited attire. Those signs sometimes indicate leggings are not allowed, so I'd only wear them with a dress or other garment covering my knees.

Can I ever wear sleeveless tops? Should I always cover my arms, even
on a ferry ride?

In addition to what has been said already, there are some other places you must cover your head and arms, such as the Sultan Ahmet Tomb near the Hagia Sophia. There are signs when it is required and usually guards to let you know. Make sure to take a scarf that fully covers head and shoulders and you should be fine (if you don't have one you can purchase in Istanbul). Also don't forget you will be required to remove your shoes in mosques as well. If you are wearing sandals it's wise to bring a pair of socks to slip on and I also took a small packable grocery bag to put my shoes in, instead of leaving in the cubbies outside.

Have you all found the city to be pretty safe?

There are the usual big city safety issues - pickpockets on crowded trams, for example. The Turkish people are friendly and many want to sell you something - if you're not interested, just say no thank you and move on. I traveled in Istanbul solo mostly in the tourist area and never felt uneasy.

I use Viator app alot and have been really pleased with them.

Hoping you know that this is a third party vendor, so you're not booking directly with the guide or company. Make sure you look at the fine print on the bookings in case something comes up (you're delayed or the guide doesn't show up). Not saying this will happen to you, it's just something to be aware of ahead of time.
Enjoy your trip, it's an amazing city.

Sort of related but unrelated, a Turkish female friend of mine would get snide comments from Turkish men going into shops here in London if she was wearing a sleeveless top. She has a big full sleeve tattoo and I think that was deemed unacceptable for a Turkish woman in some men's eyes. Even going out to eat at a Turkish restaurant she was slightly on edge as to how she would be perceived. Foreigners in Istanbul are probably cut a bit more slack. It's my experience of Turks here in London that the majority are only nominally observant of their faith and don't put a lot of emphasis on Islamic traditions of modesty outside of the mosque.

You have all been SO helpful and I really thank you for your detailed replies. They have been very reassuring to me and now I feel like I know how to pack and dress, all while being respectful to the locals and the culture there.

I think if you wear capris or longer shorts you should be fine. While only in the mosques, I always took a lightweight scarf with me. It looked good and in case you want to pop into a mosque, you can just cover your hair.

Just as an FYI but if you need a bathroom break, I often found the bathrooms in mosque courtyards, the cleanest bathrooms in Istanbul. It used to be that many were squat toilets but now most have been converted to Western.

As far as safety, Istanbul is pretty safe in the tourist areas, the worst problem we had in some of the other neighborhoods was finding someone that spoke English. And it's always advisable to know what the attraction is called in Turkish. We wandered around the neighborhood looking for the Chora Church and asked people where it was and people were confused. Turns out it's called Kariye Camii locally.

I will say that everyone we met with the exception of a horrible taxi driver was polite and hospitable, from the bus driver who found my mothers jewelry she had bought and returned it to her to the airport worker who bought stamps himself and mailed our postcards after we realized the post office was closed for a holiday. It was probably the only place I've been where the people exceed the sights.

If Turkish telenovelas are anything to go by (and why wouldn’t they be), women wear everything from headscarves to outfits that would be risqué in a nightclub.

(If you’re interested, the show was La Familia and dubbed into Spanish by Telemundo. Apparently Turkey likes soap operas too and they get brought over by the Spanish stations. There were a lot of dinner scenes and the food looked amazing!)

I was shocked at how short some of the high school girls' school-uniform skirts were.

I was shocked at how short some of the high school girls'
school-uniform skirts were.

I recall once seeing a young woman wearing a short miniskirt, stiletto heels, and a headscarf in Istanbul --- a very unexpected wardrobe combination.

We’re in Istanbul now. Various styles on the street. In mosques you’ll need to cover up, but aside from that, sleeveless shirts and shorter skirts are fine. Most folks - men and women- have tattoos.

sleeveless shirts and shorter skirts are fine. Most folks - men and women- have tattoos.

Good to know.

I just thought it was an interesting aside to mention how my friend was treated for her appearance here in London to get the full gamut. I was quite shocked that she could run the risk of bring called a sl-t and a wh-re behind her back in Turkish by men for no reason other than how she looks. It probably says more about a type of man in general than Turkish men particularly. Not that it makes any difference, but this is a PhD who laid a lot of the groundwork for how brands interact with social media these days in her research and writing a more than a decade ago.

I have an American friend who's a light-skinned African-American. She has had comments thrown at her very occasionally by folks who apparently assumed (incorrectly) that she's a Muslim not conservatively dressed. It has happened both in the US and in Europe. I've never seen her wearing anything other than standard US streetwear.

it did make a difference - I lost sympathy for her.....

I'm sure you couldn't mean you lost sympathy for her being called those words that I put in the post you're responding to?

All I was trying to infer was that she is an unusually smart woman with letters after her name. I like when I can mention someone really intelligent who I've known and had an association with. Makes me feel smart being around that type of people.

It was rough that she was paranoid about being around other Turkish people in Hackney because she stuck out a little. Better off somewhere a bit posher now.