Fashion violations in Saudi Arabia are serious business during the Ramadan holiday season. According to Foreign Desk News, up to 50 men have been arrested for wearing such “un-Islamic” clothing as ripped jeans, shorts, necklaces, and Crocs shoes, as well as “bizarre Western hair styles.”
The mutaween, or Saudi religious police, made the fashion busts at malls and shopping districts in Mecca. “Today, I have decided to wear long sports trousers instead,” declared one remorseful perpetrator, after the mutaween swung into action.
The dress code calls for “full-length pants and shirts” on men and a “loose-fitting black gown known as the abaya” for women, according to Foreign Desk. The daytime highs in Mecca are well over 110 degrees at the moment, although a breezy 109 degrees is forecast for next weekend.
The Saudi news reports cited by Foreign Desk did not specify the penalty for wearing Crocs during Ramadan, but last fall, the Saudi Gazette reported on a controversy over hefty fines (about $266 U.S.) for women who violated the dress code.