There are many different kinds and colors, made from different materials and cut to different patterns that are specific to different regions. Additional features like belts and bags, jewelry and hats, even shoes, help identify a person in terms of his or her region and cultural heritage. In fact, Morocco, unbeknownst to too many of us, is made up of a fantastic mix of people who continue to speak a multitude of languages and dialects and come from a variety of backgrounds. There are the Bedouins, and the descended families of the Arab and Moorish settlers who arrived in the 7th century, and the families that came with the different waves of Spanish and French colonizers. And there are others.
Morocco is home to a fantastic assortment of people.
But back to the djellaba , the typical robe that you cannot miss from the very first few seconds after arriving in Morocco. According to the many people we have met who have professed to be experts in many areas, there are three basic types of djellaba for men and two basic everyday options for women. The djellaba machzania is a long, hooded robe that fits over regular work clothes and hangs almost all the way to ones feet. It has no pockets but does provide openings through which one can reach to get at the pockets of clothes worn underneath. In general, men wear light colors, which is important since it reflects the light of the very strong Moroccan sun.