Skip to content
Menu
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Travel Tales from India and Abroad
Dress Code for Women in Nepal

Dress Code For Women in Nepal

Posted on July 7, 2013May 13, 2021

If you follow a few travel message boards you will see the ‘dress code for women’ question pop up from time to time. That and teaching a few classes on cultural made me a bit more sensitive to the question. So here I go with what I saw in Nepal. Personally, me being from India, decoding the dress code in Nepal is not much of an issue, we are quite similar. I personally I think Nepali women are better dressed but then for me a jeans and a well worn T-shirt is haute couture. So don’t go by what I say.

So this first picture is from Thamel, Nepal which is the tourist hub and these three Nepali girls were walking through, as you can see in various western dresses. The pictures I use in this post are clicked either at Kathmandu or Pokhara. Kathmandu is the capital city and Pokhara a bigger tourist place. However even on my treks I found younger local women wearing  jeans and trousers quite commonly. And if it is not cold T-shirts are fine everywhere.

A Nepali Woman in her Traditonal Attire, Pokhara, Nepal

A Nepali Woman in her Traditonal Attire, Pokhara, Nepal

At Phewa Lake in Pokhara you will find boat women plying tourist boats and some of them dress in their traditional dress. However, a lot of local girls would I am sure use them only for special occasions, so obviously no one expects tourists to wear it. Also dresses would be different by region and clans I guess.

Local Women at Phewa Lake, Pokhara, Nepal

Local Women at Phewa Lake, Pokhara, Nepal

For example, people from nearby villages come to Pokhara in their boats and you can see the women less traditionally dressed as they came for some personal work and were returning to their village by boat.

A Group of Nepali Women at Pokhara, Nepal

A Group of Nepali Women at Pokhara, Nepal

Then there was a group moving together and you can see people wearing everything from a Sari, to Salwar Kurta to trousers to long skirt, all in the family or the group.

Local Girls at Pokhara, Nepal

Local Girls at Pokhara, Nepal

Now don’t you agree that Nepali women have a great sense of dressing and they look like young people anywhere in the world? And both of them look so sure of themselves!

A Local Girl Busy with her Mobile, Pokhara, Nepal

A Local Girl Busy with her Mobile, Pokhara, Nepal

And then there was this girl who was all eyes only for her cell phone, she was so busy! So wearing knee length skirt is also fine, at least in Pokhara and Kathmandu.

A Tourist at Pokhara, Nepal

A Tourist at Pokhara, Nepal

And then there was this tourist who seemed to be in a rush and quite comfortable with her attire as was the local girl in the other picture.

Sari and Jeans, Pokhara, Nepal

Sari and Jeans, Pokhara, Nepal

So while in countries like Nepal, India, Sri lanka people still dress traditionally, it is not that it is the only way to dress. You can find people in a sari and a couple in western attire in the same frame.

Shorts, Jeans, and Comfortable Trousers, Pokhara, Nepal

Shorts, Jeans, and Comfortable Trousers, Pokhara, Nepal

And it is not that no one wears a shorts! As I said all the pictures were either clicked at Pokhara or Kathmandu which gets a lot of tourists.

dress-code-women-nepal

And I hope seeing some of these images would help you decide how the local women and tourists dress in these places at Nepal. Hope it will help you decide what to wear in Nepal.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet
FollowFollow us
PinterestSave

24 thoughts on “Dress Code For Women in Nepal”

  1. Shrikanth says:
    July 7, 2013 at 12:43 am

    Thank god i’m a guy, a jeans and a tee shirt will do for me even in mars 😀

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:34 pm

      😀 Good for you!

      Reply
  2. Tushar says:
    July 7, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Jeans with casual regular slippers – The best.
    (I am talking about the guy in first photo)

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:34 pm

      Tushar 😀

      Reply
  3. matheikal says:
    July 7, 2013 at 10:24 am

    Lovely pictures and great descriptions.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:35 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  4. Arun Prasath says:
    July 7, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    Everyone is different!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:37 pm

      Yes Arun, that is so true.

      Reply
  5. Easwar Arumugam says:
    July 7, 2013 at 3:51 pm

    Lovely pictures; nicely depict both traditional/modern wears.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:38 pm

      Thank you Easwar.

      Reply
  6. Geetashree Chatterjee says:
    July 7, 2013 at 6:03 pm

    As cosmopolitan as any other Metro in India

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:38 pm

      I agree Geeta.

      Reply
  7. My Say says:
    July 7, 2013 at 11:53 pm

    well blended attire ranges !! 🙂 Pretty well captured too 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:39 pm

      Thank you Jack.

      Reply
  8. Niranjan says:
    July 8, 2013 at 10:00 am

    Interesting observations Mridula. Nice read.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:41 pm

      Thank you Niranjan.

      Reply
  9. Chitra says:
    July 8, 2013 at 10:19 am

    Bright and colorful costumes against nice background..

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:43 pm

      Yes Chitra 😀

      Reply
  10. Meena Menon says:
    July 8, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    As long as jeans can br worn – its all good 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:42 pm

      I entirely agree Meena.

      Reply
  11. comboupdates.com says:
    July 8, 2013 at 2:02 pm

    The girls are prettier then their dresses, btw nice informative post

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:45 pm

      Thank you.

      Reply
  12. Debopam Banerjee says:
    July 8, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    Lively captures…………

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      August 25, 2013 at 10:45 pm

      Thank you Debopam. One of my rare attempts at street photography.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

Subscribe to the blog!

Subscribe

* indicates required

Support provided by Credible Content Writing & Copywriting Services

©2025 Travel Tales from India and Abroad | Powered by SuperbThemes