Djellaba

What it is

The djellaba is a loose outer robe worn long, with sleeves that cover the arms. It is unisex: men and women wear the same basic shape. Almost every one has a roomy hood called a qob, which ends in a point at the back. Older djellabas reached the ground, while the lighter versions made today are shorter and narrower. There are two main materials, coarse wool for winter and cotton for summer, and the wool usually comes from sheep kept in the surrounding mountains. The hood is deep enough to hold a loaf of bread or a bag of groceries when the weather is warm.

Names and origins

English takes the word djellaba from French, which took it from Arabic. It goes back to jallāba, a form of jallābīya that first described a garment worn by traders, and further to a verb meaning to bring or fetch. Reinhart Dozy held that the djellaba was the dress of the slave trader, but William Marçais disagreed. He linked the name to djilbab, an old Arabic word for draped clothing, even though the djellaba is sewn and not draped, and he noted that Oman has a similar form, gillab, for a woman's veil. In central and eastern Algeria people call the robe a qashabiya, a word Georges Séraphin Colin traced to the Latin gausapa. Moroccan mountain communities say tadjellabit.

Colour, hood and shoes

Among the Imazighen, or Berbers, colour traditionally signals marital status. A dark brown djellaba marks bachelorhood, as it does for communities such as the Imilchil of the Atlas Mountains. Men often choose a light-coloured robe for weddings and religious celebrations, sometimes with a red fez hat and soft yellow babouche slippers, called balgha in Arabic. The hood shields the face from the sun and from sand blown by desert winds, and in the cold mountains of Morocco it serves as a winter hat against snow and rain. In warm weather it becomes a pocket. The town of Bhalil makes the buttons.

A working history

Djellabas were produced at Qal'at Bani Hammad in the Hammadid period, where a set was put together from a robe, a tunic and a shirt. They were made in Ottoman Algeria too, where textile production was central to the traditional economy. Under the French protectorate, Moroccan women began wearing the djellaba instead of the haik, and it became a symbol of Moroccan nationalism. Today wool and cotton versions exist side by side, and the lighter cotton robe is the more popular of the two.

How Djellaba is kept

Men and women alike wear the djellaba, since the robe is unisex. It goes on over other clothes as an outer layer, with the hood loose over the back of the head or left hanging. For religious celebrations and weddings, a man may choose a light-coloured djellaba and add a red fez and soft yellow babouche slippers. In Berber communities the colour is chosen to match the wearer's marital status, so a single man wears dark brown. In hot weather the hood can be pulled up and used as a pocket for bread or shopping.

When and where

There is no single day for the djellaba: it belongs to daily dress and to special occasions alike. Wool versions are worn in winter and cotton ones in summer, so it changes with the season rather than the calendar. Men may wear a light-coloured djellaba with a fez for religious celebrations and for weddings, which fall on their own dates.

The djellaba belongs to North Africa. It is worn in Morocco and Algeria, where central and eastern regions call it a qashabiya. Berber communities, the Imazighen, keep it in the Atlas Mountains, among them the Imilchil. Wool for the robes comes from sheep grazing in those mountains, and buttons are made in the town of Bhalil. A related name, gillab, appears in Oman.

What Djellaba means

For the people who wear it, the djellaba is both practical dress and a marker of who the wearer is. Its colour has told Berber communities whether a man is married or single. Worn with a fez and babouche slippers, it belongs to weddings and religious celebrations and marks those days as set apart. In the years of the French protectorate, Moroccan women took up the djellaba in place of the haik, and wearing it became a statement of Moroccan nationalism. Its hood, once a defence against sand and weather, remains part of the shape people recognise.

Questions people ask about Djellaba

See also

ChaabiA North African music and dance tradition meaning 'of the people', played at weddings and festivals.Tan-Tan MoussemAn annual gathering of Saharan nomadic tribes with music, trading and equestrian artsNegafaThe woman who dresses a bride and guards the customs of a Moroccan weddingFantasiaA North African equestrian display of synchronized charging and simultaneous rifle fire

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle

• Djellaba on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.