The Short Answer? No.
Before I traveled to Morocco, I read loads of blogs and articles on how to dress, and virtually all of them were wrong (at least from my personal experience). Just about everyone suggested that I slog around in a long skirt and have a head scarf handy, just in case I went somewhere sacred. Well, after spending several days traveling around the country in multiple environments and with all sorts of people, I can confidently say that you don’t need to wear a skirt in Morocco.
If you’re a practicing Muslim and abide by a particular dress code (there are all sorts of dress styles for faithful Muslims, and many have nothing to do with the full-coverage outfits you might see in places like Afghanistan), you should feel confident traveling in Morocco in whatever clothing style you’re used to in your daily life.
For non-Muslims or anyone who dresses in standard Western society garb, the only guidelines I can truly offer on dressing appropriately as a woman in Morocco are avoiding booty shorts and opting for shirts that cover your shoulders. However, even then, I think it’s only really the booty shorts that you should avoid if you want to keep things at a basic level of respect for the Moroccan population.
As you can see from the photo above, I wore tights (you might call them leggings) almost every single day on my trip. The only day I didn’t wear these leggings was when I climbed up a mountain and wore some cargo pants-type things I bought at REI (I wish I could buy that entire store sometimes….). I’m standing in front of the entrance to a Mosque in that picture above, and no one requested that I cover my hair for the tour inside it (it’s the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca).
I definitely overpacked for Morocco, throwing all thoughts of minimalistic travel out the window and thinking I needed to wear a skirt everywhere and have giant flowy shirts for every occasion. Even though I visited in March and expected the weather to feel very mild, my traveling partner and I definitely experienced some 90+ degree temperatures (that’s about 32 degrees for you Celsius folks), but I was never really that hot despite wearing shirts with sleeves the entire time. But dresses? I only wore a skirt once, and that was to dinner in one of the riads (Moroccan style hotels) we visited.

Clothing in Morocco. The Nuanced Answer.
If you want to get into the finer details of dressing appropriately in Morocco, you can certainly make the decision to wear conservative clothing if that makes you comfortable. The country of Morocco is predominantly Muslim, and you’ll hear their religious leaders calling over loudspeakers several times a day for the faithful to pray. But like you’ll find almost anywhere, there is a huge level of variance in dress, religious adherence, and interpretation of Islam.
I only saw a few women walking around completely covered from head to toe with only their eyes showing. Otherwise, the most common way of dress for Moroccan women was a dress and a head scarf. It wasn’t uncommon to see local women wearing pants and a head scarf either. Not everyone was wearing dresses. There were even a decent number of local women who opted out of covering their hair. I probably didn’t even need to pack a scarf.
There was a significant variety of clothing styles, both from tourists and from locals, but the cities of Fez (Fes) and Marrakech (Marrakesh) seemed to have a more conservative dress style than the more metropolitan metropolis of Casablanca. One of our tour guides in Casablanca told us that the beaches in the summer have visitors in clothing ranging from itty-bitty bikinis to full-on burkinis (I’ve been told that’s the term for a loose bodysuit or modest bathing suit).
Honestly, I did see a few people wearing really skimpy clothing, but it was much skimpier than I’d ever feel comfortable wearing, even if I wasn’t in a Muslim country or a particularly conservative area. One girl was walking through the Marrakesh medina with booty shorts at least three sizes too small, and a man we saw on the road from the city was wearing an ill-fitting tank top that was mildly comical in my eyes. Everyone has their own style though, right?
Despite these fashion faux pas (my own opinion on their clothing, obviously not everyone would share it), those people were free to dress however they wanted. It was quite common for Western men to wear shorts and t-shirts, and women were commonly dressed in shorts or leggings. After all, the temperatures were often pretty high, and wearing long sleeves and bulky loose bottoms just wouldn’t have felt as comfortable, especially for someone not used to that mode of dress.

What Clothing to Expect in Morocco
As I stated above, the locals do have a pretty large range in the way they dress. The men usually wear pants and a long-sleeve shirt, especially if they’re Generation X or an older person. I did see a lot of the younger men (anyone less than 40 years old) wearing shorts, especially when it was hot. However, all of our Moroccan tour guides were dressed conservatively, even the young ones (all of our guides were men; I’m not sure if that was by chance or just the general way of things).
As for the general style of female Moroccans, many wore the standard floor-length dress with long sleeves and a full hair covering. Even when it was really hot outside, these women were dressed in a lot of clothing. I think it’s probably a style you’d have to get used to over time because I’d definitely be dripping with sweat if I was fully covering myself.
I’d say that overall, Marrakech was the most conservative in gauging how the locals dressed and that Casablanca was the most liberal. There was sort of a mix of dress styles in Fes, where our main attention and stay was near the medina. We ate in a restaurant where all of the servers (male and female) were dressed like Americans, and you wouldn’t have known you were in Morocco, given the international customer base.
In many of my vacations, I wear exercise tops with spaghetti straps, but I did avoid those tops while in Morocco. I probably could have worn a strappy sundress without anyone making a comment, but I did (mostly) stick to standard t-shirts and lightweight hoodies when the temperatures called for something more than a t-shirt.
Overall, you’ll see people dressed in all sorts of ways, adhering to their religious views, heritages, and observances as they see fit. The Moroccan people are quite proud of their multicultural history, and I felt absolutely welcomed everywhere. The population as a whole is also extremely friendly, even though the Arabic speakers sound angry sometimes (apparently, they’re not actually angry; it’s just the way Arabic sounds to non-Arabic speakers!). Even if you’re not a social butterfly, you’ll find the population friendly, direct, and respectful.

Should Women Cover Their Hair in Morocco?
I brought a scarf that I bought in Vietnam, just in case I needed to cover my hair, but I was never asked or required to wear it in any venue. As a non-Muslim, I’m not actually allowed to enter some holy sites, whether or not I’m dressed a certain way, but even when I was allowed to tour various religiously affiliated places, there were no requirements that I cover my hair.
Now, I will say that I did come to Morocco fully prepared to cover my head with a scarf if I encountered a request for it along the way. My hair is blonde right now (it has been for a few years, but it’s naturally light brown), so I do look quite different than your average Moroccan citizen, but I didn’t get a single comment about my style of clothing or my uncovered hair over the entire trip.
I did see some Western women covering their hair and wearing dresses, however, in various cities. I’m relatively certain most of the Westerners I saw who were dressing conservatively were just trying to blend in and respect the local customs and style and weren’t practicing Muslims, but those people were as free to dress as they wanted, just as I was free to dress in my traditional Western style.
I never felt like anyone was judging me for my uncovered hair, and I found the citizens of the country very welcoming in virtually all respects. The security guards at the airport seemed a little stern, but I think that’s probably in their job description. The groups of armed police stationed throughout the cities also seemed quite serious, but again, I figured that was due to the nature of their jobs.
While I have concerns about the veracity of Islam as it is practiced in some countries (namely Afghanistan), I felt quite comfortable in Morocco pretty quickly after our arrival. It’s always a little nerve-wracking arriving at a foreign country’s airport when you’ve never been there before, but despite those normal jitters, Morocco and its citizens gave me no reason to worry about my presence in the country or not being a practicing Muslim.

Will Anyone Comment On Your Clothing in Morocco?
I had a few conversations about clothing when I was in Morocco, but those conversations mostly stemmed from my questions about whether I needed to wear something in particular. For example, I asked whether I needed to cover my head when we went into the giant mosque in Casablanca, but the only requirement was that I needed to cover my shoulders and wear shorts or a skirt that reached my knees. Basically, the exact same dress code as if you were to visit Vatican City in Rome.
In all of the sacred places and historic venues I visited, there was no suggestion or requirement for clothing that I needed to adhere to that concerned my hair. The only guidance I received was to wear something that covered my shoulders. I wore my tights (I have about six identical pairs because I hate choosing outfits!) every single day except the one day we went hiking when I wore the cargo pants because they were flowy and cooler material than my tights.
Personally, when I travel, I do try to pay attention to the local dress customs and the behavior of the locals. I’m a guest in the country, and I’m not there to tell people what to do or how to do it. Despite having some reservations about what some holy books say about how people should behave, I did not encounter anyone in Morocco who made any comment about the way I was dressed.
Interestingly, I did happen to visit Morocco during Ramadan, which meant all of our tour guides ate and drank absolutely nothing for almost the entire time we were led on our trips. One of our guides who led us up the High Atlas Mountains on a hike never drank the entire time despite hiking all day. Most of our guides also gave us water, tea, and the occasional meal during our longer trips but never took any food or drink for themselves.
But back on topic: if you’re a woman and you visit Morocco, you do not need to wear a skirt or dress excessively conservatively. I would suggest keeping your shoulders covered (a short-sleeve t-shirt is plenty) and avoiding booty shorts, but that’s just my recommendation for politeness. Just like I wouldn’t engage in excessive displays of affection in Vietnam, I wouldn’t walk around in skimpy threads in Morocco. You can respect Moroccan culture with ease and with very little effort paid to the wardrobe you wear at home and on an everyday basis. Just keep it simple, and you’ll love the people and history you encounter in Morocco.