What Is a Djellaba? A Buyer's Guide to Morocco's Hooded Robe

A djellaba is a long, loose, full-sleeved outer robe with a distinctive pointed hood, worn across Morocco and the wider Maghreb by both men and women. It is the everyday garment of Moroccan dress: light cotton or linen in summer, heavier wool in winter, and dressed up with hand-stitched braid for celebrations. Its defining feature is the hood, called the qob, which is what sets it apart from the hoodless caftan. The word is also spelled jellaba. This guide explains what the djellaba is, how the hood works, how men's and women's versions differ, which fabrics suit which season, when it is everyday wear and when it is formal, how it differs from a caftan, and how to choose and size one if you are buying from abroad.

A djellaba (also written jellaba) is a one-piece outer robe that falls to around the ankles, cut wide and straight rather than fitted, with long sleeves and a pointed hood at the back of the neck. It is worn over other clothing and pulled on over the head or fastened at the front, depending on the style. Unlike many Western coats, it is genderless in origin: men and women both wear it, with differences in colour, decoration, and cut rather than in the basic shape.

The garment is built for the Moroccan climate, where strong sun, dust, and cold mountain winters all have to be managed by the same wardrobe. The loose cut lets air move; the long sleeves and full length give cover; and the hood, the qob, can be raised against sun, wind, and rain or left to hang as a design feature. That practicality is why the djellaba never became a costume worn only on special days. It is genuine daily wear, seen in markets, on streets, and at home across the country.

It also sits inside a recognised craft tradition. On 10 December 2025 UNESCO inscribed "Moroccan Caftan: art, traditions and skills" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (reference RL/02077). That inscription names the caftan specifically, but it recognises the same skills that finish a fine djellaba: weaving, tailoring, handmade button work, braid and trim work, and embroidery. The djellaba is made by the same hands, in the same workshops, using the same techniques.

The hood is the single feature that defines a djellaba, and Moroccans call it the qob. It is cut to a point rather than rounded, and it is the clearest way to tell a djellaba apart from a caftan: if a long Moroccan robe has a pointed hood, it is a djellaba.

The qob is both practical and decorative. Practically, it shields the head and face from heat, dust, wind, and rain, which is why the garment works as outdoor daily wear across Morocco's varied climate. Visually, it can simply hang at the back of the neck, where it reads as part of the garment's line rather than as something to be worn up. Because the same silhouette works pulled up against the weather or left open, the hood is part of why the djellaba is so adaptable across seasons and occasions.

On finer djellabas the edge of the hood is often finished with the same hand-stitched braid, sfifa, that runs along the front opening, so the qob carries decoration as well as function. On a plain daily djellaba the hood is left simple.

The silhouette is shared between men and women; the styling is not. A men's djellaba tends to be sober in colour and restrained in decoration, relying on the quality of the cloth and the neatness of the braid trim rather than on embroidery across the body. It is the workhorse of the Moroccan man's wardrobe, plain for daily wear and trimmed for formal use.

A women's djellaba allows far more range in colour, pattern, and embellishment. It can be a simple everyday robe or a richly embroidered piece worn for visiting and celebration. Women's versions are where you most often see decorative embroidery worked across the body, more adventurous palettes, and contemporary cuts that take the traditional shape in a modern direction. The hood remains, but it is frequently treated as much as a styling element as a practical one.

For men, the djellaba is only one part of a wider traditional wardrobe. Alongside it sit the jabador, a two-piece ceremonial outfit of a tailored tunic over matching trousers, and the gandoura, a lighter hoodless tunic for warm weather and relaxed wear. The rule for both men's and women's djellabas is the same: the plainer the piece, the more everyday it is; the more elaborate the trim and embroidery, the more formal the occasion it is meant for.

Fabric is what sets a djellaba's season and its formality, and it is the first thing to consider when choosing one. Cotton and linen are the summer fabrics: light, breathable, and comfortable in heat, used for everyday warm-weather djellabas and relaxed at-home wear. A cotton djellaba is the most affordable and the easiest to care for.

Wool and flannel are the winter fabrics. Heavier and warm, woven for the cold of Moroccan winters and mountain regions, a wool djellaba holds its weight and drape and is built to be worn outdoors. Softer blended and cashmere-touch cloths offer a modern middle ground, warm without the full weight of heavy wool. Silk and brocade are reserved for the most formal djellabas, where the cloth itself carries the decoration.

The finishing matters as much as the cloth. A formal djellaba is distinguished by sfifa, the hand-stitched braid that runs along the front opening and the edge of the hood, and by aqad, the rolled silk-thread buttons and matching loops that fasten the neckline. These details are the work of a master artisan, known in Morocco as a maalam. On a plain daily djellaba they may be minimal or absent; on a ceremonial one they are the centrepiece. Care follows the fabric: cotton can usually be hand-washed cold, while silk, wool, and heavily embroidered pieces should be dry-cleaned to protect the threadwork.

The djellaba's great strength is its range. A plain cotton or linen djellaba is everyday clothing, worn loose with simple sandals or flat shoes, functioning much like a relaxed maxi dress or a long tunic. A finely finished one, with fuller braid, careful tailoring, and richer fabric, becomes formal wear suitable for Friday prayers, family gatherings, and religious holidays. The same silhouette covers both ends of that range. For formal wear the look is traditionally completed with balgha, the soft pointed leather slippers.

The caftan does not stretch across that range. The clearest way to separate the two garments is the hood and the occasion: a djellaba has a pointed hood and runs from everyday to formal, while a caftan (spelled kaftan in British English) has no hood and is an ornamented ceremonial robe, today most associated with women's occasionwear. Put simply, if it has a hood, it is a djellaba; if it is a decorated, hoodless occasion robe, it is a caftan.

The two share the same craft lineage and the same finishing techniques, which is why they are easy to confuse in a photograph when the hood is not visible. The belted, two-piece ceremonial form of the caftan is the takchita; it is the most formal member of that family and is not the same garment as a djellaba.

Start from how you will wear it, then from the cloth. For everyday and warm-weather wear, a plain cotton or linen djellaba is the natural choice; for winter and outdoor wear, choose wool or a warm blend; for an occasion, choose a richer fabric with fuller sfifa braid and embroidery. As modest fashion the djellaba needs little adaptation, since its full length and long sleeves already meet most modest-dress preferences, and it layers cleanly over trousers or a slip dress.

Fit is the one thing to get right when ordering from another country. Moroccan djellabas are cut loose rather than tailored to the body, and Moroccan sizing can run differently from EU, UK, and US labels. A djellaba is sized height-first, because the hood and hem proportions are calculated from the wearer's height, with the chest measurement confirming the width. Measure your standing height barefoot against a wall, and your chest at the fullest point with arms relaxed, before you order.

Crucially, a djellaba carries less built-in ease than a caftan, so it sits closer to your usual European size rather than two sizes up. If you fall between sizes, height should lead: a buyer who wears a large shirt but stands at a moderate height should start from the size their height suggests and confirm with the chest measurement, not assume the shirt size carries over. Because artisan sizing is not standardised between workshops, always check the measurements published on each specific piece against your own before ordering rather than guessing from a single letter size.