The law in Iran requires women to cover their heads in public. Necklines, elbows and butts should also be covered. Many girls wonder before the trip how to dress in order to be in accordance with the law, while not losing the comfort of riding.
After the autumn 2022 events, customs have relaxed a lot. In the streets of larger cities you are meeting women with a headscarf barely draped over the back of their heads, with a scarf just hanging around their necks, or girls in funny hats or caps.
An Iranian woman poses for a photo 
A poster in a hotel hallway saying there’s nothing better than a hijab …
On the other hand, chadors prevails in many places and you will not visit some mosques if you do not cover yourself from head to toe (fortunately they will lend you a chador on the spot).
The law in Iran has not changed, all women are still required to cover their heads. How to reconcile this with riding and wearing a helmet?
When I was researching the subject many months ago, one piece of advice prevailed on motorcycle forums – “wear a head sock”, i.e. pull a Buff sleeve over your head.
This is a very practical solution and many female motorcyclists choose just this. When they take off the helmet – they pull on Buff’s head and it’s done. Unfortunately, not everyone likes such a headgear, both in terms of aesthetics (then you look like you’ve really pulled a sock over your head) and practical (it’s too cold or too hot, besides you have to wear a headscarf to a mosque or other serious place anyway ).
So I threw off the head sock and decided to wear a headscarf like Iranian women.
Soon I developed my own methods of tying a scarf and a shawl in such a way that after removing the helmet, I could quickly cover my hair. From my experience, I recorded a vlog about how to wear a hijab while riding a motorcycle in Iran (we were there for over 3 months).
What about the other items of clothing ?
We entered Iran from Turkey in the winter and left for Pakistan in the summer. In sub-zero temperatures, I rode wearing multiple layers of clothing and normal motorcycle outfit, not caring that the jacket only reached half of my hips. When it got very warm – we rode without jackets. At that time, a simple long-sleeve thermal shirt and quite loose technical trousers were in use.
A woman on a large motorcycle evokes admiration and respect in Iran, even among officials. No one ever pointed out my attire to me, even when we were stopped for documents checkups.
Of course, you will find other advice all over the Internet. There were girls who somehow tucked long tunics into their trousers and pulled them out of there immediately after hopping off the saddle to cover their buttocks as soon as possible. For me, however, Iran turned out to be quite liberal in terms of dress and I was wearing my normal travel clothes freely.
I definitely do not recommend “overthinking” before leaving – you will consider it on the spot how much you need to adapt. If necessary – in Iran you can easily and cheaply buy baggy clothes.
Do you have your own ways to wear hijab in Iran? Share it in the comment!
Have a safe ride!
Hania
