This phenomenon, known as salaula, explains why so few of the women along the road now wear chitenges, and also why a man on a bicycle too poor to have shoes may be wearing aformaldress shirt.
At the royal wedding on April 29, Prince Alwaleed wore traditional Saudi formaldress, while Princess Ameerah donned a stunning tan lace dress with a stylish hat.
Traditionally, aformal, summer garden-party dress did two things: it looked light and uplifting, while keeping all the bits one might generally expose to the sun covered.
Many companies have formaldress code policies, including UBS which has a 44-page document with specific stipulations that disallow women from wearing more than seven pieces of jewelry and men from wearing cufflinks.