The men's traditional costume consist of baggy trousers, blue or black, a colarless shirt worn outside the trousers, an embroidered vest, usually light blue and a long wide red waistband draped around their waist. On their heads they wear a dark red felt cap with a long black tassel. The "barakan" is the white woolen cloth they drape elegantly on top of the costume.

Libyan Jewelry.
Photo © Libyana

The women wear silk baggy trousers, with silk tunics on top and also embroidered vests. A silk shawl covers their heads and they are adorned with intricately crafted jewelry in gold or silver ( necklaces, earings, brooches etc.) However this is worn inside the house on feast days . In the streets they cover themselves from head to foot with either the white fashwaa ( a woolen cloth similar to the "barakan") or the diba' a striped cloth like the one in the picture. They keep one opening at eye level to look out.

The Arabs in Libya are the dominant ethnic group of the country (90% of the population). The Bedouins hail their ancestry from the original Arab conquerors that came from the Arabian Penninsula in the 6th c. A.D.
They are all Muslims with most adhering to the Senussi Religious Order. There are many immigrants on the Coast from other Arab countries, naturalized Libyans now.