their abayas. Then as I got to meet more local women, I figured out it was just normal everyday clothes.

Imagine my surprise when I attended my first Qatari wedding and saw all the abayas falling off to reveal these va-va-va-VOOM dresses that shocked even me, and would have made the flashbulbs go off on any red carpet in Hollywood. My jaw was on the floor -- couldn't have imagined they would be wearing THOSE kinds of dresses on underneath.
So appearances can often be deceiving... ;-)