I guess as a Qatari, my assurance will put u more at ease with it all, so let me give u the local's prospective if I may.
Depending on ur lifestyle, which sounds rather modern and upbeat like my own, u'll probably run into more expats than locals anyways, and usually they don't judge ur attire and consider it more of an occasion/weather thing. Having said that, certain establishments that r frequent by locals of a certain background tend to be more conservative, and will place some rules that apply within the establishment, but they tend to be monitored loosely anyways, which explains the facebook pics ur seeing. Those spots that tend to be more conservative u'll find out as u go along, they're not difficult to spot. other spots will be no different than where u come from. It's not actually against the law to dress in say daisy dukes or mini skirts or anything of a kind, but tolerance to that attire is more of "venue/location" based thing just like any city in the world where going to a shopping mall in the suburbs means meeting more conservative ppl vs shopping at mall in downtown area.
what u do get sometimes r a couple of stares, from ppl u don't know and will never know, so I just pay them no mind cuz they don't matter. I'm a Qatari who lived most of his life abroad, so I know I don't represent a typical Qatari, but I also know that I never ever had to ask my wife to tone it down and she's quite into fashion and trends all the time.
@ Isolda
I guess as a Qatari, my assurance will put u more at ease with it all, so let me give u the local's prospective if I may.
Depending on ur lifestyle, which sounds rather modern and upbeat like my own, u'll probably run into more expats than locals anyways, and usually they don't judge ur attire and consider it more of an occasion/weather thing. Having said that, certain establishments that r frequent by locals of a certain background tend to be more conservative, and will place some rules that apply within the establishment, but they tend to be monitored loosely anyways, which explains the facebook pics ur seeing. Those spots that tend to be more conservative u'll find out as u go along, they're not difficult to spot. other spots will be no different than where u come from. It's not actually against the law to dress in say daisy dukes or mini skirts or anything of a kind, but tolerance to that attire is more of "venue/location" based thing just like any city in the world where going to a shopping mall in the suburbs means meeting more conservative ppl vs shopping at mall in downtown area.
what u do get sometimes r a couple of stares, from ppl u don't know and will never know, so I just pay them no mind cuz they don't matter. I'm a Qatari who lived most of his life abroad, so I know I don't represent a typical Qatari, but I also know that I never ever had to ask my wife to tone it down and she's quite into fashion and trends all the time.
Hope this helps