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What rights and restrictions are important when it comes to clothing?

In Germany, people dress mainly for the weather. If it is very cold, you should protect yourself with a warming jacket and long pants with thick shoes and warm sweaters. In summer, people dress more light and airy due to the heat, so often arms and legs uncovered. There are no regulations on how you have to dress up. However, it is considered obscene and also a crime to work around nude in public places. Therefore, the sex organs have to be covered with swimwear in a swimming pool (beside on special nude beaches). Men wear swimming trunks and women or girls bikinis or swimsuits. There is a hood ban, which means that a person's face has to be recognizable all the time. This makes wearing a burqa or ski masks in Germany difficult and actually it is prohibited. An official therefore has the right to order a person to expose their face. It is allowed to wear tattoos or pricings in every way you like as long as you don’t offend anyone else like for example with a forbidden sign as a tattoo.

Fundamentally, people in Germany have the freedom to dress as they please. Even traditional clothes from other countries are no problem as long as it does not contradict the prohibitions of nudity or disguise. There are no requirements that men and women should wear specifically clothing, so women often wear trousers and even men sometimes wear skirts. The majority of Germans wearing unobtrusive and simple clothing that is not too fancy but not too easy in everyday life. On festive occasions, such as holidays, family gatherings, festive events and the like it is preferably to dress very chic. Sometimes there are even specifications on the invitations about what to wear. There are also historical clothing, called “Trachten” which are mostly worn in certain regions like Bavaria.

For work and school you should choose rather plain clothing unless other information is given by the employer or teacher. Many professions make it necessary to wear work clothes, which serves to protect against accidents at work. These are often provided by employers or are available in specialized shops. Specific professional groups can be identified by uniforms or a particular clothing. In politics, a bank or in some businesses, it is common that one wears a suit or a woman a costume. Doctors and medical staff are dressed in white. A priest often wears black robes or suits. The police can be recognized by the dark blue uniforms with crest and corresponding cap. The military carries uniforms in dark green.

No person should be offended or discriminated because of his clothes or appearance. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case. Please note that each person is allowed to dress the way he wants to and must therefore not be offended.