I was handed a purple chador to put on before I could enter the Masjid Negara (National Mosque) in Kuala Lumpur. A chador is a loose-fitting robe that some Muslim women, depending on where they live, are required to wear when they go out in public in order to hide their figures. Islamic law (sharia) dictates that men and women dress modestly, but it is the women who have to cover themselves from head to foot. My purple Vera Wang mini-skirt and David Bowie t-shirt, therefore, were not considered appropriate attire to enter the mosque.