RABAT, Morocco — Star Wars fans can't help but notice: Jedi robes are everywhere in Morocco.

These long-hooded cloaks — known as djellabas — come in stripes and leopard prints, silk and linen, traditional styles and more modern ones.

The djellaba is a traditional North African garment long worn by men in Morocco and adopted by women here around the time of independence in 1956.

Some claim Star Wars' Jedi and Jawa robes were inspired by djellabas in Tunisia, where the movie was filmed. A skeptical-sounding spokeswoman for Lucasfilm Ltd. said she was unaware of any connection.

But on the streets of Rabat, it's hard to see these confident, hooded figures without thinking that the force is indeed with them.

Read more on Morocco:

Play it again, Sam, and again, and again

A voice, or just a seat?

Is Morocco a model for the Muslim world?

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/africa/djellabas-morocco