Adventures in Tailoring

Much like many of the services here that are provided by those of Philipino, Indian, or Malasian nationality, having something tailored is very reasonably priced. I didn't to commission an entire garment, however, I only needed a pair of jeans hemmed so it seemed to be a pretty straightfoward task to find a tailor close to our house, drop off the jeans, and then later pick them up when they were finished. The closest shopping strip mall is in Khalifia City A, and was sure to house the desired service provider, so Paul and I headed there after work last Wednesday. (Why they named one city Khalifa City A and another Khalifa City B illudes me. Why not choose another name? Or, if you want the same name for different, why
letters? Are there going to be 26 prospective Khalifa cities to fit the letters of the alphabet? Could you have a Khalifa City 1 and 2? Or how about Khalifa city North and South? Or even more fun...what about Khalifa City Pink and Purple? Okay, that's a little extreme, but I'm sure you get my point!)
With our trip to Cyprus coming up on Sunday, I wanted the new jeans to take with me. Aimee and I found some very trendy Silver jeans at Von Maur right before I left on sale for unbelieveable prices so we purchased them. Lacking the time to have my trusty ladies at Von Maur hem them for me, I was stuck bringing an awesome pair of jeans with raw edges at the bottom because to save weight in my luggage, mom cut the way too long bottoms off with the intention of having them hemmed once I arrived. After dropping the jeans off, finding the shop charming, filled to the brim with brightly colored and beaded dressed and the gentlemen
there sewing on a classic Singer, I was thrilled to "comeback 1 day." With high hopes of retrieving my jeans the next afternoon, Paul and I stopped by Khalifa City A after work. I strolled through the abundance of SUVs parked along the street to my little "Ladies Tailoring"
shop intrusted with my new favorite pair of jeans. With a language barrier and service providers obvsiouly not on the cutting edge of western fashion, I should not have been surprised to find a very concerned tailor waiting for me inside. "Miss, I sew ALL the holes?" was the
question awaiting me upon arrival. He had pulled out my jeans, and obviously didn't realize that the worn spots, rips, and holes in the jeans were intentional and purchased as such. He obviously thought I was trying to salvage a pair of jeans, instead of attempting to
make a brand new pair ready to wear. :) I'm just extremely glad he saved the holes to ask me about instead of fixing them first. Perhaps luck was on my side, or time contraists at the very least. I'm sure it would have taken longer than the one day turn-around time that he had promised the first day when I dropped off my jeans to adequately fix all of the holes. Now I'm left wondering if the 20 dirhams that we agreed on was for only the hemming or if he intended on fixing the holes for that prices as well. I thought $5 for hemming was a good price! We walk away from "Ladies Tailoring" now with my Silver jeans and a newfound sense of specificity in instructions especially when dealing with those who I do not share a first language (or sense of style) with. Who knew we would even find adventures in tailoring? ;)