New clothes

I have new clothes! Until today, my work wardrobe was a rotation of three skirts and one pairs of trousers (thanks to the influence of my British housemate, I no longer say pants, which to her means underwear). Bold patterned fabric called chitenge is widely available here. There are some great designs, but inevitably, there will always be someone else with clothing in the same fabric or worse, curtains and cushions. Since January, I’ve been buying pieces of fabric in hopes of new skirts. Last week, I finally got a tailor to come to my house, measure me, and interpret my bad drawings. And today, three skirts were delivered! I have practically doubled my wardrobe. Hurrah!

Tailors are everywhere here. Since all government, private, and mission schools require uniforms, tailoring is a good income generating activity. This is the first time I’ve had clothes made for me. It’s feels a little strange to have a skirt made exactly to fit me. The tailor made a few tops with the excess fabric. They fit, but are nearly impossible to get one because the zipper only goes up to the smallest part of the shirt… the small part of my rib cage. This is hard to describe, but to get the shirt on means squeezing my shoulders and chest through the circumference of my ribs. Needless to say, I had to enlist some help getting the shirt off… seems rather Victorian, needing someone to help get dressed/undressed.

This might be my most boring post yet. Sorry. Honestly, new clothes made my day!