While I was growing up, I developed a lot faster than other girls my age. When my mom and I went shopping at the mall, it was always pretty depressing, because I was too big for Limited Too, but I was too immature for The Limited-- I could never find anything. I was always stuck in this awkward limbo of not being able to buy cute clothes that fit. Out of that, I turned to making my own clothes, a trait that runs in both my father's and mother's blood line. My grandmother and my mother's aunt were both seamstresses, and my paternal grandmother was always making dresses, or at least having them made, and that gene was passed right down to me. Since adolescence, I was always sketching ideas for dresses and skirts, spent weekends browsing through patterns at the craft stores, and hovered over the sewing machine, as I created my very own clothes. Whenever I was bored, I'd beg my mother to take me to fabric stores, in search of the next skirt or dress I was set to make. I made dresses for the sweet 16s I attended, parties, graduations, etc. But eventually, that stopped when I went on to college.
Egypt is the land of customization, where you can pretty much design anything you want, and have it made specially for you. It is completely normal to have things like dresses, suits, jewelry, etc., custom made. And this has turned Egypt into one giant dreamland for me, where every idea, sketch, and dream I've ever had, can now become reality. It began with my engagement rings, which were completely designed and custom made by/for us. Then it was a birthday gift with my cousin's name made out of brass, and attached to a clutch. Then it was some furniture and slip covers for my couch. And now it has naturally evolved into dress making.
Women normally and regularly have dresses made for special occassions. The selection in stores is limited, and very expensive. So everyone has their tailor that their family goes to, and makes dresses. In need of a dress for my cousin's upcoming wedding, I had to have something special made. I found this amazing tailor, thanks to my coworker, who's work should seriously cost much more than it does. Every dress I've seen come out of that atelier is beautiful, and mine was no exception. I was initially very skeptical because of all the horror stories I'd been told: tailors don't finish well, tailors don't tailor well, you never get what you actually want, etc. I went with my sketches (at the time, my book had 18 sketches of dresses), and he got exactly what I wanted right away and was even able to show me pictures of similar dresses he had done. I was sold.
Then I went over to the wekala, the fabric market, where my eyes were opened up to a whole new world. My fiance very patiently bared with me, as I spent 2 hours gushing over all the fabrics and hunting for the right fabrics for this particular dress I was designing. It was overwhelming in a great way! All the beautiful fabrics, all the beautiful colors, all the beautiful potential dresses!! I was looking for that particular dress, but I was creating so many more in my head with all the selections in front of me.
After 2 weeks and 3 fittings, I left with a dress that was stunning. When I came out of the dressing room during one of my fittings, all the girls in the atelier stopped and gasped at the dress. In fairness, the stunning color has a lot to do with it, but the dress was gorgeous, he did such a great job. I couldn't wait to wear it! I took it a step further and had a brass belt custom made by a nearby craft shop to complete the look. The first time my fiance saw me in the dress at the wedding, he was stunned speechless.
So now I'm working with this tailor to bring all my sketches and ideas to life. The more I go to the fabric shop, the more I want to make. It's one of my favorite creative hobbies since childhood, and now that I'm teamed with a fantastic tailor, the possibilities are limitless.
Onto the next dress!
