Women flaunt new dress designs in fashion show

Gowns without girls

Eighteen female designers at the Nogom Vocational Training Institute celebrated the completion of their training wearing fancier graduation gowns than most.  As part of their graduation project, on Sunday they modeled the dresses they had designed themselves: 11 wedding dresses and seven evening gowns.  This fashion show was arranged to present the work they did to achieve their diplomas in sewing.  The graduates come from several different governorates –Sana’a, Taiz, Hajja, and Ibb.  They came to Sana’a to study at this institute for two main reasons: their high school score did not allow them to enter colleges, and they wanted to ensure that they could find public jobs. 

There were two main types of designs—traditional and modern.  All the wedding dresses were white, and created from many different kinds of fabric.  It took the women two months to design all of the dresses, they said.  A committee of judges, made up of the principal of the institute and the teachers, chose the best designs, based on the creativity of the design as well as the sewing skill demonstrated.  The audience was all female, because Yemen is religious and conservative society in which women do not show themselves uncovered in the presence of men. The fashion show by the girls was only on Sunday, but the dresses were on display until Wednesday.  Before the show, the women sat wide-eyed and anxious about how their work would be perceived. They were feeling shy, they said.
 
“When I was walking, many questions crowded in my mind, about how people will perceive me and what the judging committee will say,” said Sahar, 22, of Taiz, who placed second in the competition. Sahar’s wedding dress took her a month and a half to design. “It was so tiring, but I felt at the end that I got a huge benefit,” she said. She chose a high quality cloth for her dresses that cost her around YR 40,000. “I know if I put the wedding dress up for hire, it will give me good amount of money in return,” she said. 

Bedsheet designs found nowhere else in Yemen

The first winner was Suad, 24. Suad won one of the first places for her design for a wedding dress, although she said that the she used a cheap cloth. “I enjoyed the work and I felt satisfied for being really professional in designing.” Seven women did not design a wedding dress, because they could not afford the costs of the materials. Therefore, they designed evening gowns. The gowns were beaded, embroidered and of modern styles.  “Though I was not able to design a wedding gown, I am happy to make an evening gown,” said one girl, who declined to give her name. 

The audiences look happy and impressed. “I never thought that I would see a fashion show in Yemen,” said Faiza al-Nashir, 32.  Al-Nashir was surprised with the girls’ show, however. She felt that the girls were hesitant in their walk. “I like Suad’s and Sahar’s dresses, but I don’t like some dresses,” she said. Some colors of the dresses were so dark that they didn’t catch my eye, she said. “However, I like when they gave the models fol (jasmine), so they looked  like brides,” said al-Nashir, “as well as their hair styles, though some were good and some are bad.” “I totally was surprised with the show and the number of people in the audience,” said Ishraq al-Dawsri, 26.

A teacher and a student celebrate the success of their handiwork.

Al-Dawsri likes the designs of the wedding dresses, and she never thought that she could see this in Yemen. “I used to believe that these impressive wedding dresses could be designed by men or exported to here,” she said. “Each girl expresses their personality and all the dresses are amazing.” “I like the second place dress the most,” said Dina Ali, 22. The quality of the dress is good and its designer will gain more money, she said.  Fashions shows are new in Yemen, and therefore a bit controversial. Men, for example, were a bit suspicious of the idea. “I don’t like this idea, because there are more important things than doing a fashion show,” said Tariq Abdu, 40, of Sana’a.

“I don’t like that they just have this sewing diploma, they should have to have academic studies,” said Abdu. “These diplomas could just be taken later,” said Abdu. “This is really that the girls like to imitate the western fashions shows.” Mohamed Ahmed, 50, was totally supportive of the idea. “I like that they build up for themselves a good career,” he said. The will get two birds by doing that, he said. “First, they will guarantee for themselves public jobs and have also a career,” he said.

The winning wedding dresses on display at the Nogom Vocational Training Institute

Furthermore, their financial situation will be better, for they have jobs and at the same time they could work for their private business.  The girls do not only study dressmaking. They have come through different courses of handicrafts such as how to make bags, bedroom sheets, and table cloths.     The designers of the wedding dress had their make up and hair styles done by their colleagues in the department of hair styling and make up. The models of the wedding dresses were so happy. “We felt that we are really looking like real brides,” they said. However, they felt there is something missing. “There are no grooms,” they said, teasingly.

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