Am I the ONLY person in dubai without a TAILOR

Am I the only person at the address without a tailor????

Apparently!

Clearly, the residents of the Address are the type of people that seek luxury and quality so it was with great interest that I ventured to ask where the tailors in Dubai are located. A certain resident with an affinity with the darker hues favours the ones located in Jumeirah Beach Hotel...(that must cost a pretty penny), then there are the more cost conscious who use the tailors in Satwa and somewhere in between you'll find the ones in Bur Dubai. So when you have 6 independent conversations where you're told "I'm going to the tailor later" you really have to wonder what you're missing out on.

I did a little digging around and found out that Mina Bazaar was the place to go! The best tailors for Women is said to be Dream Girl Tailors, and a fantastic fabric store is Ratti or Handloom House - both located in the Bazaar.

In my quest for the most luxurious experiences the town has to offer, I'll indulge myself with the pleasure of a personal tailor!

Embarrasment of Riches

Dubai is synonymous with excess...nothing exceeds like excess. The concentration of wealth in this single emirate could probably rival that of the entire continent of Africa. I'm not to be quoted on this, it is just an observation on my part. As I was reading articles on my latest ponderings(Hip hop and Luxury brands), I realised that most of what denotes luxury is inextricably connected to Africa. Now when one thinks about Luxury, one would easily look at them as polar opposites, there is no connection there whatsoever, and if one really challenged themselves they would stretch their imagination to consider Sir Richard Branson's Elite Ulusaba Private Game Reserve as the only luxurious type of luxurious offering.

Lets break it down to the core. The raw materials of Luxury have Africa written all over them. Take a look at a typical hip hop artist who sings about luxury and lives and breathes luxury (for as long as they are in the lime light). What do they wear? Gold chains, gold teeth, platinum chains, platinum rings, diamaond earrings, diamond encrusted watches...the list goes on!

If it weren't for Africa, what would be so luxurious about luxury? The sad thing about Africa is that it possesses an embarassment of riches and sits in poverty. There's a Shona saying, when loosely translated says..."don't die of thirst when you're standing in a river"

...and then she wept

Bloomingdale's in Dubai Mall is a feast for the eyes. Pleasure unparalleled and yet so torturous at the same time when you want everything but you can't have it (hence the weeping). I only got a chance to visit this awesome wonder a week after it opened and for such a short sweet 20 minutes. The splendour that quenches my thirst for luxury. I was merely smitten by Harvey Nichols but Bloomies, well Bloomies is my new Valentine.

Hands down to Al Tayer group for bringing Bloomies to my world. A career with Al Tayer may just be where I'm headed! BUT first,Bocconi!

Charitable Fashion

When fashion meets charity, its a unique combination where vanity and humanity coincide. There seem to be no losers in this game. The only thing that can be questioned is the motive or personal agenda of the vain. There have been countelss collaborations between luxury fashion and meaningful causes but the results have been overwhelming positive. Some of my personal favourites are the Signorelli Omni Peace tees!!!! And Naomi is the Greatest Model of All Time!!!!!

Karama!

I remember promising to go to Karama for some field research on fakes but I still haven't gotten round to it. My Aunt however, gave it 2 goes! Well a lesson is to be learned here...Karma took over Karama. The whole idea behind Karma is "what goes around, comes around" Well it went something like this. A fake Louis Vuitton travel case was purchased and as soon as it got home, caused such severe dissatisfaction that another had to be purchased to pacify the offending object's distaste. The replacement was of better quality and less offensive to the eye but a counterfeit remains a counterfeit and as the say...You buy cheap, You buy twice!

I would still like to go to Karama, despite my research having been done for me already.

So as much as immitation is the most sincere form of flattery, fakes wouldn't be so offensive if they weren't so tarnished in craftsmanship and ethics.