most probably on Wednesday – tailoring shops in the Kingdom are racing against time to finish their work so as to satisfy their customers. And to meet the heavy rush at tailoring shops, many are working for more than 14 hours. “We work from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M. and 8 P.M. to 3 A.M. just to ensure that all the pending orders are completed before the deadline,” said Qamaruddeen, owner of three thobe tailoring shops in the Eastern Province. “Every year we experience this rush as Eid nears, but this year more customers have approached us. Maybe this has something to do with the re-opening of schools just after Eid.” Qamaruddeen has a staff of 25 at his tailoring shops and “all are working hard to meet the customers' requirements without delay. Due to the heavy work load this month, we have rejected over 100 thobe orders recently.” “If I take an order and I cannot deliver it before Eid, then I will lose that customer forever,” he added. Since it is part of the Saudi tradition and Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to wear new garments for Eid prayers, abayahs for women and thobes for men are in great demand in tailoring shops. Prices range from SR100 to SR250 depending on the fabric. The cheaper fabrics come from Indonesia and China while the more expensive ones are made in Japan. Saudis, Arabs and some Pakistanis and Indian expatriates are wearing thobes for Eid. A tailoring shop owner told Saudi Gazette that although readymade thobes of various varieties are available in the market, most people prefer to have them made to their own specifications. Sadiq, an Indian tailor at Old Adama Street, said since schools are reopening after Eid vacation, students are ordering three and four thobes at a time “and it means that I have to work continuously during the night.” “We have nine tailors and they sew an average of five thobes per day. Since we have many orders this month prior to Eid, we have requested our customers to wait for at least a week to ensure that the thobe is sewn to perfection,” said Abu Saeed, a Yemeni salesman at the Shabab Tailoring Center, which specializes in thobes. Aboobacker, another tailor, who is a long time resident here, said that “Saudis are very particular about how their clothes are sewn. Though the shop sometimes cannot accept new orders, customers insist on having their clothes tailored by them since they have a special way of making thobes. Meanwhile, shops selling thobe accessories are doing good business as well. Iqal (traditional black rope worn on the head), ghotra (white fabric used for head covering), Shima'a (designed head covering fabric) and Kabak (designed buttons used as cuff links) are all in great demand. Yemeni nationals are well-known for making thobes in the Kingdom. Pakistanis and Indians, especially from the northern states, come second and third respectively. __
