MEMORIES ABOUT TO FADE. I just came back from the laundry shop… | by miss_understo.od | Aug, 2025

I just came back from the laundry shop, and this memory just appeared out of nowhere.

I remembered how, when I was a kid, my mother would send me to the laundry shop to bring back her jellaba,

Racks and racks of hand-made, tailored jelabas in an infinity of colors, lengths, and styles, created by hundreds of women who took the time to choose the perfect fabric and bargain for a price. For a North African woman, a fixed price is just a myth, a hoax, even. Then they would carefully select a tailor, whom they would trust with their soul, and discuss the design, which is usually a very heated negotiation.

Whenever my grandma would go to her tailor, she would become extremely grumpy. Back then, I didn’t understand why, but now I completely get her, because a man does not have the vision of a woman’s taste, especially if he’s full of himself. In contrast to the early 2000s trends, Grandma would always go for a monochromatic design.

In the meantime, I’m sitting in the corner, legs swinging from the bench, completely sucked into the fashion magazines. My favorite part, the Caftan collection display. I wanted to be the model and the designer at the same time. I hated the color combinations; I would make adjustments in my head and criticize how Chartreuse green doesn’t look good with Hot pink, It’s my favorite combo now, cuz contrast creates focus, you know, or Bleu de France and Orange, yeah, no, still questioning that combo.

I was so deep into my Anna Wintour critique, page after page, when Grandma dragged me back to reality, metaphorically and literally, by dragging my hand out of the tailor’s shop. I say goodbye to a dream I wish to live one day.

I guess I’m still wishing to this day that I never let go of it.

Fashionably Yours,

miss_understo.od