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| Amin Ullah is one of a dozen tailors Hashimi employs in her hometown of Herat, Afghanistan. Mark Sappenfield |
Stitching an Afghan-American connection
How a gold brocade jacket employed a tailor in Herat and dazzled the mother of an American soldier.
from the November 1, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Hashimi says when she first presented her patterns to the workers in Herat, some were shocked by the strapless styles. But not Ullah.
In a country famed for the burqa, that all-enveloping sack of pleated fabric, Ullah says that Hashimi's designs "are not very different from the designs we are making for women here."
It's not an aspersion on her designs, which he liked, but evidence that Afghan women – as much as their Western counterparts – want to look good. "Even in Afghanistan people have started wearing these sorts of things," he says with a mixture of pride and amazement. "When I go to a wedding party, I see women with bare shoulders."
(Yet if he were to take one of Hashimi's dresses to a local shop, he imagines he might get only $100 for it, which wouldn't even cover expenses. And even at that, $100 amounts to more than one-third of the average annual salary.)
• • •
In Hashimi's store, she and Meyer joke that it may be the American Meyer who is best suited to the dress of an observant Muslim.
"I'm freaking out about the see-through arms, as you know," she says, looking to Hashimi.
"She would be a good Muslim wife," Hashimi says, smiling.
"I would be," agrees Meyer. "I'm so modest."
The jacket closes in front with a hook and eye. It will be tied at the waist with a gold sash made of the same material as the dress Hashimi is sewing for Meyer to wear beneath.
Meyer's younger daughter is also engaged, and Hashimi will make her wedding dress, too. The hope is that Meyer's son will be home in time for that October wedding. And who knows? Ullah may even have a hand in stitching her gown.
Hashimi believes the Afghan-made dresses remaining in her boutique will sell with the next flux of wedding shoppers. She has plans to go back to Herat in March to commission another batch, and still hopes to build the school.
Until then, Ullah, whom Hashimi has kept in touch with by phone, has asked if it is time yet for him to claim his job in her workshop. Perhaps it's the yards of lace and tulle he was surrounded by, because when she explained the complications of bringing him here he offered another solution: "Then could you find me someone to marry?"
"No," she says she told him firmly, her long dark hair shaking as she laughs at the idea.
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