High Fashion

Finding clothing that fits here has proven to be a bit of a challenge for me. What's for sale in the shops is mostly from Indonesia and way too small as most Zambian women wear small sizes even though many of them are quite tall. Finding pants is especially hard, and due to this every time I go home I bring a few pairs back with me. The last time I was in the U.S. I was very busy, and didn't have a lot of time to go shopping. While I was in Costco I saw the Gloria Vanderbilt brand of blue jeans for sale. I remembered hearing a friend say how nice these pants were, so grabbed a few pairs and threw them in my suitcase on the way back to Zambia.

As it turns out, my body must not be shaped the same way hers is, as they are the right size, but really don't fit well, and have sat in my closet mostly unworn for almost a year. Last Sunday I decided to make room in my closet so put them, along with some other things that I don't wear often, into a big black plastic bag on the veranda. When Benson came to work on Monday I asked him if he thought they might fit his wife. He was sure they would, and took the bag of clothing home with him last night.

This morning Benson came to work. He was wearing a pale yellow blouse I had purchased in Botswana that is very clearly (to a westerner) a woman's blouse. It's sleeveless, has a very large collar, different African animals embroidered on the bodice, and side slits. With this he was proudly wearing a pair of the Gloria Vanderbilt blue jeans cinched in with his Barack Obama holographic belt. He was quite a sight!

It was very high fashion indeed! I hope he left something for his wife to wear.