International Women's Day and the quest for a dress

International Women's Day

March 8th 

What is international Women's Day?

International Women's Day, also called International Working Women's Day, is marked on March 8 every year and women around the world join together in celebration of the strength of women. Since 1908 this has been a day to celebrate the achievements of women around the world without regard to their national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political differences.

What started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily in Europe, including Russia. In some regions, the day lost its political flavor, and became simply an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. In other regions, however, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

In Equatorial Guinea, it is a day which the women look forward to as it is a day of celebration. There are parties but also marches as it is a day where the plight of the woman is highlighted. 

Every year, the First Lady chooses a pattern for the fabric which all the garments for this special day are made from. This year's pattern was swirls on a white background and you had the choice of red, blue, green, yellow or black swirls. However on the day, many ladies wear garments from previous years so it makes for an extremely colourful day. I was under the impression that everyone would be wearing dresses but on the day we did see some trousers, tops and shorts. 

In the weeks running up to the day, the shops and street stalls stated to display the dresses in many different designs. Some were like huge tents while others were extremely frilly and tight. We also saw shoes, handbags and hats made out of the special material.  

My housekeeper told me that she and some of her friends were having a party and all putting in 5000cfa - £6/$10 to buy the food and she had bought a new dress.

Noble Energy were having a lunch in the Recreation Centre for all the ladies who work at the compound and the four Noble wives were also invited. We had heard talk that something may be organised so with this in mind we had gone in search of some dresses a few weeks earlier.

We had seen a tailor in the Mercado Central a few days earlier so 3 weeks before International Women's Day we went to see him. His shop is in the middle of the Central Market which is a bustling, noisy, smelly open street market enclosed within a walled and gated square. There are numerous holes in the walkways which are covered with wood and corrugated iron so sensible shoes are the order of the day!

He has a small bench, his antiquated sewing machine and a small room behind him which is smaller than my wardrobe but which has all his material, zippers and other essentials for his work. Again only Spanish could be spoken, so bit by bit we managed to make ourselves understood. Donna K had brought a dress and jacket she'd had made in Cameroon which she wanted him to use for her design, Donna V and myself each chose a two piece design from his books. Yndra decided not to buy one from him.

We all visited his little room to search for material we liked. Then he set about measuring us and jotting it all down. Prices were agreed. Mine was going to be 28,000 cfa, £35/$59. A 50% deposit was paid and we left happy in the knowledge that we had given him plenty of notice and we would all have new garments for International Women's Day.

10 days before the event, the GM's driver visited the tailor to confirm everything was ok. 4 days before the event, 2 of the ladies visited the tailor who said they would be ready on the Thursday morning. The lunch was scheduled for the next day so this was cutting it fine. On Thursday the tailor said they would definitely be ready on the Friday morning. This was getting ridiculous. I decided on the Thursday evening to go back to the tailor that made the men's shirt for me and see what he had ready made just in case.  Again I was greeted like a long lost friend. He had 4 dresses left and I chose a tunic style in the swirly black design with an intricate embroidered pattern on the front. He did make the sleeves smaller while I waited but on the whole I was happy with my 25,000 cfa purchase.

On the Friday we were at the market at 9.15am. to see the tailor who was just opening up. He told us that Donna K's dress was nearly ready but the jacket still needed to be sewn. Donna K told him she'd take it as it was. Donna V's two piece was still at the cutting stage. Mine wasn't mentioned at this point. I told the guy in my best Spanish that it wasn't good enough. As we made to leave he asked if I wanted mine as it was actually finished. So the other two did not have a finished dress and I now had 2 items to choose from- that's what you call sod's law!

I took the skirt and top, stuffed them in a bag, paid and quickly left as we only had 2 hours before the lunch started. It was only when I arrived home that I looked at the items properly and was amazed at the work that had gone into the garments. The skirt was fully lined with an intricate design panel on the rear and the top had the same design panel on the front. I tried them on, loved them and asked my house-keeper to take my photo!

However I decided not to wear it to the lunch as I already had the tunic dress made from the special International Day material which could only be worn once a year and I would save the two piece for another special occasion which I am hoping will happen soon as I am dying to wear it!

I will be putting a blog on for the International Women's Day lunch shortly

At the time of writing the other 2 ladies are still waiting for finished garments from the tailor!