THE TOUCH : Looking good takes hard work

Recently, I was all over Giporoso trying hard to get an outfit I have been thinking of since I saw it on some woman a few weeks ago, see I know and am sure it has an imitation but I don’t seem to get it anywhere. I have realised and proved that any fashion first has a duplicate and if I can work hard enough I can get my hands on it. This one seems a lost cause, but I will keep trying.Grooming success just like any other part of a woman’s life is determined by the labour and effort put into it. I know for a fact that everyday I meet a woman well dressed I know and appreciate how much she has put into it to make that happen. A woman’s wardrobe is a success story of endless trips across town malls and open air markets; it represents her hard work in trying all languages to communicate with a hawker who tries to sell her a catwalk top at only Rwf 1,500. Each and every shoe that makes her rack makes a story. Ask her, she will say this one is a gift, this pair Ibought in Kimironko, and, yes, this one I ‘stole’ from my cousin. It’s a battle of finance, and labour to acquire what most men will pass on as just ‘looking good’. Every single cloth in her wardrobe has a mysterious tale of discovery and achievement. See, women don’t just dress for the sake of it. We are passionate about looking good and appearing desirable and unlike men we are willing to go all the way for a certain look. I know I do, and many women will concur with me that we practically hunt for the clothes, bags, shoes and make-up that we want. We tirelessly struggle to find catwalk fashion in our very limiting market and, yes, we do find it, and if we can’t find it here then we outsource, from Uganda, Kenya or from relatives living in the US or some other land. The country borders or our class status have never confined us to any shopping location because when we want, we get. The beauty of all this tireless searching and creativity is that it always works out. You will always find something that matches another, you always land on what you want and somehow despite the mess you leave behind you always get out of home looking presentable. What more could anyone ask for? So the next time you meet a woman and by chance her outfit catches your eye, appreciate the hard work that goes into it, because in the end she is just a woman who would have gone through ‘hell’ to get that skirt or shirt that you now admire. pgathoni@gmail.com