One of my favorite adventures in Kinshasa has been going to “The Beach” and shopping for fabric. While you’re still inevitably subject to the cries of “Madame! Over here!” and “Look, look, Madame!” that you would be in the street markets and craft stalls, there’s just something magical about fabric shopping. Maybe it’s the creative aspect… you’re walking through and imagining what style and shape of garment the pattern would best suit… I honestly don’t know! I just know I really enjoyed my two pagne shopping excursions! It’s pretty frowned upon to take photos here, but I was able to snag a few (with seller permission!) when I was purchasing a few pieces.

After KT and I picked out our fabric, she was able to call her seamstress. We picked a date and then needed to choose what kind of garments we wanted made. Apparently all we had to do was show her a photo and she’d be able to make whatever we asked. I was skeptical, but excited. CUSTOM CLOTHES!

The seamstress came over about ten days before I was slated to leave Congo to take our measurements and get the photos of what we wanted. She seemed unruffled by everything we asked for… and she came back a week later with the most PERFECT garments! AHHH! So. Excited.

KT’s housekeeper helped us wash our new clothes, and KT packed the up to ship back to my mom in the US, since pagne isn’t really an ideal backpacking fabric. I can’t WAIT to get home and wear the heck out of these!!!