The “thobe,” the traditional attire worn by Saudi men, is catching up with long-staying expatriates in the Kingdom who like to wear newly-stitched thobes on the first day of Eid.
Naturally, tailors across the Kingdom witness soaring demand for this national costume during Ramadan, which keeps their cash tills ringing.
Alaa Burhan, an Egyptian tailor in Jeddah who has been in the profession for over 20 years, says that during Ramadan, the demand for stitching thobes skyrockets, making it the most lucrative season.
“We are under tremendous pressure to meet orders from customers. Demand continues to mount from mid-June until the middle of the holy month,” he said.
“At present, at least 30 clients placed orders with us every day and the number will increase in the last 10 days of Ramadan, which is the time we stop taking orders in order to complete existing orders in time. It also gives us enough time to take care of alterations sought by customers after trying out their thobes,” he said, adding that Saudis prefer Egyptian textiles made purely of cotton even though it is more expensive than other material.
“The average price for a tailored, Egyptian cotton-made thobe ranges from SR500 to SR600. However, prices go down after Ramadan,” he said. Indian cotton-made thobes are tailored at an average price ranging from SR400 to SR550 and Indonesian cotton thobes are priced at SR300 to SR350.
He said there is not much demand for tetron and silk because of the wide choice of cotton and its excellent quality, in addition to its more refined appearance.
Adnan Al-Salami, an employee at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah, said he shops for thobes before Ramadan begins to avoid high tailoring charges. “It is their season and they want to make as much profit as they can. We can’t do anything about it and hence, I avoid shopping during this season,” he said.
Soaring demand for thobes props up menswear shops
