Abu Dhabi’s Eid clothing clone problem - and how to avoid it

During Abu Dhabi’s Eid week, also known as the ‘Eid rush’, Muslim families in the UAE race against time to buy new clothes. Silvia Razgova / The National

What do you do when all Abu Dhabi’s malls have the same shops and you want to avoid looking like everyone else? Read on and I will tell you.

During Abu Dhabi’s Eid week, also known as the ‘Eid rush’, Muslim families in the UAE race against time to buy new clothes.

This involves getting perfect outfits for the kids, it has to be the right shoes and the perfect t-shirt to match their baby boy Ahmed’s trousers, or pink Mini Mouse hairband for baby girl Sarah.

But for teenage girls and grown women, things are even more challenging. Eid takes things up a fashion notch - you want to look your best, and you want to look unique. And this becomes difficult, albeit impossible when we all have to shop at the exact same places. With fewer shopping options in the capital than in Dubai, the search for the perfect and unique outfit goes from just a rush and becomes an all out battle.

The search for perfect jeans sends everyone to Zara, we all go to Stradivarius for the perfect top and then it’s off to Bershka for a day outfit.

While some girls turn to online shopping to avoid the Zara / Stradivarius / Bershka trap, it’s a risky move. What if the clothes don’t fit, don’t look like the picture, or don’t arrive in time for Eid?

After spending hours going from shop to shop, to the point where you actually have the mall map embedded in your subconscious memory, many of us will still face a sad ending to our journey.

The day arrives and we head to Eid brunch with our families. And then what happens... Well at least two out of every 10 women are wearing the same top or the same summer dress as you. What, you thought it only looked perfect on you?

There are solutions though and I will give them to you.

Solution one: A much safer route is to think ahead, and personalise those Zara jeans, or that new Stradivarius T-shirt, or the Bershka dress. And don’t forget your ballerina flats. Half the city has the same ones as you so you need to customise yours. You can pick up tips from the internet - instagram is a great place to start, and of course pintrest.

The second solution is simple: Accessorise. With accesories, an important personal touch emerges, and we can use our “fashionista secret power,” (that’s an Instagram term, by the way), to make sure that what we’ve chosen makes us stand out from all the other mall goers.