Repair man's toolbox
I went to the Heritage Souk (old souk) downtown. It is kind of interesting as there are lots of booths, stalls, shops with everything imaginable for sale. There are quite a few men who sell Iranian carpets, some gold, money changers, clothing, perfumeries with custom perfumes, incense in the form of wood chips.
Incense is kind of expensive as the best come from specific trees in specific areas. You find it mostly in the perfumeries. The economy of the Middle East in the very early cultures thousands of years ago subsisted and built wealthy economies based upon the incense trade. Even Biblically the three wise men in addition to gold gave Frankincense and Myrrh to baby Jesus. These were both very valuable types of incense. In ancient times any one of the gifts would have been worth a small fortune due to the rarity of the item and the expense to bring it such great distances.
Across from the Heritage souk is the textile souk which has it seems: hundreds of fabric shops and tailors. I don't know how they all stay in business.
Most of the men here wear dishdashahs the white or sometimes colored traditional shirt dress with the head scarf of white or checked: called the shumagg or ghutra. I forgot to check into the tagiyah which holds the guys hair in place underneath. It's like a white crocheted cap, and finally the Ogal which is a black band that fits around the top of the head to hold it all in place (They let me try one on)! I went to price them at the souk today and they are about 5 KD for the entire outfit not counting the roomy boxer shorts or long cotton underwear they apparently wear underneath. If you are Kuwaiti it is probably even less. So for guys to to be able to dress comfortably for about $15-$17 I would probably do the same.
Also, most of the women wear Abayahs, the black garment that covers head to toe. Some also cover their face completely. Underneath they often wear traditional Arab clothing which are gorgeous long dresses with long sleeves and elaborate decoration, but here the Kuwaitis are more likely wearing the latest styles from the expensive, International designer market under their Abayahs. The local malls abound with clothing from Western Countries. Some women only wear the Hejab which is a scarf like head covering that does not cover the face, several of the girls at school wear the Hejab, but not all. Most do keep arms and legs covered, but like everywhere there are exceptions. I'm thinking that the Abayah would be good for bad hair days which I seem to have a lot of here because of the heat and it is so expensive to get your hair done. It does make you wonder though why men get to wear white and women black...hmm...? Men do wear darker colors in the winter months when it gets really cold!! for example the 60's! Personally I am looking forward to some of those chilly months ahead.
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