Fatema

Saleha Akter Urmi; [Facilitator]

Traditional dress (embroidery)

Fultola (embroidery)

Embroidery (EMB)

Decorative

Fatema had a love marriage. After her marriage, her husband gave her a dress of this design. It was a priceless gift from her husband. She was unable to bring that dress when she came to Bangladesh. She still feels upset when she thinks about it, as the dress was a symbol of her love marriage.

Traditional dresses vary according to age, gender and marital status for Rohingya women. Unmarried girls wear zagara (long dress), kezze bazu (skirt), tepbin kezze (short sari) and seira thai (petticoat). On the day of the wedding, brides wear lamani hor (wedding gowns) that are bought for 1 lakh kyat. Married women wear emeshtee (same printed blouse and skirt), titi (one piece with different designs in the middle and on the side), panda one saat (clothes in batik print), kezze one saat (t-shirt and skirt). Sometimes the designs and prints of these dresses are inspired by actors. Rohingya women find Bangladeshi attire strange, and tailored their own clothes out of saris given to them when they first arrived. They find their traditional dresses to be unique and worthy of memorialization.