A group of 26 mostly Saudi women completed the first course of its kind to be offered in the kingdom — how to fit, stock and sell underwear.
Two dozen Saudi women are pushing change in Saudi Arabia, one underwear at a time. A group of 26 mostly Saudi women completed the first course of its kind to be offered in the kingdom — how to fit, stock and sell underwear — a training organisers hope will help boost a campaign to lift the ban on women selling underwear in the kingdom.
The colourful bras were donated by employees at Victoria’s Secret,
the Telegraph reported. The graduates held a small ceremony at a college in Jiddah on Tuesday, capping 40 hours of instruction during which they learned to overcome their embarrassment at doing bra fittings, deal with customer complaints and display the stock in an appealing manner.
“It was a beautiful experience,” said Faten Abdo, a 32-year-old coordinator in the offices of a lingerie company. “The most shocking thing for me was the bra sizes,” she added. “We didn’t know how to get proper measurements before.”
The 10-day course comes three months after a group of Saudi women launched a campaign to boycott lingerie stores until they employ women. Almost all the stores in the kingdom are staffed by men.
But those pushing for saleswomen in lingerie stores say they were tired of discussing intimate details with male staff and enduring their scrutiny when they ask for a particular cup size.
Their aim is to push for implementation of a law that has been on the books since 2006 which says only female staff can be employed in women’s apparel stores. The law has never been put into effect, partly due to hard-liners in the religious establishment who oppose employing women in malls.
Because of the mortification many women feel ordering bras, thongs and negligees, the lack of trained sales staff and the absence of fitting rooms — they’re banned because the idea of a woman undressing in a public place is unthinkable — many women end up with the wrong underwear size.
The trainer was an Australian woman who had heard about the boycott campaign online and then offered to give the course. A group of Victoria’s Secret employees who also heard about the campaign on Facebook sent a box filled with cotton bras to be used in the training.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}