The Couturier

for my cousin NCC, on her birthday

That day was a not-so-typical June morning in Metro Manila because I am not typically there. With three days remaining in my yearly visit, my cousin Nasreen has graciously joined me at my hotel for an extended sleepover, raiding my toiletries and making the most out of my access to the VIP lounge. She miraculously woke-up early that morning, but only after I reminded her that breakfast was going to end in 30 minutes.

Two hours later, she was curiously focused on her task at hand.

Focus is not a common word I would use to describe Nasreen, but it was the first word that would accurately explain what she was doing at that moment. I pretended to write something important on my notebook while observing her from the corner of my vision. She was cutting round patterns, of about three inches in diameter, from the large tulle fabric that she brought with her the night before. After cutting about a dozen or so, I saw her carefully creating flowers out of them. She continued to cut more round tulle pieces and proceeded on making more of those mysterious flowers. After seeing a tiny mountain of tulle flowers on the table next to her, I finally asked, “What are you making?” She methodically finished the flower in her hand before answering my question, “Flowers. For the bodice of my June bride.”

A few days before that, she was telling me about one of her brides whose father passed away before the wedding. To fulfill the bride’s mother’s request, she cut a heart-shaped portion of the late father’s handkerchief and sewn it in the inner lining of the bridal gown. Doing so allowed the bride to walk down the aisle, on her wedding day, with something that her father owned. Now, that is next level memorializing an important event by gently including loved ones who have gone ahead.

What bride would not want a couturier who would give her dress as much attention as what Nasreen is giving it? What human would not want to wear and own one of her creations that is given meticulous precision, personalization, and almost obsessive attention to detail?

Couturiers like her are like writers, they tend to pour their hearts and souls into every piece of clothing that gets created in their shop. They uniquely weave their lives into the lives of their clients in a very poetic way.

Visiting her atelier in 2022 gave me the feeling of coming home to a writer’s sanctuary - my writing sanctuary, to be exact. It felt rich and ripe with so many stories that are waiting to be told. If my stories are told through words, hers are tales in fabrics, beads, and threads.

Happy Birthday, NCC.
Keep living your dream.