Hanging around the foyer in my hotel in Dar-es-Salaam, I could not help but notice the vibrantly dressed ladies arriving in small groups. Each group was coordinated in their outfits in various ways (part of two groups is shown in the photos), with an overarching theme of red as the required colour for attending a Kitchen Party. The purpose of this gathering was to celebrate a bride’s forthcoming nuptials by gifting her the kitchen items she would need for her new home. Within the choice of eye-catching outfits, some ladies were more traditionally dressed (i.e. long and loosely fitting) and others wore dresses that, as you can see, closely followed the contours of their curvaceous bodily form. I was told the latter was chosen by teenagers, with women above this age adopting a ‘comfortable’ dress code. My observation, across several groups of ladies, was that the figure hugging style was far from being the sole preserve of the teens. Perhaps because I was not wearing a skerrick of red among my drab travel attire, I was not invited to attend. A later glimpse through the function room doors revealed the bride resplendent head to toe in ‘comfortable’ shimmering gold. Best wishes to the bride.