Postcard from Dubai

There's a fabric district in Dubai called Satwa. It's full of wonderful fabricky things and amazing tailors to stitch them all together.

I really like this area of Dubai because it's so full of flavor. There are colors! Textures! Stores with funny names! And, best of all, very, ah, interesting marketing strategies.

For instance, today, I stumbled across this delight of a picture.

This is the display window to, well, some sort of store. I'm not sure what kind of store exactly, or who arranged the display or--and this is really the point--to whom precisely they hope to sell:

Click on it. Enlarge it. Puzzle over it.

Sequined ninja children? Warriors from the tribe of Christmas?

I really don't know.

Other things I can't figure out:

• The mannequin heads along the ground. Kind of a morbid touch, I think. (Though the headgear is really quite fabulous.)
• The fellow to the centre left. I mean, is he (she?) wearing a ski mask? That is pink? And resembles a dog? What is with the (ill-fitting) wig? And the bow? And oh my gosh is that scalp at its feet??
• The feather child.

I don't understand any of it, including the presence of the two abbaya-ed women on either side of the scene (I mean those abayyas are much too demure for this kind of a place), but I am a great appreciator of The Bizarre and so, in spite of my bewilderment, I adore this photo, this store, this place. It's like....well, I can't think of it now, but who's that director that always does straaaange movies? Or that poet who wrote......that other thing I can't think of?

Well whatever. It's bizarre like this and when I find a better example, I"ll let you know.**

**Okay, I just watched that video and actually it's not like that at all. Sorry. Just go back to appreciating the picture, please.