The Magic Kingdom's Humungous Thobe

Who says those Wahhabis don't know how to have a good time? Why, hoards of 'em are racing off to a Jeddah mall to gaze at what is reputedly the world's largest, er, thobe.

Yes, thobe.

Arab News has all the thobic (thobian? thobish?) details:

JEDDAH: The Jeddah-based thobe company, Lomar, entered the Guinness Book of World Records on Tuesday with the unraveling of the world’s largest thobe.

The half ton white tunic measures 33.90 meters in height and 17.20 meters in width. The Lomar thobe has broken two previous world records, the first by a UAE designer and the second by a Palestinian designer in 2009.

“The idea of creating the largest thobe in the world occurred to me for several reasons. I wanted to give my appreciation to Jeddah. Jeddah has now been mentioned once more in the Guinness World Records. We at Lomar are happy we have been a part of this,” said Lomar’s owner Loai Naseem.

“The thobe took nearly two months and more than 20 tailors to make. It will be cut into smaller dresses and thobes and will be donated to local charities,” he added.

The thobe was unraveled at Jeddah’s Red Sea Mall and attracted hundreds of shoppers who came to view the thobe and win prizes. Due to its size, the company found it difficult mounting it. Among the many people who came to see the thobe was Prince Fahd bin Meshari.

“I was really surprised to see a thobe this huge. I am here with my mother and grandmother and this is the first time my grandmother has been part of a world event such as this,” said Areej Hasan. “This is the first time Lomar has held an international event and it won’t be the last time,” said Naseem.

Not much reason to post this story, really, other than the fact that I giggle every time I read the word "thobe" (which I pronounce to rhyme with globe; I'm not sure how you really say it). It sounds like something out of Dr. Seuss. (For that matter, so does Lomar, the Jeddah-based thobe company.) Thobe, thobe, thobe, thobe. What fun!