The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2019 51 on the invitation to dress up, women would show up in a black dress and pearls,” she says. And if the invitation called for smart attire, “that means a black dress with no pearls.” The April event will be the first of many, according to Guma- rova. For future events, she says, she hopes to also emphasize men’s fashion. Gumarova founded the organization Diplomacy & Fashion LLC with a goal of understanding “how the language of fashion can be used to deliver the message of diplomacy.” In Washing- ton, D.C., she explains, diplomats’ spouses “have book clubs and bridge clubs, but nothing around fashion.” She worked with Sheila Switzer, program chair for AAFSW, to put together the fashion show at the State Department. Along the way, Gumarova met Isabel dos Santos and encour- aged the Mozambican ambassador’s wife to pursue her dream of opening a boutique. The Glamour & Diplomacy event was dos Santos’ debut as a designer. In Mozambique, dos Santos led an entirely different life, work- ing for the National Demining Institute as a program officer for the organization tasked with removing land mines. “It had noth- ing to do with fashion,” she notes. “But when I’m posted with my husband, I’m a homemaker. Our jobs are to entertain and help our husbands.” For dos Santos, designing clothes means she can contribute to international diplomacy in her own way. n Dos Santos began dressmaking in earnest as a bored diplomat’s wife in Berlin. The first Glamour & Diplomacy event, held at the State Department, included models from around the world, many of them married to ambassadors. ERICTHIEL Peruvian designer Evelyn Brooks, left, with model Annemarie Ochoa Cake. ERICTHIEL