Tatreez Talk
Tatreez Talk is a the podcast that stitches together the vibrant narratives of Palestinian embroidery! Join us as we chat with talented embroiderers and artists, sharing their stories, inspirations, and the cultural significance behind each meticulously crafted piece. Thread your needle, press play, and let the stories unfold…one stitch at a time.
Tatreez Talk
S7E2. Building a Marketplace for Palestinian Heritage with Paige of ThobeHob
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IN THIS EPISODE, we welcome back Paige Austin, the artist, activist, and creator behind @wanderingcamelgoods and @hoobzehwajibneh to talk about her new venture: ThobeHob, a marketplace for buying, selling, and trading Palestinian thobes.
Paige shares the inspiration behind the platform (born from years of seeing precious handmade thobes lost on generic resale sites), why she built it intentionally "by Palestinians, for Palestinians," and how the whole thing works: from listing fees to shipping to the community she hopes it builds along the way.
You’ll hear about:
>> 0:50: Quick intro into Paige
>> 2:23: Introducing ThobeHob!
>> 4:06: How it works
>> 7:03: Inspiration behind the platform
>> 8:45: Why now and why this is exclusively for Palestinians
>> 10:20: For Palestinians, by Palestinians
>> 13:50: Vision and hopes for ThobeHob
>> 16:42: Process of listing and browsing thobes
>> 22:56: One takeaway you should take from ThobeHob
Links Mentioned:
>> Hear more of Paige’s story in first interview: S1E27. A New Journey in Tatreez with Paige
>> Buy, sell, and trade thobes: ThobeHob on Wandering Camel Goods
>> ThobeHub on Instagram: @ThobeHob
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Hi, Stitchers. Welcome to Telfri's Talk, where we share conversations about Palestine embroidery. I'm Lina here with my co-host Emani, chatting with talented embroiderers and artists, sharing their stories, inspirations, and the cultural significance behind their work.
SPEAKER_02And on today's episode, we are chatting with our friend Paige Austin, the artist, activist, and the creator behind the Instagram account. Hovze, I have to pronounce it the way you spell it. Hovzehibne. But who's now venturing into something new and exciting, the hob hub. Welcome to back. Welcome back to Tatari's talk page. We're thrilled to have you again.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's nice to be back.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, so we were we were just talking about it before recording. Like we're not going to do a full-fledged interview in terms of like your personal story. But for those who maybe have not yet listened to the first episode, do you want to share anything about yourself? Introduce yourself a little bit more than what Amani just shared?
SPEAKER_01Sure. Hello, my name is Paige. I am a Tatriz artist, like Amani said. And I also dabble in other arts. So technically I'm a multidisciplinary artist. And I also am the founder of Wandering Camel Goods, which is just a shop of my art. And then more recently, I am coming out with a new section of my new website that's called Thob Hob, which is basically a marketplace for Palestinian dresses. And so a little bit about my background. I'm obviously a Palestinian. My mom's family is half from Ramallah, half from Alutz. And we've been in the US. I was born here. We've been here since I think they came over in 65 or 66. And yeah, that's my relationship with Satriz and uh Falsein.
SPEAKER_02Also, I'm just realizing my brain said Thob Hub.
SPEAKER_01That's kind of what I wanted, actually. So that's good.
SPEAKER_02Okay, perfect. Good. I did not mess up at all. I did exactly what I was supposed to do. Um, so Paige, what what is this new venture? Tell us more. Tell us what this is all about.
SPEAKER_01So for my business, Wandering Camel Goods, um, I'm finally creating a website. It's been years now, um, but it's almost done, and it actually launches in less than a week. Um, and part of that website is going to be a hub for uh Palestinian dresses, specifically thaobs, obviously. Um, and basically it is an online marketplace, or that's what I would like it to be, for people to buy, sell, and potentially trade their toabs that they either no longer want or that they like, you know, they they just outgrew the style, or you know, they're trying to find something new in their life. Um, and basically it's a place where you can list the thob and other people around the world or in your own country can go and um find you basically find the thob and say, Hey, like I'm interested in buying this, and then um it's basically like a buy-sell transaction between buyer and seller, so it also fosters community in that way. Um, and I intentionally did it that way, a because I'm not tech savvy enough to do like anything bigger currently. Um, and I also am like really staunch against AI, so I'm doing everything myself. Um, and the listings are posted by me. So um it's when you list the thobe, it's literally just me going in and creating the listings. So um depending on you know, like traffic, uh you have to be really patient because it's it's literally just me. Um, and no help from computers besides entering the data. Um, and so basically how it would work is you go on the platform um and you fill out a form um and it asks you basically like about your thulb, about you contact information the way you want payment to receive, and then whether or not you would like to ship locally, like within your country, or ship worldwide. Um, and so depending on all those factors, there will be like filters and stuff that you can search for some something that you want shipped from your home country, or if you want something shipped like from Palestine or Jordan or wherever. Um so basically you go onto the platform and if you want to shop, you just browse the thobes, and if you find one that you like, you just contact the person that has the thobe currently and you ask them a if the thing if the price says negotiable, you can ask them for a better price, um, see how low they're willing to go. Um, and then if there's um like shipping information, so obviously you would have to handle like payment and all that. So you would basically go through the seller and say, um, you know, what kind of shipping do you have, like what are the rates, and then basically get a total from the seller, and then you get your new phob in the mail. Um, and so I intentionally wanted to create this kind of platform a little bit more direct from buyer to seller so that you can A be immersed in the community. So it's not just you behind a computer screen being like, oh, I like this thobe, click add to cart, and you get to buy it, right? Um it's more of like, I have to contact this person, I have to find out more about them, I have to know if they're Palestinian, you know, like all these different things. And so I'm hoping that it also fosters sense of community within the Taparis and Phob world. Um, and then on another note, so the platform is specifically geared for Palestinians. Um, so Palestinians can buy phobs that are handmade, historic, or hand-stitched. Um and then non-Palestinian allies are able to buy phobs that are machine made. Um, and I know it's you know, it's hard to kind of regulate that, but it's going off an honor system. Um, and I would love for people to specifically say, and I don't think it's a problem because we're all very proud to say, you know, hey, I'm Palestinian and I would like to buy this handmade thobe. Um and if you're not, obviously please just be like honorable in your intentions and follow the rules. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Well, this is very exciting and something that is very needed, I think, in the community. Because I feel like a lot of people purchase these at Thwab and they only can like use them for like one occasion, a henna party or something, and then they like another one or they want to or they grow out of it, doesn't fit anymore. Um, so I'm very excited to see where this goes. I'm curious about like the inspiration. How like where did this idea come from? How did you get inspired? And like also why now? Why is like now a really good time to launch this?
SPEAKER_01That is a great question. So, um, first part of your question, like, how did this come about? Um, I am an avid secondhand thrifter girly. Um, and so I'm always on these like secondhand websites like Poshmark and Depop and all these things. Um, and I am always seeing Thobs for sale, and sometimes there's like, you know, a lot of like handmade lab that I'm just like, why are you listing this on this platform? Like there are so many people out there that know what Tatris is, but they don't know what Tataris is, you know. Um, they don't understand like the value of the actual dress itself and you know the history behind it. So for me, like I really got tired of like coming across these gems and A, um, like wondering where they're gonna go, and B, I feel bad because it's like those are the only places that currently we have to sell our cultural heritage if like A, you need the money, or if you need, you know, if you just want to re-home the phobe, you're like praying that it's gonna be someone who is gonna appreciate it, but you can't really control that. Um, and so for me, I was like, dang, I wish somebody would like come up with a like an idea of you know being able to sell phobes to Palestinians so you know it's going to a good home, um, so you can like verify like all these different details that you would like to know um where like our cultural heritage is going. So I was like, you know what, screw that. I am gonna do it myself. Um, and so that's kind of how it came about. And I think for the second part of your question, why now? Um, I think that there is a lot more appreciation, even within our own community, um, for our cultural heritage artifacts. Um and I think that phobes in particular are really being seen right now as an item of high value. Um, and so I think it's a good time now because more people who are not Palestinian are kind of becoming aware of um these dresses. And so I wanted there to be a solution for us to be able to keep our Tobs in our hands, basically. So for Palestinians from Palestinians, um, and I think that's super important just because you know we're trying to preserve literally our like our dignity um as Palestinians and our like heritage because it's actively being erased. So I think right now is like the perfect time for people to be able to get money for their thob because it's obviously it's worth money, um, and also to be able to find it a home that is appropriate.
SPEAKER_02We so you and I have talked about this kind of offline before um the decision to make the platform um a very intentionally kind of as you said, by Palestinians, for Palestinians. Um can you talk a little bit more about coming to that decision uh and what you want people to understand um from that decision?
SPEAKER_01Um sure. So I made the decision for it to be a for Palestinians, by Palestinians marketplace for our handmade, because I personally believe that those dresses were always intended to be passed down to Palestinians. Um and I think that just in cultural preservation, um, it's only right for those dresses to find their way back to Palestinian homes because a lot of the time, you know, when you see dresses being sold, our like handmade thobes, our historical thobes, being sold on other marketplaces or you know, on like these auction websites, a lot of the times they those thobes were stolen from the people or the women who made them. Um and that's horrible, but also like they need to go back to Palestinian homes. Um, I don't know like about you guys, but it anytime I get like a historical, I'm gonna say historical because I don't have like actual historical thobes, but like, you know, vintage stobs. When whenever I get one in the mail, like if I order one from Tobna or um wherever, and I like get it and I open it, there's immediately like this sense of connection. Um, like I I have said it before on my on my Instagram, but like it literally feels like you're meeting an old friend or like a auto you never met before for the first time, and it's like instantly comfortable and like it feels like it belongs. So I want Palestinians to be able to have that feeling, you know what I mean? Like I think everyone, everyone who's Palestinian deserves to have that feeling once at least.
SPEAKER_03I love that. That's so beautiful. Um, and yeah, I mean, I think there's something at Talfriz, this is why Thaqriz is so powerful because even if you've never practiced before in your life, so many people come on here and say, you know, the first time I held a needle and thread, I was like, oh, there's some sort of like even if it's tough at the beginning, there's some sort of familiarity, there's some sort of connection that immediately happens. Um, and I think for a lot of us in diaspora, we're just craving that attention so badly. Um, so I think this is such a powerful way to extend that connection to even more people who potentially may not want to stitch, but appreciate the pleas and want to uh wear it themselves and experience that feeling of wearing it. Um I think this is so powerful. You talked a lot about this, and I know that you haven't yet launched yet, but what are you hoping kind of comes out of the first month or two uh after launching? Like how can we help kind of elevate this and amplify the message towards the community and help more people experience the platform itself? You know, I'm curious, like like how many, how many a Twab will be listed? How many are you hoping to get onboarded? You know, how do we help them find new homes? I I'm not sure if they're like the question's kind of tricky, but uh just curious about what your hopes are for the first kind of few months of launching uh Thol Pub.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sure. Um, so I'm I mean, I have a rough idea of kind of what I would like to happen. Um, obviously, I can't predict the future, but in an ideal world, it would be really nice to see people actually engaging in the buying and selling process or even trading. Um, and just like I want to hear the feedback from people of, you know, yeah, this this is great. Like I I got to have this experience and now I have a new thob, or you know, I'm really glad that my autos thob got to go to another Palestinian home. I'm just really hoping that I get engagement as far as like uh the transaction goes. Um, and so another thing that I actually should add is that um I don't keep any, like I'm not uh a platform an actual platform, like I don't have an app or anything. So I am really doing this for the community building. So I don't keep any percentage of the actual Phobe sale. Um I only charge a $5 listing fee just because it's literally just me. Um and also to keep the platform running. Um that's just kind of the one standard fee that I have, and it's just a one time per thob fee. Um, and so I'm hoping that you know, after a while there will be thobes listed in countries around the world and people are willing to ship locally in their home countries. Um, hopefully we have a lot of people that are willing to ship worldwide. Obviously, if the buyer is willing to pay for the shipping, um, and just to kind of see how the community unfolds because I know a lot, I know actually quite a few people who don't stitch and they interact with me on Instagram and they're like, well, like I really wish I had the time to learn to tatteries, but I don't, and like, you know, I I don't have a thob yet, but I really want one. And so I'm hoping like those people will be able to come onto the platform and you know, buy their first thob um from another Palestinian and just have that be kind of like a special experience.
SPEAKER_02I like that. It's um I it does seem, even from how you're describing it, that the idea of community um that you've talked about throughout the conversation is very intentional, um, which I'm excited to see that come to life. Uh, if someone is listening and they're interested in listing a thob, what's the process? Like, how do they get started?
SPEAKER_01Sure. So um right now, um, I haven't launched yet, but the website launches officially on August 3rd, which is next Monday. But when this episode airs, it should be live. Um, and so you just go to wandering camel goods.com slash thobhoe, which is T-H-O-B-E, H O B. Um, and then on there, the very first thing you'll see is kind of an overview of what the platform is. Um, and then there's a little tiny box of QA if you have any questions. Um, and then there's a lengthier QA if you have uh more questions than that. But um you just go down to the bottom of the information and there's a button that says submit a listing to thobe, and you just click on it. It's a really short, quick form. It asks you basically like uh, you know, your name, your contact info, um what kind of thob it is, handmade or machine made, and then um like who, like where you're willing to ship, and then like different details about the thobe. Um and so you just fill out that form, you click submit, and then um you pay the thobe listing fee, which is right next to it. Um, and then it takes, I'm saying that it's gonna take roughly seven business days to get onto the platform. Um, so you can check back in seven days, but it'll probably be shorter because I'm really excited and I'm just gonna, you know, be doing that all the time. Um, so you can check back on to thob hobe and see your listing, and then you can also um share it on your social media. I made, okay, so I made a page on Instagram for Thob Hobe. A lot of people have already found it, which is hilarious because I have not shared it at all. Um, but it's just thob hobe on Instagram, and I'm hoping that maybe I will do like, um, if it's not too much work for me, but um doing like either a highlight for the week or the month or whatever, just like highlighting the different thobes that have been posted, um, and then tagging people if they have social media and like creating kind of a direct contact on Instagram as well.
SPEAKER_02Fun.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Oh, this is so cool. And I really love the, I really like as Amani mentioned also, like the intentionality behind creating and fostering community. I think because I feel like Amani and I talk about this all the time. One of the things that we love about Talpri's talk is we're able to actually converse with people in the community, and it's so different than some superficial social media post, and you're just like liking or even even commenting is is pretty like superficial. It's above, it's above the ice, right? Whereas the conversations is when things get really interesting and you find commonality, you hear different stories. Um, so I think this is such a great opportunity for other people to tap into that as well, just in the process of purchasing a thulb. Um, so yeah, very exciting, Paige. I'm really I can't wait to see how it goes. I actually do have a thulb or two that I would want to list. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I need to get on my, I've been I've been dragging uh on that. I need to list a few of mine. It's just been crazy, but I'm gonna do that.
SPEAKER_03Oh, actually, quite a question as someone who's thinking about listing. Um, I'm assuming like the lister will have to manage like photos of the thulb. Will you have like guidance on how to take those photos and like what kind of description to include? Is are they gonna be sharing the story behind the thulb? Like if there is one that they want to share on the listing, like how much detail can a lister put on on their thulb?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um on the form, there's specifically a spot for the different measurements. Um, and it I have a diagram that shows you like how to take the measurements, like where to put your measuring tape. Um, and it should be taken laying flat. Um, and then as far as pictures go, um, I originally with beta testing, I had posted two um listings that were just like an example, and people really were able to get it from that. So um with the phobes that are listed currently that are beta tested, um, it's basically just a front view, full front view, full back view, and then like if you have detailed shots of the uh egg bit or you know, different like shots of the stitching, or um, if your phobe comes with like a belt or whatever, um, just to kind of show all of the things that you think are special about the thobe. Um, and it's max of five pictures. But if people decide that they want to do more, like if I get that feedback over time, I can add additional photos. But I think five is kind of like the sweet spot. Um, and then as far as like the detailing goes, so I have uh just a generic box on the forum that says, like, give me as much detail as you can about the thobe. So you can really say whatever you want in it about, you know, if like if you know who made it, if you know where it came from in Volstein, if you know, you know, like if it's a machine-made thob, if you know the brand, um, or if you know like what camp it was made in, things like that. Um, and then if there's a special story behind it, definitely I would love that to be included too. I mean, I know other people would love to know the story behind the thob that they're getting. Um, so if it's like a special one that you know, like, oh yeah, you know, my gelto made it, or you know, my my teta made it, something like that, then definitely include that because I think that's that's also a special part of you know, getting a thhoe in the mail from somebody, um, especially another Palestinian. They typically take that stuff uh into account when they're, you know, listing or if they're trying to sell a thob. It's very sentimental. So um I'm hoping that that will also foster connection because you know you're finding more, finding out more basically about your culture without having to do much else other than shop for a thhoe, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, definitely. Okay, I'm excited. I I need to, like I said, I need to get my stuff together um and list my thobes on um the page. But I'm excited to see it all come to life and like the next iteration as you continue to kind of build this like community, this community of thob lovers, um, and kind of see what happens next. But thank you so much for sharing with. Us. I think one last question. What is the one takeaway you want for folks to have, like who are a part of this?
SPEAKER_01The one takeaway, um, I would probably say that uh it would be just like that sense of community, you know. Um, I think that coming together, even with something as like trivial and silly as buying a thalb, really fosters community, especially when it's with your own people. Um, so for Palestinians, by Palestinians, I really want that to kind of be uh like a tagline because I think that is super important to you know foster community. Um, no matter where you are in the world, you're Palestinian, you get to socialize with other Palestinians and have a piece of our cultural heritage. And I think that's really important going forward to just preserve, you know, Palestinian-ness in general. Um, one more thing I wanted to add. Um, I also decided recently that I'm gonna make the Phobe listing free for people who live in Fallstein. Um, I think it's pretty pointless for a listing fee to be a money transferred because there's what's the point, you know. And also I feel like the people in Fulstein who maybe have phobes to sell, um, they should be getting all of the money. You know what I mean? Like they should be getting everything, and shipping is so expensive from there, and yeah, you know, the occupation makes everything so difficult. So um, if you're in Fulstein and you want to listen thhoe, it's completely free. Um, and then yeah, I just I think that community is the takeaway from here.
SPEAKER_02There you go. There you go. I love that. That's a really nice uh added bonus for anyone like living in Fulstein, and I think for anyone who is wanting to buy thobes from Fulasteen too.
SPEAKER_01Um, just another thing that I'm like, it's coming off the top of my head. Um, so for people who have small businesses that sell thulbes already, um, they are also able to double list their thobes. So if like if you have one on your website or if you have an Instagram, you can also list it on thob. I'm not putting any restrictions on like small businesses and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02Cool, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing this with us, Paige. And if people are interested, where can they find you?
SPEAKER_01Um, you can find me at my normal Telese Instagram at Hubzeo Zibne on Instagram or on my business page at Wandering Camel Goods, or now though Pobe at Philpope on Instagram.
SPEAKER_02You're gonna be busy on social. Um all right, thank you so much, Paige. It's always lovely to talk to you. We'll talk to you soon.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_03I just love hearing new innovative ideas that come out of the Palestinian Tel Paris community. And I know, Emmanuel, you and I have talked about this so much about how talented our community is. Um, and I love seeing like new, you know, offering the new marketplaces and new just everything new that's exciting and makes it even more accessible to more people because that just makes everyone else enjoy Tel Paris. So very, very exciting. I love I love seeing this. I love hearing about it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I always say that on the podcast, but I love how um intentional Paige was with this idea of like incorporating community and making it um kind of the heart of the project. So I am excited to see it come to life. I am gonna be listing some phobs there. I just need to actually like measure and measure them and take pictures. So that's on my list this week. Um, but bravo to Paige. And I think anyone in this community who has an idea to do something, um, you should do it. And if you're not sure about it, like reach out to other people. And that's what the community is all about is really to support each other. Um, so check out Paige's new venture. Uh, and of course, thank you so much for listening to Tatri's Talk. We want to hear about your Tatriz journeys. So be sure to share with us at thatristalk at gmail.com and we might have you on an upcoming episode. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening platforms and be sure to give us a five star review. You can follow me at Mintemani and Lina at LinaStobe, and you can follow the pod at Tathri's Talk. We will talk to you soon.
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