Northern Noses

The northern mountain region of Tehran is where the toman (money) is and with that comes designer clothes and plastic surgery.

Within 15 minutes of strolling through the Bazaar Tajrish, a semi-upscale multi-tiered mall, I encountered four nose jobs: three female and one male. Each one I passed wore their bandages like an award with their heads held high and a long confident stride in their step. Los Angeles has nothing on them. Anyway, I'm sure they're only adjusting their "beeneeha" to inhale the fresher northern air.

The shops of Tajrish included the ever-popular Zara with its stylish little tank tops and high-cropped pants (to be worn by women anywhere but in the general public). Gucci, Ralph Lauren, Versace, and Louis Vutton were all there (I'm not a knock-off expert, but I highly doubt it). I was a little surprised to see a Playboy t-shirt proudly displayed in a shop window however. It's obvious that bending the rules is an unspoken right in Tehran, but I didn't expect to see virtuous women in chadors walking past shop windows displaying American soft porn icons.