quick to retract with the slightest hint of my weight on the doorstep, and

reveals an assorted array of the latest trends in fashion, the newest scents, and

the most sought after phones. The Marina mall is a much more grandiose display

of opulence, buzzing with the chatter of well-dressed Emiratis, the occasional Indian,

a group of Ethiopian boys, each immersed in their search for the right commodity. But the Stylin Online department store is of an entirely different mold. One of numerous entry points into Stylin Online, is my trustworthy DELL laptop, an automatic door whose potential, in this regard, I only recently ‘unlocked.’ The sounds and faces of people that I would typically encounter at the Marina mall are replaced by the familiar laughter of my friend, Nkosi, seated beside me, on his discovery that my ethnography is about his boyhood hero.  The walls at the Madinat Zayed, lined roof to floor with confusing directions, arrows, and signposts in English and Arabic, become an easily navigable web interface. Stylin online is unlike any store I have ever visited.