I hated my menial job as a cold-caller so quit the UK – now I own a Hermès bag ‘in every colour’ & am a VERY spoilt wife
SHE may just be 35-years-old, but Safa Siddiqui already has a fleet of high-end cars and a designer wardrobe collection that most of us could only dream of.
If the Dubai Bling star isn’t seen posing in first class of a private a jet, then chances are she’s whizzing around in her grey Lamborghini Huracan or tucking into a five-star meal rustled up by her very own private chef – all while dripping in head-to-toe Chanel.
But it’s been quite the journey for Safa, whose first job was cold calling in London, before she ventured into real estate and then moved to Dubai in 2013 to cash in on the fashion world.
There, the mum-of-two met Fahad Siddiqui, who comes from a very conservative but influential family in India – and she’s been living an opulent lifestyle ever since…
From nagging her wealthy husband for a bigger house to accommodate her ever growing closet, to being gifted a luxurious apartment in Dubai, she’s fast become known for her tantrums and first-world problems.
But in true Safa style, whose handbag collection includes a £66k Hermès Birkin 25 Beton, she just doesn’t care.
After all, as she says herself: “I’m materialistic and proud…”
COLD CALLING
A far cry away from her opulent lifestyle now, Safa came from humble beginnings and has previously told how her first job after graduating in psychology was cold calling in a sales firm.
Taking to Instagram, she shared a snap of several Chanel handbags and penned: “You know that feeling when you want something so much and you finally get it.
“The Chanel classic flap is that feeling…in a bag. I would get her in every single colour if I could.”
The fashionista goes on to say how her “obsession” with the bag first began in her teenage years but noted how she needed more money to be able to start her collection.
I absolutely hated that job, it was menial and I needed thick skin to get rejected so many times in one day
Safa Siddiqui
“Unfortunately, making [money] wasn’t happening Back in 2008. The market was down and recession had hit,” she recalled.
“My first ever job after graduating in psychology was cold calling sales in a law firm.
“I absolutely hated that job, it was menial and i needed thick skin to get rejected so many times in one day.
“I remember to keep myself motivated I would have pictures of the things I was working towards on the my computer’s desktop background.”
Safa goes on to say that when she could eventually afford the bag, she decided against it.
“I evaluated my priorities and there was no point having the bag only to have no [money] to put inside it,” she wrote.
“So I bought properties, furnished my place, travelled, invested and then i got this bag…”
MOVING TO DUBAI
Safa first visited Dubai on holiday following a breakup and decided to move there in a bid to start a new chapter – only, she had to get permission from her parents first.
“Oh my god, what a journey it was!” she recalls, speaking to CurlyTales.
“I’d broken up with somebody and came on holiday and decided I was so sick of being in London I wanted to go somewhere else and start afresh.”
While her parents weren’t happy at first, Safa convinced them she’d go and live with her brother in Dubai and they finally agreed – on the condition she got a job while she was over there.
“It did take me a long time but then I did find a job and I was like really happy and content,” she says.
Safa goes on to say how initially it was “really hard” to get a job because she was “quite fussy” about who she worked for.
“I wanted to work doing something that I would enjoy and also something that was challenging, but I was really happy I worked in real estate…” she explains.
“It was just such a fun job, but I’d travel every day nearly from Dubai to Abu Dhabi [a one hour 20 minute drive], so when people say I’m not hard working I’m like, ‘do that drive every day and see how hard working I am.'”
DEMANDS FOR A BIGGER HOUSE
Since moving to Dubai, Safa’s past as a cold caller at a law firm seems nothing but a distant memory…
After all, Dubai Bling viewers first meet the Dubai-based fashion designer when she’s throwing all of her husband’s clothes on the floor and demanding he buys her a bigger house to store her designer wardrobe.
Her friend Zeina, a real estate CEO who calls herself ‘The Queen of Versace, says: “Safa is crazy. She loves drama. She has an imaginary crown.”
Explaining her reasoning behind her actions, Safa vents: “There’s hardly any space for my stuff…you just shove all your stuff on my things! I can’t handle this – there’s no space!”
But Fahad, who works as a managing director at the Indo Rise General Trading LLC according to his profile on LinkedIn, insists she’s got “more than enough” space.
He points out they live in a five-bedroom plush house in Palm Jumeirah, which is home to Dubai’s elite, and have already converted one of the bedrooms into her walk-in-wardrobe, but fiery Safa has her own solution: “Let’s move…I want a bigger space,” she demands.
Material things do make me happy, so yeah, I’m materialistic and proud
Safa Siddiqui
Taking matters into her own hands, she secretly calls Zeina around and explains how she and Fahad have “outgrown” the space in their luxurious home.
“All these pretty bags and fashion she’s spending all that money on needs to be placed nicely and stored so she can see what she wants to wear,” Zeina says.
But while Zeina tries to convince her that she’s having “first world problem,” Safa, whose husband doesn’t want to sell the house because of the memories it holds, says they have two options – to buy either of the neighbouring houses.
“We’d basically add a tunnel and maybe like a guest house…happy wife, happy life, right?” Safa quips.
And how does the wife of a wealthy Dubai businessman cheer herself up after a disagreement? Splash his cash, of course.
“After the argument with Fahad, I was p***ed off. So I kind of needed to give him a bit of a burn,” the fashion lover and entrepreneur says.
Wasting no time in heading to Bulgari, she doesn’t hesitate to snap up an emerald-and-diamond Serpenti necklace. The total cost? A cool £2million.
MATERIALISTIC AND PROUD
One look at the her Instagram – which is adorned with the likes of Chanel, Dior and Versace – shows that Safa’s one true love in life is luxury fashion.
As the Iraqi-British fashion designer admits on the show, Safa: “Love[s] the smell of luxury.
“I like to aim high and then go above that.”
She adds: “I really love shopping, and I do really appreciate and understand luxury.
“Material things do make me happy, so yeah, I’m materialistic and proud.”
From her expansive designer bag collection to her obsession with feathers, the glamorous fashionista, who isn’t afraid to make a statement, describes her style as ‘exaggerated, flamboyant and extra.'”
Speaking to Vogue India, she explains how she doesn’t like to “restrict” herself when it comes to her wardrobe because for her, fashion is “very expressive” and portrays how she feels in that moment.
I’m building my Hermès collection…I’m getting one in every colour in the rainbow
Safa Siddiqui
She adds: “I want people to be talking about my fashion, I want it to be present.”
But there’s no worry about that – with some of Safa’s most memorable outfits including flamboyant gowns and head-to-toe leopard-print jumpsuits.
And if she has to choose style or comfort, well, that’s easy.
“Definitely style,” she says to Vogue India.
“If you see my outfits, none of them are comfortable. But I get so much happiness from wearing these pieces. It’s like I have to deal with it for that moment.”
But while many may think that Safa has it all, she’s already eyeing up the next luxury item on her wish list.
“I can’t really choose one item, but currently, I am building my Hermès collection. I am getting one in every colour in the rainbow,” the handbag enthusiast says.
Safa says her first Hermès bag was the mini Evelyne because she struggled to get hold of a Birkin, which she explains was her “dream bag.”
Speaking to Pursebop, she notes: “I finally scored my first Birkin in Japan on my honeymoon. It was a black 35 with rose gold hardware.
“I often joke to my husband that the Birkin score was more special than the honeymoon…”
PLUSH PUSH PRESENT
When Safa wants something, she has a very unsubtle way of hinting about it.
Throughout the series, she dons a selection of different hair clips which spell out messages designed to be read by her husband.
Amongst them includes one emblazoned with the words “buy me a Birkin” and another that says: “Push present” – a gentle reminder that Fahad hadn’t bought her one after the birth of their second child.
Taking the hint, Fahad surprises Safa with three cars lined up on the drive – each wrapped in a huge red bow – including a Ferarri, Range Rover and
“I couldn’t decide which gift, so I got her the bracelet and three cars for her to choose for,” he says.
Safa’s explains how she made her decision by choosing the car which she believes is best suited to her shopping trips – or in other words, the luxury vehicle that’d fit the most shopping bags.
I’ll start collecting these like Pokemon…Diamond are a girl’s best friend….every girl deserves diamonds
Safa Siddiqui
“It’s going to be hard to try to choose just one but I think I need to try them out and see which one is going to be best for shopping and to see how many bags it can carry in the back and that’s going to be my decision-making process.”
Not stopping there, Fahad then gifts his wife a diamond necklace to which she beams: “Beautiful…I’ll start collecting these like Pokemon. Diamond are a girl’s best friend.
“They are like a signature gift. Every girl deserves diamonds.”
As if that’s not enough, she asks for one final gift: Mummy makeover surgery.
PUTTING THE EXTRA IN EXTRAVAGANT
When it comes to Valentine’s Day, most of us will settle for a bunch of flowers and some chocolates – but not Safa.
Instead, during series 1 of Dubai Bling, the mum-of-two was gifted a luxury Dubai apartment by Fahad – and she was less than impressed.
“I’m surprising Safa with a late Valentine’s gift….this is the first time I’ve gifted her something like this,” Fahad says.
Taking his wife to an apartment building, he says to his wife: “I got it for you, it’s a gift to you..and Zeina suggested this will be better than getting you jewellery. Every year I get you the same thing.”
But Safa chimes in: “So, what…you’re putting me in here?”
Speaking to the camera, she rages: “Is this your surprise to me…bringing me here? Instead of getting me the house next door to our house, he wants to buy me this one?
“I thought he’d lost his mind.”
Turning to Fahad, she rages: “I’m not moving here.”
But once Fahad confirms that it’s just a gift and that no one is moving there, she perks up and tells the camera: “That was a relief. I was just confused because everything of his is mine anyway… so how is this a gift.”
Coming to terms with the financial benefits of having her own luxury apartment in Dubai, she reveals she’s going to get Zeina to rent it for her.
“She can get me a tenant, and I get money,” Safa says.
POST-PARTUM RECOVERY
In a post shared to Instagram, Safa, who even calls her youngest ‘Baby Bling,’ also revealed several ways she took care of herself post-partum.
She begins by noting how she “hired four nannies…immediately” and indulged in “daily massages.”
The mum-of-two proceeds to say how “vitamin C” was key for her recovery, before then angling the camera towards her bed, which features mountains of the iconic orange Hermès boxes piled up.
Safa also told how she ate whatever she wanted and “didn’t think about calories,” treated herself to fresh flowers every day and embraced her “creativity” by sketching various fashion designs.
The post has since divided opinion of social media users online, with some slamming Safa for flaunting her wealth.
“Today’s episode of I am rich you are poor…” wrote one.
A second penned: “Hmmmm … usually I would say it is not her fault that you cannot afford it etc etc. But this is somehow even tone deaf for me. Sorry Safa this is not it.
“Maybe the wording not sure but I find this reel very problematic and I love watching reels with luxury etc as I don’t mind at all.”
Elsewhere, others were left amusing – especially with Safa’s taking on “vitamin C.”
“Vitamin C is an inevitable part of a speedy recovery,” joked one.
A second commented: “Love the Vit C hahahaha.”
A third wrote: “Living for Vitamin C.”