I've been reading gup shup for a while now and have found lots of good ideas thanks to you ladies. My brother is getting married in Dec inshalah and I've been selected to do the wedding shopping in Pakistan!!! Hurray
Anyway, the problem is..... I asked a cousin in Faisalabad to send a suit for the engagement in baby pink jamavar silk with silver or pale gold embroidery. Seeing as i haven't been back to mothership in 9 yrs and im out of touch with prices.
So this cousin of mine tells me she has bought some jamavar silk and has sent it for embroidery but wait... she chose cerise pink, and has had some wierd umbrella frock (im assuming its a pishwas style) i told her her no way jose, it must be a pale pink and a shalwar kameez please, emphasis on delicate and elegant. So she quotes me Rs8000 for the cerise pink outfit (stitching etc) and Rs 6000 for the pale pink one. now im going to upload pics of the outfits. They have arrived.
I hate HATE them. But mum says that i shouldn't judge as i don't know the prices as everything is pricey there.
Im wondering if this is the average price for a crap outfit like this what on earth is the point of me going there??? May i stress i don't want to bother with designers, im just talking about average anarkali type shops, who do great stuff( well they did back in my time)
So ladies, have we been ripped off or is this the norm?
The cerise pink isn't jamavar silk, in fact it doesnt look like or feel like silk, maybe some inferior mix, and it wasn't stitched properly, no overlocking or anything. so does it still justify the price? as my mumani says jamavar silk starts from around 600rs a yard...
Last edited by Ophy; Aug 18th, 2008 at 09:25 PM.
Reason: Forgot to add stuff
I know inflation has really increased dramatically in Pakistan these days and the prices are just through the roof.....but still....I have gotten much nicer outfits made from Pakistan for much less than what you paid The light pink one especially looks like a joke :s The first one looks like if you alter it so it is nicely fitting it can look much better than it does on the hanger. Good luck!! Next time try to only order clothes from someone whose taste you fully trust!
Ophy you should really go shopping. There is all kinds of stuff out there...just depends on personal taste.
I went to Khi a few 3-4 years ago and ended up making a lot of shadi type clothes...the prices are really not that bad. I get stuff regularly and know that 6-8K will get you a decent jora. Not a designer one but something that is decent quality.
One tip I would want to give you is take prints of designs you've seen online. Take them to liberty and ask kaam walas to copy it. Select the colours, buy the material, and give it to them. Also, keep samples of the fabric with you so that you know what colours you've already bought. You'll need them when matching shoes and jewellery.
Once you get there buy bridal magazines and take ideas from there.
I'm sure you'll do fine. Go on our own and don't depend on anyone else to make joras for YOUR brother's wedding. It's a once in a life time event, don't spoil it!
it entirely depends on your taste, honestly. buy the fabric you want and get the kaam you want done- they'll come out much better, and budget-wise, almost everyone will negotiate.
"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." Margaret Thatcher
Prices are ok since she got the embriodery done separetely. For shadi outfit its is better and economical to get preembioded stuff and then get it stiched. Now a days you can find some great shaddi stuff in patahan markets like Orega in Lahore, liberty and anarkali.
I forgot to add, she didnt use jamavar silk, it doesnt look like silk at all and the embroidery is really cheap looking, does it justify the price? thats £65 over here. i can get a great suit for almost the same price here
The prices are more than reasonable... my sister did shopping three months ago and what she paid in liberty was much higher.... more in the range of 8000 - 12000
the work was much more tasteful than what your cousin got for you but definitely for this amount of kaam the prices are a lot higher in lahore....she did her entire shopping from libterty
the material is definitely not jamavar or silk... it looks more like a synthetic. not that theres anything wrong with synthetic, but perhaps it wasn't the right material of choice for these outfits.
lol i think its ok...maybe its not hwat u were xpecting but thats wat happens when u let someone else do it....i've learned that the hard way...if u feel like ur cousin looted u or something, theres nothing u can do about that..but i can definitely assure u that its worth going to pak for shopping. at least this time u can get something of ur own taste and this forum is definitely a big help
I think you should definately go. There's all kinds of stuff there, so it totally depends on your taste. Apparently, your cousin or mumani's taste isn't all that. You might find something gorgeous in these colors..So, again, you will definately find things according to your taste and budget.
i can sort my cousin out if she did loot us, thats not the point, i was wondering if theres a point in going there for outfits if rubbish ones cost as much as average ones here, why waste money going there if i can get average stuff here.
the whole point of going would be if i can get quality cheaper than i can get it in the uk. a friend from karachi just returned with suits for her brothers wedding, she had stuff made in jamavar silk with lovely delicate embroidery for 6000rs. now is karachi cheaper? or did she just get good bargains, maybe i shud go karachi instead of lahore
maybe we ought to give your cousins the benifit of doubt... yaani she doesn't have the best taste, couldn't decipher between jamawar silk and whatever it is she sent you, and she's not so good in the bargaining department.
I'm basing my comparison with karachi which is where i was 2 odd weeks back...
You got ripped off big time... there is no "naazuk-ness" in the kaam, and the "safa'e" of the kaam is ok. I got my karhai done from a prettey good place, and one of the more expensive kaam came to Rs2200, it had work with cora, nags, beadwork, resham, etc.... it looks gorgeous, and there is so much neatness in the work that it only adds to the look.
Jamawar silk can be prettey expensive, but that material you got doesn't look like it... and the sila'e, at most should be around Rs250 seeing the darzi just has to stitch around the kaam and there isn't any complications in that.
But maybe your cousin though it all looks nice, so maybe we should appreciate her hard work.
PS: you should definately go shopping yourself in Pakistan... it'll end up being cheaper then what you pay in any western country. Bargain hard sister! Iv'e bought stuff for less then 50% of the initial quoting price
Thanks pinks... thats what i meant!! maybe i should give background to this, this cousin of mine... my mother REALLY wanted for my brother... nothing was ever verbally promised but the hope was there... I would like to give her benefit of doubt and think she has rubbish taste, can't bargain, and doesn't know her materials. but thats all seriously pushing it. Ah well i guess i still shouldn't say no to an expenses paid trip to mothership
yes it is defiantely worth going to pakistan for ur shopping. I was in the same situation as u ....i depended on my aunt and cousins to send me clothes and their taste was HORRIBLE! i would get clothes 3 x my size colors that were gross and it just wasnt my style so now that inshallah im getting married in june im planning to go to pakistan to do my shopping myself.
i hate to depend on other people and its not worth spending money and asking other people to do something for u and the results such.
At least if u go to pakistan ur gonna be able to shop around and look at the quality of the work and colors ect.
good luck!!!!
The pictures you posted... well... let's just say I wouldn't pick that off the shelf.
As for shopping -- you must shop in Pakistan. You'd be amazed at the work they do there. And yes, I am not talking about the designers who rip people off, meanwhile they're also getting the work done from the same anarkali you went thinking of going in the first place. So yeah, liberty, anarkali etc are great places, and they will do your clothes at half the price with just as perfection if not more.
PS: If you want a glimpse into the new Pakistani fashion scene, check out some websites. Bargello.com is a good one. Karma is also nice. Again, save designs you like, take them to anarkali and they will copy 100% at half price. I have a bunch of friends also who do it for half price. And trust me, they use excellent fabrics, great craftsmen and everything comes out wonderful..!
Yes they do look less expensive than the prices you were quoted. I have a suit for Rs 2,500 that is much better looking than that and got lots of compliments on it too. Though as someone else pointed out getting kaam done is more expnesive. Jamavaar sratrs at Rs 300 per yard and upwards and those are not jamavaar. If you go to Pakistan, you can get way better dresses than that amount of money and even for less.
U can get better outfits in the uk, at very reasonable prices, better quality and styles which are from india, I don't mean to offend but these are just nasty the style and embroidery is ummm ugly and they are NO WAY worth the price u paid for em, i bought an anarkali from the uk which was originally 85, i got it for 75, n itz totally filled with luvly antique embroidery, these dont even look like the anarkali frockz U can get amazing stuff in the uk at great prices, i say save urself the ticket prices and shop here...
The pictures you posted... well... let's just say I wouldn't pick that off the shelf.
As for shopping -- you must shop in Pakistan. You'd be amazed at the work they do there. And yes, I am not talking about the designers who rip people off, meanwhile they're also getting the work done from the same anarkali you went thinking of going in the first place. So yeah, liberty, anarkali etc are great places, and they will do your clothes at half the price with just as perfection if not more.
PS: If you want a glimpse into the new Pakistani fashion scene, check out some websites. Bargello.com is a good one. Karma is also nice. Again, save designs you like, take them to anarkali and they will copy 100% at half price. I have a bunch of friends also who do it for half price. And trust me, they use excellent fabrics, great craftsmen and everything comes out wonderful..!
Good luck chika!
where in anarkali u get a copy of the stlye that u like? have no idea but still intressted ;)
I got s/k with more kaam on them than yours recently from paks, and it cost approx £65, and that was a serious RIP OFF price cos they knew we were from abroad. Apparently it should have cost at least half that.
Go to paks yourself, armed with a local aunty and let her do the talking. When choosing fabric, go armed with a box of matches, and if anyone ells u its silk, check it first by holding the lit match to the frayed edge of a little piece of the material. If it melts and goes sticky / clogs at the edges, its sythetic. If it crumbles easily and smells like burnt hair, its silk.
Maybe your cousin is a bit lazy when it comes to bargaining, or just dont trust anyone from there again.
I've found karachi to b the best place for clothes shopping.
Oh God! 6-8k for these outfits? YES u've been ripped-off big-time! You can get the most gorgeous fabrics in Pak organza's, crepe's, jamawar's, chiffon jamawar's! And then get pretty n dainty work done on them.. like a turquoise jamawar outfit with dull-gold kaam and sequins etc! Sorry but neither the fabric is nice, nor the work!
You'll find better stuff at local boutique's!
Live life with an exclamation, not an explanation!
Errr, I just brought my two tez tez chachiyaaN with me while doing wedding shopping in lahore and I got the most amazing prices for the most amazing kappray. At the end I became a bit of an expert at bargaining myself Honestly, you got ripped off with these two suits! I had the lovliest silver kadhai done on one of my royal green velvet shalwaar kameez and it cost me barely Rs. 2000! I bought a lot of khulla kappra from Orega and got them stiched in Karachi, the tailor was my mumani's friend and a true professional! So yeah it really helps when you have family/friends out there that KNOW where to get everything from/done.
I say definitely worth going to Pakistan!
I dont think the outfits are that bad but i honestly dont think they are worth what you paid for. I got a lehanga with gorgeous full kaam on it on katan silk from karachi for 8000 Rs. If you can go for the wedding shopping, Karachi is the place to go. I loved the shops at Tariq Rd, esp at Rabi center.
I love children and old people. Its everyone in between I can't stand - Don Imus
Actually now thats what you get for Rs. 6,000... your cousin didn't loot you.. she could have done some bargaining but there is no way taht you will find something like this for less than Rs. 5000. I was in Pakistan last year for my wedding shopping.. I got ripped off by darzis in peshawar... I ordered an outfit there for 10,000.. and he was supposed to mail it to me in Pindi.. total rip off.. he didnt use the fabric that I selected, he didn;t do the karhai that I wanted, he even used the "aarha" kapra for qameez that is not straight qameez.. you should have seen my face when I opened the parcel, I never got that stitched and we will take it back to them whenever someone from my family goes to Peshawar!
Same thing for Mohsins and sons in Rawalpindi.. I ordered 3 outfits for Rs. 9000 each with karhai on gala,bazoo, and duppata border and paid 400 for stitching.. they did an awful job.. I was shocked and disappointed! I never say anything in the bazar but that day I almost cried and told my mom, "you brought me to mohsins and sons because you have been using them for past 30 years, look what did they do" even the dukan wala upset by seeing what his "karegars" did.. in the nutshell, I didnt have a good experience with orders.. I loved the ready made outfits that I got from Zardozi, Lahore and couple of shawal qameez from Maria B...
After shadi I moved to Karachi and I helped my husband's cousin shadi shopping.. she got the best karhai from Gulf and paposh for a very reasonable price and rabi center on Tariq road had some really good variety for unstitched karhai wale kapray.. I liked those better and not to mention, Karachi is cheaper than Islamabad and Peshawar!!!
I dun like any of these outfits but still I would say for Rs. 6000.. this is not bad!
I think you should give your cousin the benefit of doubt.Everything is super-expensive there nowadays.Embroidery-walay,darzis, all of them have nearly doubled their prices , theres no bijli there and they have generators that they need more money to run.
And in addition to that , it's a huge hassle going to the bazaar a million times, going to and fro the tailor in the heat and the rush.
Seriously , if i was living there , I wouldn't do that for anyone.And plus people are ungrateful.They will never like what you send them.
These outfits are not something I would pick out necessarily, but if someone had them sent to me , I would've worn them.
just got back from pak last month.
the price is right if it was made in liberty lahore, but that would be the price for the fabric, the embroidery, the tailoring, the dyeing, all if it.
choice you cant do anything about it anymore, so it sucks
obviously its better if you go in person, however, when u look at the cost of the trip, tickets/accommodations/shopping/etc then it might not be. i dont know where you are, but in toronto, and vancouver, as well as new york, dallas, london, you can get some DAMN good outfits, of the latest trends which are going to cost you almost the same (sometimes a little bit more) if you were purchasing them from pakistan directly.
The light pink one especially looks like a joke :s The first one looks like if you alter it so it is nicely fitting it can look much better than it does on the hanger. Good luck!! Next time try to only order clothes from someone whose taste you fully trust!
the style and embroidery is ummm ugly and they are NO WAY worth the price u paid for em, i bought an anarkali from the uk which was originally 85, i got it for 75, n itz totally filled with luvly antique embroidery, these dont even look like the anarkali frockz 
