Can I buy an Indian Wedding outfit (male) in Goa?

ZiadM

Hi,

My girlfriend and I are arriving in Goa on 8 October and on 15 October we are flying to Jodhpur for a friend's wedding.

The wedding is a 3 day affair and for the main wedding day at least I would like to go in formal Indian wedding dress. The wedding sounds pretty spectacular (they are puttign a couple of hundred of us up in a very nice hotel and I think the venue is at a palace or similar (although Im not too sure about that part)) so I want to have a nice outfit and make the effort to wear the correct atire rather than a suit.

I live in London and could buy an outfit from here in one of the many Indian clothes shops in Tooting (which is v near me). However, I realise that buying the outfit in India will be a lot cheaper but I am not sure whether or not Goa would be the right place to buy the outfit?

Does anybody know if there are any good tailors in Goa who could make me a good quality Indian slyle outfit?

Would I be better off buying the outfit in London?

Is there any differnce between the outfits worn in Jodhpur and Goa?

About how much should I be paying for my outfit?

Many thanks

Ziad

rikko

You may not have a great choice in Goa. If you buy in London (Southall has lots of choice), it will fit well and you will have no stress. The price will be a bit less, I paid £150 for a good quality male wedding suit (called Sherwani, I think there is also something called Jodhpuri)in India. But you will need time to shop around. Jodhpur should have a lot of choice rather than Goa. I would suggest buy in Jodhpur if you have the time.

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Amrik

ZiadM

Thanks for you answer Rikko - was £150 what you paid in London or in India?

Nick-H

You can pay a lot in India too. I said I would wear one for my wife's son's wedding, but in the end, refused to pay so much for something I might only use once.

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

rikko

Ziad, £150 was in Chandigarh, India. The same outfit would have been about £250 in UK.

The outfit consisted of the dress/pants/scarf and shoes. As Nick said it is only wearable in close family weddings.

ZiadM

Wow. I was thinking (in India) £50 for the outfit and then another £20 on 3 different "scarfs" so the outfit looked a bit different on each of the 3 days of the wedding. I might have to reconsider if its going to cost me £150+ and I will only wear it once!!

The background is its the wedding of one of my girlfriend's close friends and the invite does say "Indian formal dress" under Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3! I guess I will give them an email and ask what I should wear and where I should buy it from - hopefully the response will be "Oh, we just expect you to wear a suit!!". I'm probably better off in a nice suit with crisp shirt and tie than in a cheap looking Sherwani!

ZiadM

Rikko - re your last post, if you were attending a wedding of your partners friend (ie not a family member) would you wear a Sherwani or a different outfit?

Thanks again

Ziad

rikko

Sure wear a sherwani, very formal and elegant. You are going as a special guest. I go to many weddings so would only be very formal for close family weddings.

Nick-H

I agree that it would be great for you to wear.

If you find that you cannot get something that looks good for your £50 (Rs4,000 is quite a lot to spend on a set of clothes in India) then go for a smart, embroidered silk kurta with pyjama trousers. It will give a similar feel to the shirwani but without a jacket, and you can still look very, very smart. Better by far than a suite and tie!

Valini

Ziad M,

It's a once in a lifetime chance, you should definately get a sherwani, they are great looking. why not shop around in London first and check out the different types that are available. The fancier, the more embroidery, the more expensive. Nothing stops you getting a very classy simple one, choosing a scarf with a little more flash or gold thread or whatever. Or as Nick said too, get yourself a silk kurta, or even two for the frist two events, then wear the sherwani on the thrid day. It'll be worth the cost. Plus, for a really classy, well made, even made to measure wedding suit in the UK, you'd be set back a fare amount too. I think it's even between 50 100 quid just for rental! Treat yourself to the sherwani, you won't regret it

skk

Hey, you just reminded me that I ( usual excuse for crying off weddings : "I wouldn't have gone to my own wedding if I didn't have to" ) have to go to one - mine is a Maharashtrian affair - when a niece tells ya you'd better attend, you'd better attend !

Doing some googling, indeed Jodhpuri, sherwani seems to be the way to go - I've seen some pics of these at: http://www.diwansaheb.com/embroidered-sherwani.html

That lot on the first page look kinda girly to me but if you drill down further there are some good ones, IMO - bit pricey though US$565 for the one I liked ( pic attached ).

Alternatively, there's are some shawar kameez here :
http://www.786shop.com/search_result...ry=Wai stsuit

at a more reasonable US$120 or so - many also look girly to me but a couple are pretty good.

I've attached pictures of the two different types I'm inclined towards..

Do share what you find.

Update: Forget those expensive prices I mentioned earlier. Looking at : http://shopping.expressindia.com/ the sherwanis are between INR 24350 to INR8000, while kurtas start there and even good looking ones(IMO) drop all the way down to really quite quite inexpensive(but I dunno where the cut-off for wedding wear would be).

You might do well checking out the shopping sections that usually attach themselves to Goan newspaper websites.

-skk

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Cardamom

Wooo - a lively thread on men's fashion.


I agree - a fine silk kurta pyjama would look just as stunning.

Let us know how the wedding goes!

-C

skk

OK, so I think I know what I'm willing to wear at a wedding - Here's a video of somebody called Karunya and many others in a great 2007, IMO, Diwali celebratory video, that features B4UMU VJs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kkkftl_bkA

So, the guys clothing all look pretty wimpy to me, but I'd enjoy wearing whatever Karunya is wearing, or what Salil ( in blue ) is wearing. So, what's the cost ? Any ideas ?

I can hardly go up to a shimpi in Pune or Mumbai and say I want what Salil or Karunya has, can I ? Well, I can, but bargaining wise that would never do..

Ideas ? I can take some stills out of the video and paste them here if needed for those who'd like to help but can't view the vid.

-skk

ZiadM

Hi Guys,

I have bought myself a sherwani! I ended up getting quite an ornate one as I really liked it. I got it in a shop in Tooting, South London, and got it for £125 (1/2 price) - it was a bit more than I wanted to spend but I think its worth the money.

It might be a bit elaborate for some weddings but the wedding is going to be at the big Fort in Jodhpur and the palace/hotel on the laske and judging by the engagement party i wont be overdressed!!!

I have attached a picture of me in the outfit (shoes havent arrived yet) so you can see what I went for! Ill post pics of the wedding next month as well.

Z

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Nick-H

Very nice

And the special offer probably reduced it from a high price to a reasonable price. Well done.