Dilemma: what to pack for one year stay in Mumbai?

Hi everybody,

I am preparing for moving to Mumbai in two weeks. I will stay at least for one year so now I am facing the 'what to pack' problem. I am 24 (soon to be 25) girl and I will be obtaining a paid internship, so it means I will not get rich while I am there and therefore I can't buy all I need when I arrive, so my packing needs to be smart.
It is more of a 'clothing and shoes' problem, but of course every advice on anything else is welcomed. I am adventurer and laid back but at the same time business oriented. I am comfortable in every type of clothes starting from baggy pants to tight dresses and having on mind the different culture there I have no idea how to pack my whole garderober in one bag?
Generally: skirts and dresses? spaghetti tops and t-shirts? long sleeved tops? and the most space consuming, shoes; high heels, boots, snickers?

Hi - Pants/capris/long skirts, t-shirts/short-sleeve shirts are all fine. Although you may find Indian women who wear less, you're likely to get a lot of unwelcome attention if you wear short skirts/dresses, shorts, tight dresses, spaghetti tops, etc. Plan to go a little conservative and see how you feel once you're there. Even if you're not rich, you'll find plenty of cheap(!) clothes at the markets. As far as shoes - sneakers and sandals are good. Maybe one pair of heels and one pair of boots? A lot of what you finally decide will also depend on what you need to wear at work.

As far as cosmetics, shampoos, etc. you'll easily find everything you need in India. Don't overpack!

Knee-length skirts and dresses: perfect. Anything shorter than knee is fine for pubs and clubs, but likely to make you feel uncomfortable walking the streets.

Spaghetti tops, very low neck T's/ tops: same as above. Fine when going to bars, but not something that's comfortable to wear in all of Bombay. (In Bandra or Colaba you'll feel fine in it. In Jogeshwari and Byculla you'll feel horrible.)

For work: in most Indian offices women wear formal pants and formal shirts or shirts, or salwar/churidar kameez (baggy or tight pants with knee-length tunic and shawl). You can buy a decent and fashionable set of the latter from 800 INR onwards.

High heels: Great for clubbing, not so great when you have to commute on potholed streets with hardly any pedestrian infrastructure.

Boots: Good for hiking, but in the city for everyday use you'll find it too warm maybe. Most people wear sandals and (fashionable) flipflops. You can buy these cheaply here and it is acceptable to wear them in the office. Additional benefit is that they are much easier to take them off when you enter places (people's houses, shops) wear you are required to take shoes of.

Snickers (I think you mean sports shoes right?): if you intend to go to the gym, or hiking, or find them comfortable, bring them . Same applies as to boots: probably too cumbersome and warm to wear socks and shoes on most days.

Although I love boots and heals, and have some pairs here, I find I generally use flipflops and a pair of formal shoes (low heal, closed shoes, but not boots).

My advice: pack a skirt or two you love, a pair of jeans, a baggy pants, a formal pants, a formal shirt/top or two, something you like wearing in a club and a casual t-shirt or 2 or 3 for your days off. And bring a little cash to buy one or two indian outfits, either only the tops (tunics) or the entire sets.

Enjoy the city!

one tip: don't pack consumables (soap, shampoo, etc.) - they would be available in mumbai for same or lower price, unless there are very specific premium brands you need that may not be easily available or be overpriced here.
jeans & t-shirts for casual wear is mostly worn by ladies in mumbai & should work for you. for work, format shirt/trousers is fine. if the place has many wearing skirts (usually depends on industry/company, you should be fine too).

And clothes of all kinds are cheaper in Mumbai than in the West. Regardless of your income in India, if you have to buy things new, do it in Mumbai as soon as I get to know the place. Shoes are cheap, too.

You should pack only what you need and is not easily available in Mumbai.

Or, may be, I have misunderstood your post.

Enjoy

Bring your personal hygiene stuff (I don't know why guys think about this first - beat Nick-H to it).

Cheers

Nattusbs

i believe all such variants are readily available in mumbai, unless a specific brand is not too common...

If you are tall (>1.73m) or have a large shoe size (>39 euro), you'll have more trouble to find cheap clothes and shoes and have to rely on the imported stuff often. I have found that it is more expensive here than in Europe. (For example, a Diesel jeans costs me about 15-20% more than in Europe. And it was the only one that would fit...)

Personal hygiene: if you use tampons, bring some supply for the first two months. By that time you will have found places where you can buy it. (It is not always stocked in logical stores, or in the logical isle, I found.)

well you need not worry about what you wear over here.. as what ever u wanna buy in terms of clothing you can wear anything as long as it descent..also you can buy clothes from here as its available cheaply over here

Moderator Note:

Refrain from using SMS language. Use 'you' instead of 'u'. Thank you.

Dont pack more than you would for a 4 week trip:

I went to India for one year, and I could bring 20 kg on the plane, plus some handluggage. My bag was full of clothes and shoes. After the year was finished, I carried everything back, most of it I did not wear even once. Prehaps you will think like me and adjust a bit to the indian way of dressing, and you will find you packed the wrong clothes. So my advice: Pack everything you would need for the first 4 weeks (with washing), this will be enough to last for a long time, everything else you can buy in India. Dont buy anything new at home, everything is cheaper there. Bring only a few sets of clothes, try to cover different occasions, to go to work, to visit a family, to walk around sightseeing, to wear at home. Try to select clothes that match with each other so you can create more outfits with them. Same applies to shoes, you will need one to walk in dirty streets, and probably one nicer pair to go for better occasions. I found ballerinas very good for both purposes, and they are easy to pack.
If I had to do it again, I would pack only very few clothes and more personal items that help me to feel comfortable and at home, like photos to remember my home and show to friends, a good book, my own pillow, some presents and giveaways from my home for new friends.

Things I find hard to get here are good leggings that are widely available everywhere else in the world. I am on the hunt for vegetable/chicken stock since 1 month back, love to cook soups , so i will bring LOTS with me next time i travel.
Shampoo etc are easily available and cheaper than home, good skincare products (if you're using that) is harder to find here though, Its hard to find hairbands, good nail polish,mascara's, girl stuff like that i'll always bring lots of my favorite brands.

Nice underwear i would bring too as i haven't found any reasonable priced store that sells them
Other than that, i tend to be dressing very casually here, only sandals, hardly ever high heels...comfortable is what I like to feel here.
Most clothes i'd wear in Europe is either too warm or not appropriate here.Even my favourite jeans are just too hot and sticky here. There are great stores like FabIndia that has very comfortable and light clothes for good prices..
Hope you'll have a great time!!