tailor mumbai

we leave in three weeks and are after a decent tailor near the gateway to india in Mumbai. we are bringing clothes form home as a pattern so a tailor with a good range of fabrics would be great. Anyone know how long they take or how much I should pay for pants or a shirt ?
Thanks

Anybody have any suggestions?

Dev Gohil is your man, accept no substitutes!

He sits outside his shop which is opposite Hotel Volga II. It doesn't look like much but that's because he doesn't need any more than a cople of tailors and a couple of sewing machines. His shop can be found on a 1-way street which is directly behind the rear entrance of the new section of the Taj hotel. If you can't find it, walk through the front entrance of the new Taj hotel, through the foyer, past the bookshop on the left, turn left and follow the corridor until you see a large wooden door. This will be courteously opened for you by an attendant. You go down some steps to the road and walk straight ahead. There's a road on the right about half way along with a chemist on the corner, walk past it and right near the end of the road, about the second shop in, you'll find a warm, intelligent, sweet Nepali man who sees everything all things I despise so much (drug dealers, fake beggars, Nigerian pimps and heroin pushers and he also has to sit opposite that awful dump of a hotel called Volga II which is not to be confused with the even crappier Volga I) and yet he still remains positive and warm to all who bother to say hello to him. There's a really crap restaurant called Leopold's on the opposite corner to Dev's place, don't go there unless you really want to wait a long time for cold, shite food
.
This guy can make you anything you want, I mean anything, any style, in any time, for not a lot at all but you have to go and buy your material from Mangaldas market/ Crawford market first. I forget which bus you'll need to take but Dev knows all the details and he'll even tell you the best place to buy your material from too, if you say that I sent you. (Darryl from England, the guy with the green Kurta who he arranged a taxi to the airport for). It really doesn't matter if he doesn't remember me but if he does, i'm sure it'll put a smile on his face as I too was recommended to him...and so I hope it continues. One good turn always requires another, in my book.

He made me a couple of Kurta pyjamas and if that's not your thing then just tell him exactly what you want while he sends a boy to get a couple of cups of Chai and some water in the mean time.

I gave him a few extra rupees as I found him to be a real human being, a refreshing change from the normal rip-off merchants you'll find elsewhere. I really cant speak too highly of him as he even arranged for a taxi to pick me up from my hotel (a friend of his called Hafiz; damn nice chap too) at a very early hour and take me to the airport for a special price.

I hope all goes well for you. If you need to cool off, you can sit, uninterrupted, in the foyer of the New Taj or if you look to your left, along the street from Dev Gohil's and on the other side of the road, there's an internet place which is really chilled and has good, fast connections.

Hope this is everything you need, if not let me know but i think that about covers it. Remember me to him please and let him know he's famous in England.

Thanks,

Moga

PS: As for price, that depends but my Kurta pyjama cost about 200Rs and was ready in a few hours. This may be more or less what you could expect to pay but please don't worry, Dev works on the premis that if he treats everyone well, they will do the same and you know the funny thing? he's bloody right! What a breath of fresh air.
As for quantity, he'll always be truthful about how long it will take to make your things and I guess that depends upon what he already has lined up to do but the sooner you go see him, the better.

Enjoy your last few weeks of chaos in India, it really is too normal when you get back home.

That sounds awesome, thanks for the detailed reply!

most welcome indeed

I was going to say the same.. But beware.. Indian fabric, especially cotton can shrink quite a bit and the colors might run. You might be better off pre-washing the fabric, or may be Dev can do it for you.

I was going to recommend a good tailor, however this guy sounds amazing so I wont bother, as i will also visit him when in mumbai next month... thanks amogasiddhi

You're all very welcome but please, please buy this guy as much Chai as he wants...oh and a glass of water too as he likes to water his Chai down a little.....oh and mention me (Darryl with the Green Kurta, who he organised a taxi to the airport for, from UK) to him....and believe that he will not charge you a single rupee more than what he has done is worth, which is why I gave him lots more Rupees than he asked me for. That's a decent, hard-working, honest human being to learn from that is. You were right Dev, what goes around...
Good thinking about the material shrinking, Dev told me all about it so he allowed for it when he made stuff for me and although my weight decreased due to an illness I picked up while in India, it still fit's me now i'm back to my old self...not that we've had much decent weather to wear a Kurta this Springtime in UK!
Folks, you know what, many people have asked me the question 'where would I go back to in India' and few places readily spring to mind, Dev is one person I would love to meet again if only for 5 minutes to have a Chai with.
When you go, could you possibly post his details onto this thread as I have some photos to send him. Thanks

Moga

Last time I was in India I flew out of Delhi and had a great tailor there but this time I shall be in and out of Mumbai, I am most definetly going to look this guy up and be sure to buy him a few chai and water's! I will certainly pass your regards onto him. Thanks so much for posting this and sharing with us

Indianflower

Hi Moga, I just read you fantastic story about Dev the tailor from 2004. Thank you for all this great info. Are you still on IndiaMike? and do you know if Dev is still around? I'm looking forward to hear from you.
Regards
Anett from Copenhagen, Denmark