Business trip to Mumbai - what to wear?!

Just find out that I am going for a two week trip to Mumbai in July. The next thought was of course what to wear/pack with me. I will be working/sitting in meetings/training, work in the IT industry. I am 40+ female and usually I wear in the office pant suits, sometimes more casual. What kind of clothes do people (women) wear in the office?

The timing of the trip is not so good because the rain season. What kind of shoes should you take with you?

hi jannie,if your month of visit is july then please be care ful and wear those pant suits itself with formal shirts as you will be training in a IT company and bring along a raincoat or an umbrella with you.You can wear jeans[denims] and tshirts on week ends.or even on a friday at work.

I hate wearing shirts (ironing is a pain) so I usually wear tops (with sleaves, t-shirt-kind of tops), pants and a jacket - would that work?

I have heard horror stories about the rain season. Used to rain here in my country also but I understand that it is much more extreme. If i wear pumps or similar (leather)shoes will they be destroyed in the rain? Rubber boots?

hey janie...it seems my information was not satisfactory to you.please reply if you need more help.

Hi Jeannie,

I think you can wear the pant suit.I do the same, but Mumbai will be hot, so if you have the fabrics in cotton pant suit will be much comfortable.

You may have the chance to wear more casual on days like saturday.
And for make up, its too hot that you may not like to plaster yourself except evening business dinner or meeting.

wear casual or formal..temperature these days are around 30-35....so plan it accordingly!

Thank for your advice I have hard time to figure out how to make it (hair, make-up, clothes) in those kind of conditions (humidity, heat).

Do you need a ton of hairspray to get you hair to stay put? Are there any "fix spray" for you face to keep the make up where it is supposed to stay?

Ah, maybe now panicking without a reason. If I travel in airconditioned car to the office I will probably look almost presentable when I come to the office? And then in evenings/weekends no-one care how I look?

well if you are travelling in an aircontioned car you need not worry about any thing abt your make up, hair etc etc..and yes you can wear jackets over a t shirt ,but considering you are going to teach in IT industry you should be wearing formal tshirts because that is what is the western formal dress code,alternatively if you are comfortable with indian dressing you may wear salwar kameez[punjabi suit],that will be good in the rains and will also be good if its hot...

oooppss i mentioned eralier formal tshirts ....theres no such thing as formal tshirts...its only shirts...

dont panic just relax,The best thing will be to travel by aircontioned car,so your clothes or hair ,nothing will get damaged...take care cheers ,,happy journey..keep posting and stay in touch

I guess I wouldn't be so comfortable to wear indian dressing because I would not know how to choose and would feel silly. I will most probably buy some indian clothing and then on the weekend try them out .

How about shopping - is it a good idea to plan on buying western style clothes there? Have plenty of time in the evenings and would like to do something useful such as shopping :P

Hi Janie,

I suggest that if you think you are not comfortable and may possible find yourself silly in Indian wear, better not try it.
And at work, i prefer the pant suit, cos it is more easier to work with (preferably cotton fabrics as i mentioned earlier, also that's what i wear),also you mentioned you wear tops with pants and jacket that is fine, maybe a dress for night out (but depend on where you go though )and other casual for the evening meetings.
You can bring your leather pumps.

I normally wear less make up here cos its hot, but like i said you will need in evening and dinner.

And for your question on western wear shopping, in my opinion India is not really a good place to buy western clothes and shoes, though there are brands such as Zara etc. There are more better places where you can buy latest and broader choice of western wear.
Instead of the western wear shopping, you can buy nice jewellery example silver stuffs here are not bad ,or may be a pashmina shawls.

OK, I tend to look like a boiled crayfish (gleaming red color) if it is hot and would like to have make up (powder, foundation etc) to try to look like a human being.

How about children clothes - if I would try to be a good mother and buy stuff for my children instead? Or then I buy a bunch of Indian dressing and show up later in my home office with those

Once you get there, you can decide whether to buy salwar kameez suits or not. Until then, I'd plan on dressing the way you would at your job in your home country on an extremely hot and humid day. For me, that would mean a dress or skirt & blouse/shirt all in light breathable fabric.

Ironing in India is a piece of cake - dhobis do a fantastic job for just 2-5 rupees per outfit. I always take linen and other cottons to India w/ me because that's one place I know I can get them looking nice and crisp thanks to the dhobis.

As for shoes, leather will be ruined so I would not plan on that during monsoon season. Shoe covers help if the water's not too deep, and it's just going to be incidental water contact. One advantage of pants is you can get away w/ clogs/mules and other rainproof shoes which wouldn't look as good w/ skirts/dresses.

I use mineral make-up which is a talc-free powder that has no dyes, fragrances, binders, and preservatives. It's ideal for hot humid weather. It's quick and not fussy, which fits my lifestyle.

hi janie...
so have you finally decided what all are going to wear here in mumbai???

please feel free for any other help...i am a local mumbaite

I decided I will try to look what my colleagues are wearing next time we have our videomeeting . Now I need to convince my boss that I have to be there for two weeks (instead of one as he is suggesting). Selfish me would like to have a weekend there. And the flight is awful so why not spend some more time there when taking the effort to go all the way there.

Hi Janie....

Thanks for your eagerness to stay in india....i would suggest you to stay in india for a longer time say 4-5 weeks and explore more of india..especially rajasthan,and himachal pradesh,and goa.....