Saree Shopping

[posted 01/11/09]

We landed in Kochi, Kerala, late Friday night and with the wedding just days away (Monday) our first priority on Saturday morning was to get some appropriate attire. The girls were quite excited at the prospect of saree shopping. Not to be out-done, the guys were up for a bit of 'fancy dress' too - which turned out to be a bit fancier than we expected, and as we learned later, a lot fancier than we needed!

Anyway, this is how you shop for a saree in a nice department store. They sit you down and then one or more sales gophers show you saree after saree after saree from an extensive selection of colours, styles, patterns and quality that span many walls! Prices range far and wide, from less than $100US/AUD to the many many thousands - and no doubt higher if you have the budget.

When I say they show you a saree, they actually show you a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length. You then have this cloth tailored into a choli blouse with the reminder of the cloth being wrapped around the waist leaving one end draped over the shoulder. (I think there are pants involved also, but I have to check with H.) H says in the comments "There’s an underskirt, and they also choose you a matching lining for the blouse."  To us westerners it's all quite new and interesting.