I don't expect the tailoring charges to be much less, because stitching is stitching. Fabric cost should be less though unless your dealing with pre-cut suits of cloth (or have a nearly adult sized child like my oldest (12yrs). I wish picking from unbranded lawns and cottons was an option for me, but I think I'm too picky about prints. I need to be able to see beforehand the print I'm choosing, so I'm stuck with branded.
I rarely see any cotton suits for kids around here...only around Eid time and only party wear. I used to buy for the year all at once, but now the girls have gotten too choosey about what they wear. I can't just bring home a pile of dresses anymore. :(
I do think tailoring should be less. These days we pay 1500 for a ladies tailored suit - I couldn't imagine paying the same for a straight kameez for a little girl and with trousers and shalwars without kalis.
Stitching charges are almost the same for kids and adult suits I paid 1200rs each for the girls suits in above pictures that I made since it was panelled,with borders,lined and had fabric finishing for dupattas (Tailor had a long list of what he did to the suit proving how much ‘effort’ went into it)
for boys kurtas suits, stitching is around 400rs per suit while adult kurta suit is being charged 650-700rs (without embroidery) so it is cheaper to get them made for my boys rather than buyng from JJ,minnie minors or Eden robe since they sell them for 1200rs minimum for a kurta and 2000+ for a suit
sherwanis, I got them made for a family wedding for my sons and nephews for 4500rs each average (sherwani only with custom kaam on band collars) (all boys aged 1-3.5 y old)
I have a cousin with four daughters in Karachi and her tailor charges pretty much the same for a child's or adult's suit. It does irk me a bit cuz I can sew (and often used to for Noor when she was younger) and I know that the fitting is not as big a problem for little girls as it is for adults. Also I wouldn't usually put a zipper for a child while I would need to for an adult.
Ladiers, thank you so much for all of your contrubutions, its really given me some serious food for thought. I thoughti was the only one having problems finding good stuff but i'm glad i'm not alone.
Proto: yaar tumahary buchay MA are just way to cute :). I agree 100% Muzna, in pakistan at the moment, the prices for kids stuff is pretty on par with adults. as many of u may know (i mention it in practically every thread lol) my mum is in pakistan at the moment and she keeps saying how expensive stuff out there is, our durzee has started charging 500 rs on top of his normal stitching for adding the embroidered patches onto lawn suits. To be fair, they are done very very neatly.
Kids kapray in Birmingham can be found at pretty much every desi store but alot of is "tat", u can find a simple suit for about £15-18 but the kapra is rubbish and the stitching poor, the more fancy suits with the more indian style kaam can range from £35-£55 but again i wont pay this as the styling and the material used isnt to my taste . i dont think i'm overly fussy but i am not spending £80-£100 on outfits that i'm not happy with ( i have 2 girls)
will keep u posted
thanks muzna and brummie they love their sherwani;s and shalwar kurtay A LOT more than their shorts/t-shirts and ONLY wear shalwar kurta to school on fridays specially
Gosh, I can't imagine paying the same for a child suit as an adult suit...my girls are still quite tomboyish. At least I know I can get a few years of wear out of my suits. With them I never know it their dresses will make it through a night at mosque! I just can't invest that much in them.
For me, even paying $100 for my 12yr old is a lot until I see her starting to take care of things better, but I still want nice quality fabric and decent stitching. I did find a source of lawn suits locally at $45/suit, but the quality is not as nice as what I've ordered direct from pakistan. I pay a little more than that ordering through a HB Designer, but I can get my oldest (and myself) REALLY nice dresses that fit us better for only a little bit more, while buying the same dress locally would cost us double or triple, even after shipping (but I buy for all four of us at once)! Sana Safinaz and lakhani were selling for as much as $185 locally!!! Sure, technically her dresses will be a "designer" dresses, but honestly all I want is a pretty dress (nice cut, pretty trimmings, etc) for my girl at a reasonable price.
Another big issue for me is that there is no child close to my daughter's age that we can hand down to......the younger kids are boys! Even friend's kids are much younger than Noor!
So once the outfit is too small for Noor that's pretty much it for the return on my investment.
My sister is currently in Karachi and she tells me that tailoring has gone up three times as much as what we paid five years ago and even then there is no guarantee that we will get what we want on time. (I had asked her to get 5 or 10 cotton suits for Noor to wear at home.) I had asked her to avoid the ready-made stuff due to bad quality and workmanship but she found that there are some shops on Tariq Road that have some pretty decent items so I've told her to simply purchase those. Let's see what turns up.
I'm kind of relieved that the current trend is for really long A-line shirts with leggings worn underneath. This is something that I know I can sew relatively easily myself so I'm headed off to check out some fabrics this afternoon. Hopefully I can find some cool designs/prints locally.
thanks for the link but the item shown on this page is precisely what I consider one-time wear......just look at the non-existent length of the dupatta!!!
so my sister returned from karachi bearing gifts.....
she brought some ready-made cotton suits for Noor.....gonna take pics and post them for you all to see.
she told me that the most expensive suit was no more than Rs.1000 = CDN$11
you will be pleasantly surprised with what she found.....
so my sister returned from karachi bearing gifts.....
she brought some ready-made cotton suits for Noor.....gonna take pics and post them for you all to see.
she told me that the most expensive suit was no more than Rs.1000 = CDN$11
you will be pleasantly surprised with what she found.....
Please, please do!
Mama needs to shop for my nieces while in KHI and if I can tell her where to go (can you PM me the store name and location) - it'll make her life so much easier. My nieces (the 3 older ones) are about N's age and size.
my daughter is 4 and I think spending 1200 is enought ..... muzna after reading ur email i think i am not that unreasonable.
Seriously if we are living abroad it doesn't mean that we have money stored away in our fridge container. ! I don't know if i am making sense but these dresses are wasted in a year or so what is the point in spending so much money.
I paid 1200rs each for the girls suits in above pictures that I made since it was panelled,with borders,lined and had fabric finishing for dupattas (Tailor had a long list of what he did to the suit proving how much ‘effort’ went into it)
they love their sherwani;s and shalwar kurtay A LOT more than their shorts/t-shirts and ONLY wear shalwar kurta to school on fridays specially 