hey.
Recently my next door neighbor got hitched. 6 months prior to her wedding she had announced to the entire neighborhood, and to any one that could care to listen that she is getting a faraz manan jora for her baraat and her inlaws are gifting her a hsy valima outfit. I was happy for her but wondered at the same time how her parents had given in to the idea as they are a normal - middle class family (like ours) but then again, i thought maybe they had saved for this special occasion over the years.
Fast forward to the day of the wedding, she wore an ivory flared dress with red lehnga and red dupata with lots of bling on it. Although the dress in itself was not bad,it was clearly not a faraz manan. Maybe his design, but not his workmanship. Each time someone would ask her where her jora was from and she would reply ,i would cringe.
Why have we grown slaves to labels and brands? Had she openly said that she had designed the dress herself or that she had gotten it done from XYZ, i would actually have been impressed.
Now that i have a wedding in my family coming up, im astounded at the price tags of these big shot designers, which makes me wonder .. what choices does a person who is from a decent middle class have? I dont want to melt in the coming heat visiting markets like liberty and ending up with messed up clothes (once bitten,twice shy) and dont want to pay an arm and leg to hotshot designers.
So, im thinking lets create a list of reviews for small scale designers with good quality clothes and original designs. I would love to pay a decent amount to designers who might not be very famous but have pretty clothes. And i certainly dont want to be seen in a elan replica for which ive paid 1.5 lacs and doesnt look like elan.
SO PLEASE HELP with names of designers with pretty bridals , Budget: 1.25-1.75 lacs, Formals: 25-35k, (based in lahore,preferably)
Sorry for the rant/long post. Hope this thread turns out to be useful
Anyone who can find them I would be so grateful too! It's gotten lot of control. Sometimes I get greedy too and think "I'll blow my budget" but it's crazy to spend thousands of dollars on each item. But even smaller designers are quoting me 75,000 for a formal!!! What is happening??
Anyone who can find them I would be so grateful too! It's gotten lot of control. Sometimes I get greedy too and think "I'll blow my budget" but it's crazy to spend thousands of dollars on each item. But even smaller designers are quoting me 75,000 for a formal!!! What is happening??
I so know what you mean. Ive decided to take up this quest.. im so sick of lusting after gorgeous clothes that cost an arm and a leg
I can't help you with any designer info in Lahore, but I would like to share some info about my friend who was worried sick because she was in USA while the wedding was in Pakistan. Of course like every bride to be she searched through every designer small scale to big shots for her ideal dress. She set her budget to 1.5 lakh maximum (she didn't see any point in buying a 5 lakh dress meant to be worn for only few hours even though her family could easily afford it.
She didn't like anything from the small scale designers but she didn't want to order from top designers without at least seeing their clothes in person. Long story short she got to Pakistan and went to the inner city... My advice if you are from abroad take relatives from Lahore and go to the inner part of Lahore. You will have to search and search maximum a week but you WILL find the designer. They'll have small shops with many insanely gorgeous clothes hanging. Bargain with them like crazy. Whatever they say cut the price in half and start bargaining from there. She got her barat dress which everyone thought was a at least 3 lakh for 65 thousand rupees. I'm dead serious! It was an insanely gorgeous dress.
But she also hired an awesome MUA to do her makeup and her jewelry was perfectly matching all together she looked regal. I'm still baffled she paid that much! Heck the formal dresses I bought were within that range.
I'll ask her if she'll let me post the pic. But I'm serious advising every girl.... Research Research... Browse... save that money and spend it on your gold or makeup or for your parents. You can get an awesome dress for well within 1 lakh. Do not feed into this crazy hype.
I think you can get same quality replicas, if instead of going to liberty markets you approach some designers that offer replicas in pure fabrics and similar level of craftsmanship and material used. i made my daughter’s elan and faraz manan replica for her wedding, and when she was getting ready at the salon many brides asked if she got these from the designers. It all comes down to workmanship and quality of work.
Im not really interested in replicas. I’d rather spend the same money and help a budding designer grow as well as wear orignal designs. However, iknow several people who dont mind wearing well made replicas. Do you have a store or studio where you display your work?
Im not really interested in replicas. I'd rather spend the same money and help a budding designer grow as well as wear orignal designs. However, iknow several people who dont mind wearing well made replicas. Do you have a store or studio where you display your work?
I also create designs, but when it comes to in-house studio, people want replicas, you can find my of my original designs on my fb page and follow at instagram iramasifofficial
You can take an appointment to look at my formal wear at Labels Lahore (ready to wear kind), but if you wish to see entire collection including bridals, formals and party wear, you can come at my in-house studio in DHA Lahore*. *
I don’t understand.. what’s the big deal with having to wear an “expensive designer” dress?
At the end of the day, aren’t ALL dresses made by a designer?
I mean, come on.. 350,000 PKR is about $3,500 USD. that’s a bit much for an outfit you were ONCE and never touch it again? Okay, maybe twice, cuz some girls will wear it toned down a bit to a relative’s wedding or something
I mean, it’s entirely your choice and whether you can or cannot spend more or choose or choose not, it’s a valid choice. For most brides in America they absolutely often spend up to $3,500 on their dresses - have you ever gone bridal shopping with an American friend?? So if their gowns can be so expensive when they seem so plain to me, I can see how all the work that goes into our bridals can cost the same too.
And amazing bridals can be heirlooms. For my shaadi outfits, in every single one I’m reusing something that my mother wore at hers - her gharara and dupatta, a kimkhwab gharara she wore I’m using for my mayoun, etc. She has beautiful kaam dupattas that are still in perfect shape that I’m making my regular outfits with / my nikkah outfit, one dholki outfit etc.
So sorry to sound rude but if you get a tacky heavy chamka chamka jora that isn’t high quality or overly trendy, yeah it’s not worth $3,500. But if you’re getting something truly beautiful that will last, I hope someone will use my shaadi clothes the way I’m using everyhing of my mothers from 43 years ago. I’m willing to spend more for beautiful kaam because I see how well her stuff has held up.
And I’m not a huge fan of the gaudiness of Elan or some other designers, but people like Deena Rahman or even FTA do some exquisite work that is timeless. I work hard and am paying for my own bridal and I’m more than happy to pay for the quality I’m getting.
Honestly, If you're spending $3,500 on a lehenga it better be hand embroidered from head to toe. I have my own replica business and I can guarantee you that if it's not a very heavy dress with good quality of work it's not worth the price. I have had several customers come to me because they have ordered a different replica online and it was way too expensive or the embroidery quality was not that great.
You can easily get sucked up into believing someone. If you really want a good dress and not get ripped off you need to pay with your credit card. If they only take bank transfer or western union payments then find a different store as you can't file for a refund once it's picked up or deposited. You don't wan to risk on losing a big chunk of money and time if the dress you receive, if you receive it at all, is not what you expect. PLEASE TAKE THIS ADVICE!!! I've had way to many customers come to me letting me know that they got scammed.
