For those living in the west and working/going to school, what percentage of your wardrobe is western vs eastern? In those eastern clothes that you own, how many would you say are casual, semi, formal?
I have a ton of desi clothes but none of them are trendy bc by the time I wear them they are out of style! also, they are really expensive and I still never have an appropriate outfit bc so much of my clothing falls into lounging around the house clothes which is ironic since im a sweats kind of girl.
Would it be better to pair down my huge, unworn and old collection to say 8ish semi formal (dawat nice I guess…like eid dinner?) and 3 or so really fancy outfits. Does anyone else have a 10-15ish outfits desi wardrobe? Does it work? I just dont like having all these unworn and then unfashionable clothes going to waste. I dont mind repeating outfits but it shouldn’t be more than 2 to 3 times a year bc its always the same people and you don’t want to have a uniform.
I would say 80% western and 20% eastern .. majority of the eastern stuff is from my baree and I don't wear those anymore (because of the fashion being different now, I got married in 09- Capris' and shorter shirts!). I probably only have 4-5 suits in my wardrobe I actually can wear. Doesn't bother me that much as I wear jeans/leggings and shirts mostly unless Im going to a desi davat.
Personally I don't like chamkeele, really fancy outfits unless you're attending your sisters wedding or somethings :/ Even for davats and eid and stuff I'd much rather wear something simple.
About 75% western, 25% eastern.
I have 5 super formal outfits that can only be worn to weddings or big dawaats/eid or other huge events. Three of these i have only worn once. The other two i have worn 3-4 times each because they aren't as heavy.
I have about 3-4 formal outfits that can be worn to eid dinners or other fancy events. One of these is out of fashion so i only wore it once about 2 years ago. The other 2, i wear most often because they arent too much but they are still quite fancy.
Then i have a ton of semiformal outfits that i wear to masjid, jummah prayers, small dinner, visiting inlaws, during ramadan, to dinner with hubby. These i keep buying on a regular basis because they are cheap, comfortable and you can dress them up with proper jewelry, shoes, makeup, and hair. I would say there are about 20-30 these in my closet and i wear almost all of these throughout the year.
I also give about 1 outfit every month to my sister that i haven't worn at all or only wore once.
As ironic as it may sound, I don't have many eastern wear though I don't live abroad. I am right here in Pakistan and on a normal day would wear a straight pants/trouser with a short shirt and a stole or dupatta irrespective of the fashion :) I do however make a couple of dresses every season as per the latest trends. Still not a huge spender though. But then again, I am not too social either.
To answer your question however, start making sarees for the formal gatherings. That never goes out of fashion and you can wear them on almost all type of occassions.
Mostly western wear since I wear it 5 to 6 days out of the week.
Formals for weddings etc: I currently have about 5 that I would actually wear since they were made in the last 2 to 3 years. Some of my cousin's got married and I had one new suit made each time, repeated one. I like them, people don't really remember, I don't care about them appearing in photographs again. So now they are there for unexpected events. None of them are particularly heavy as that's not my style so I could wear them to smaller events too.
Semi Formals for Dawats etc: About 4. I don't go to many gatherings where people dress up that much. Most of these were made for Eid.
Fancy Casuals: About 4. These are casual fabrics stitched more elaborately and too much for everyday. The kind of thing I would accessorise up and wear if we were visiting people for small dawats etc.
Casuals: Probably about 6 linen shirts. Either to wear with black or white trousers. I wear these a lot and have a few new shirts made every year. I've had one or two for much longer since the linen was excellent quality and they were stitched well so they have lasted.
I'm going to Pakistan soon and am mostly making fancy casuals to wear whilst there. Will probably get some new semi formals and donate the ones I currently have.
My wardrobe is 50-50 these days. Used to be more western, but I've had a LOT of weddings and family events in the last few years, so have bought new outfits and updates my wardrobe. My western wardrobe I'll wear all week but I keep this a bit less 'trendy' and stick to classic pieces that I can mix-and-match.
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Would it be better to pair down my huge, unworn and old collection to say 8ish semi formal (dawat nice I guess...like eid dinner?) and 3 or so really fancy outfits. Does anyone else have a 10-15ish outfits desi wardrobe? Does it work? I just dont like having all these unworn and then unfashionable clothes going to waste. I dont mind repeating outfits but it shouldn't be more than 2 to 3 times a year bc its always the same people and you don't want to have a uniform.
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Err. I have more than 10-15ish outfits. Is that sad? I dunno. I have outfits from years ago which I have kept in excellent condition, the ones I don't wear or which don't fit I give away or sell on eBay.
I would say don't buy things for the sake of buying (which people do a lot when they're getting married or there's a close family wedding).
Semi formal or casuals I have about 20-25? My mum used to make us clothes when we were younger and we used to wear salwar kameez in the house so we had a bigger desi wardrobe than a western one. These days my casual/semi-formal collection is less cos I wear western clothes, or otherwise my pyjamas around the house.
Heavy/formal outfits, I probly have about 20+. Again, I've collected these over the years and I wear them/rotate them carefully before I get rid of them.
Mind you, I'm a bit of a hoarder (it's terrible, I know. I still have my outfit from my sister's wedding 13 years ago. It's actually looking fashionable so I'm trying to figure out how to alter it to fit me now)
I'd say I have an equal amount of both Eastern and Western. I hardly wear Eastern but unfortunately because i'm greedy I keep buying things knowing I won't really wear them. I have about 8-10 casuals ( never wear them in England I bought them when I was in Pak), around 13 suits that can be worn to weddings, 12 light formals for dinners/eids . These are latest ones that were bought in 2011 and 2012.
80% western and 20% desi as I work 5 days a week. Desi stuff is casual nothing really fancy or heavy and a couple of suits that are semi formal and have only been worn once for any desi events.
i might have like 100 or so desi outfits (too scared to count :() and like a boatload of american clothes (again...too scared ot count). Im counting the desi stuff from like 2007 and onwards though and that includes my jahez/barri stuff.
There's a psychological explanation for that....im sure there is.`