Dressing for Eid

Do you remember the excitement of hiding your new clothes and shoes and appearing in front of everyone on Eid day to show off your new look? 

Eid-ul-Fitre will be upon us soon, and like always, the shopping centres are already packing with eager customers looking for good deals. If you go into any shop right now, you will find it open till late hours. Some start shopping even before Ramadan starts in the hope of getting their choice outfits and accessories at lower prices. 
“I always shop ahead of Ramadan, because everything becomes more expensive from the first day of Ramadan, be it food items or clothes. The local boutiques bring out designs that are much more accessible to people in term of price, and I enjoy browsing around these outlets as many have good selections for children,” said Ta Seen Anannya, office manager of Centre for Health, Population and Development at Independent University, Bangladesh. 
Some prefer to buy from brand stores like Aarong, Anjans, Kay Kraft and Artisti Collection, or local retail shops, while others go for designer boutiques like Almira or Mayasir. 
“Aarong’s (Eid) collection is already out and most of their outlets are always packed with shoppers,” said Runa Abdullah, a customer shopping for clothes at the brand’s Tejgaon store. “Eid shopping is so much fun. I am always out with my husband and children and we go to all the outlets of brands like Aarong, Kay Kraft, Aranya and others. We just love this time of the year, and we are also planning on exploring the boutiques near our home in Mohammadpur. There are quite a few shops there and my sister told me that they have good sarees and children’s clothes. I have three kids and we live in a household with our extended family, and buying presents for everyone is a must. Clothes at these local boutiques are priced quite reasonably,” she added. 
This correspondent visited some local boutiques in Mohammadpur and Banasree to see what they have to offer for Eid and their prices. 
Lamia, a clothing store at Tajmahal Road in Mohammadpur, is owned by Khalilur Rahman. The shop has been around for over five years now and it has quite a varied range of clothes. From saree to salwar-kameez sets, panjabi to shirts and t-shirts, they have a large selection, which will be added to until Eid. 
“We have over 70 local suppliers and they come to us,” said Mohammad Nasiruddin, the store manager. “Most of the products in our shop are locally made. Our suppliers have factories located all around the city, many of the items are 100-percent locally made, even the materials are from Bangladesh,” Nasiruddin added. “But we also have suppliers who bring clothes from India and those sell out pretty quickly. There is demand for the items among our customers.”
Sholo Ana is another clothing store located on the same street. They have outfits for women only and all their products are locally made.  
“Everything you see in our shop is made in Bangladesh. We have a network of suppliers who bring in products every week, and based on our sales, we place orders for more. Usually, our clothes are priced from Tk850 for block-print dresses to Tk3,000 for embroidered ones. We will be bringing in some exclusive pieces for Eid and those would probably cost a little more, but Eid is the time when people tend to spend more,” store manager Mahamud Hasan said. 
Deena Yesmin, a customer and a local resident, told this correspondent: “I was a regular customer of some celebrated boutiques in my student days. At the time, there were not so many designer shops, but many of them were committed to quality and variations in design. As the number of such shops has boomed, the average quality has deteriorated somewhat. And they have become very festival-centric too. Their collections are very dull in normal times. But for the price, I am not complaining.”  
Suppliers who produce outfits all made in Bangladesh usually source their materials from Chandni Chawk or Islampur clothes market as prices there are comparatively cheaper if you buy in bulk. 
“This business is not profitable all the time. Sometimes, I make five pieces of the same design and if I cannot sell all of them, then I suffer a loss. I have two tailors working for me and I get the embroidery done from another source. I try to meet the demands of the shops I supply to, but it is not possible all the time to get all the pieces completed in time for Eid. We try our best to make as many as possible, we usually make five to six finished pieces every day,” said Mohammad Raju, who supplies locally made salwar-kameez sets to Lamia and other boutiques in the Mohammadpur area.
Although the weather is hot and humid right now, the latest style of salwar-kameez seems to be floor length, with heavy embellishments. 
Explaining this trend, Fayez Hassan, executive designer at Aarong, said: “The length makes you look taller than your actual height and women prefer that. Also, it adds a flowing movement when you walk which looks elegant. We are keeping the materials comfortable, such as cotton or linen, to go with the weather, but length is something which is still in. And short dresses actually make you look shorter, so we are still sticking to what people want. If you take a look at our current Eid collection, you will see that we have followed a Mughal theme this year. Everything, from motif, cutting to patterns, brings out the regal vibes of Mughal times. We have also introduced two new lines of products _ one is called ‘Her Story’ where we are following the rickshaw paint theme, and another is a line of ladies kurta in ethnic and traditional styles.”
As for menswear, traditional panjabis are still a favourite attire for Eid and most of the brand shops have brought out special designs in cotton, silk or mixed fabrics. Some have imported ‘kabli’ panjabi sets, and pyjamas shaped like ‘dhoti’ seem to be the latest rage. For the young ones, there are various collections of locally made or imported frocks, three-piece sets, printed shirts and T-shirts. 

Photos: Courtesy, file

Dressing for Eid

Do you remember the excitement of hiding your new clothes and shoes and appearing in front of everyone on Eid day to show off your new look? Eid-ul-Fitre will be upon us soon, and like always, the shopping centres are already packing with eager customers looking for good deals. If you go into any shop right now, you will find it open till late hours. Some start shopping even before Ramadan starts in the hope of getting their choice outfits and accessories at lower prices. I always shop ahead of Ramadan, because everything becomes more expensive from the first day of Ramadan, be it food items or clothes. The local boutiques bring out designs that are much more accessible to people in term of price, and I enjoy browsing around these outlets as many have good selections for children, said Ta Seen Anannya, office manager of Centre for Health, Population and Development at Independent University, Bangladesh. Some prefer to buy from brand stores like Aarong, Anjans, Kay Kraft and Artisti Collection, or local retail shops, while others go for designer boutiques like Almira or Mayasir. Aarongs (Eid) collection is already out and most of their outlets are always packed with shoppers, said Runa Abdullah, a customer shopping for clothes at the brands Tejgaon store. Eid shopping is so much fun. I am always out with my husband and children and we go to all the outlets of brands like Aarong, Kay Kraft, Aranya and others. We just love this time of the year, and we are also planning on exploring the boutiques near our home in Mohammadpur. There are quite a few shops there and my sister told me that they have good sarees and childrens clothes. I have three kids and we live in a household with our extended family, and buying presents for everyone is a must. Clothes at these local boutiques are priced quite reasonably, she added. This correspondent visited some local boutiques in Mohammadpur and Banasree to see what they have to offer for Eid and their prices. Lamia, a clothing store at Tajmahal Road in Mohammadpur, is owned by Khalilur Rahman. The shop has been around for over five years now and it has quite a varied range of clothes. From saree to salwar-kameez sets, panjabi to shirts and t-shirts, they have a large selection, which will be added to until Eid. We have over 70 local suppliers and they come to us, said Mohammad Nasiruddin, the store manager. Most of the products in our shop are locally made. Our suppliers have factories located all around the city, many of the items are 100-percent locally made, even the materials are from Bangladesh, Nasiruddin added. But we also have suppliers who bring clothes from India and those sell out pretty quickly. There is demand for the items among our customers. Sholo Ana is another clothing store located on the same street. They have outfits for women only and all their products are locally made. Everything you see in our shop is made in Bangladesh. We have a network of suppliers who bring in products every week, and based on our sales, we place orders for more. Usually, our clothes are priced from Tk850 for block-print dresses to Tk3,000 for embroidered ones. We will be bringing in some exclusive pieces for Eid and those would probably cost a little more, but Eid is the time when people tend to spend more, store manager Mahamud Hasan said. Deena Yesmin, a customer and a local resident, told this correspondent: I was a regular customer of some celebrated boutiques in my student days. At the time, there were not so many designer shops, but many of them were committed to quality and variations in design. As the number of such shops has boomed, the average quality has deteriorated somewhat. And they have become very festival-centric too. Their collections are very dull in normal times. But for the price, I am not complaining. Suppliers who produce outfits all made in Bangladesh usually source their materials from Chandni Chawk or Islampur clothes market as prices there are comparatively cheaper if you buy in bulk. This business is not profitable all the time. Sometimes, I make five pieces of the same design and if I cannot sell all of them, then I suffer a loss. I have two tailors working for me and I get the embroidery done from another source. I try to meet the demands of the shops I supply to, but it is not possible all the time to get all the pieces completed in time for Eid. We try our best to make as many as possible, we usually make five to six finished pieces every day, said Mohammad Raju, who supplies locally made salwar-kameez sets to Lamia and other boutiques in the Mohammadpur area. Although the weather is hot and humid right now, the latest style of salwar-kameez seems to be floor length, with heavy embellishments. Explaining this trend, Fayez Hassan, executive designer at Aarong, said: The length makes you look taller than your actual height and women prefer that. Also, it adds a flowing movement when you walk which looks elegant. We are keeping the materials comfortable, such as cotton or linen, to go with the weather, but length is something which is still in. And short dresses actually make you look shorter, so we are still sticking to what people want. If you take a look at our current Eid collection, you will see that we have followed a Mughal theme this year. Everything, from motif, cutting to patterns, brings out the regal vibes of Mughal times. We have also introduced two new lines of products _ one is called Her Story where we are following the rickshaw paint theme, and another is a line of ladies kurta in ethnic and traditional styles. As for menswear, traditional panjabis are still a favourite attire for Eid and most of the brand shops have brought out special designs in cotton, silk or mixed fabrics. Some have imported kabli panjabi sets, and pyjamas shaped like dhoti seem to be the latest rage. For the young ones, there are various collections of locally made or imported frocks, three-piece sets, printed shirts and T-shirts. Photos: Courtesy, file