SEvEn 7 Se7En kI wHaT kAhAnI. Review on Fabindia

I have already written about my quest for great maternity wear and doled out some pointless advice too! Like all you men love saying “Women never have enough clothes”, I thought of proving the adage true more specifically for my fat clothes! Mayunk, while I am away has been actually able to take census of my clothes and has come up to an alleged figure of 777 clothes which I firmly believe is gross exaggeration! I think he even counted my every sock separately. Of course even then THAT figure is no where close to the real one. I swear!

So anyway, I heard that Fabindia has some great maternity wear(and they do!) and I was obviously tempted. The relationship with Fabindia is of course much older and I loved the thought of going back after a fairly long break.

Fabindia(FI for all future references) is a chain of stores that specializes mainly in clothes and home products using traditional Indian prints and weaves in their quest to save and popularize the dying arts and make money while at it.

*Who, Why and When?

FI** interestingly was started by an American named John Bissell who started the venture in order to develop India’s export potential in textile industry. The first FI store opened in Delhi around 1975 mainly with furnishings. Soon the marketing focus changed to Indian retail market. Today FI sources its material from over 15000 rural artisans and has 61 retail stores across the country and world.

FInow has a range of products starting from Indian and Western wear for men, women and kids, home linen, furnishings and products and recently added organic food and skin care products made from natural products.

Kya kya milega?

My favourite section is their clothes! What you can look forward to sifting through is mix and match kurtas of every length and sleeve variety(sleeveless, half sleeved, full sleeves…), western blouses in either button down or pull over variety in traditional motifs and gorgeous wrap around skirts in bright hues! They also have lovely capris and pajamas in colours from sunshine yellow to pretty pink to funky fuchsia. Since no sets are sold, you have a choice of salwaars / churidaars / straight legged pants to go with kurtas and dupattas that you can spend hours looking through. Saree lovers needn’t fret, though you will find their variety tad less compared to a regular saree shop. All this is just the ladies section! Woweeee!:)

The guys have a pretty cool section for themselves too. There are kurtas in varying lengths starting from your traditional length to just above the knee variety and the super shorts that just go to your hips. For guys who don’t like kurtas, FI has a cool range of shirts in full and half sleeves again with traditional prints and very clean modern cuts that make it great casual wear.

Kids and infants have a range of tiny n cute clothes and comfortable cottons and a desi touch! It’s too tempting not to pick up a few.

All the clothes are neatly segregated in small shelves as per the size and style of clothes. You can look around and pull out stuff the way you want it. If you need help looking for a matching salwar or dupatta or that top that doesn’t seem available in your size or colour, just ask and the friendly but non-interfering sales person will help you out in a jiffy. Great thing is they are fairly knowledgeable with a sense of style.

Aur kuch khaas?

Apart from this tempt yourself to brighten up your homes with their linens, furnishings, lamps made in with natural fibers. You are sure to want the warmth of their durries, the shade of their thick curtains and great colours in towels of every size that can make your dull kitchen rod look nicer!:)

They also keep small knick knacks made again out of nature’s own like folders, pen stands and really pretty wrapping papers which at Rs.50 per paper are tad expensive, but make the gift look even more special.

Kharcha kitna hoga re?

All clothes are either in cotton or silks. The range of cotton wear for ladies starts with Rs.200 for a simple shirt, around Rs.400 – Rs.800 for kurtas, 300bucks approx for a pair of bottoms and dupattas can cost anywhere between Rs.200 – Rs.2000 depending on how fine the cotton or silk is. The silks cost Rs.600 – Rs.2000 for their kurtas and sarees are quite expensive. The huys would have to shell out approx Rs.400 for the kurta and anywhere between Rs.350 – Rs.500 for their shirts. Silk ones are obviously more mehenga.

Aur kitna pakayegi?

Going by their philosophy of using natural and recyclable products the shopping done is carried back in paper bags, sometimes made out of newspaper too. Even their clothes are coloured in vegetable dyes. Because of this you can be sure that the brighter shades will leave / rub colour when worn and washed. So make sure to wear darker colour undergarments as well or your precious white VIP Bonus banian will be red!:p There is wash care to be taken, by washing them separately with cold water and mild detergents and drying them in shade.

Sometimes the colours run far too much making the garment look old too soon and you have no choice but dump it or wear it as a night suit. Also at times they take too long to come up with fresh designs especially in fabrics and you end up having a very similar look even if you buy new stuff. So even if you fall in love with the clothes, don’t pile on too much in one go, unless you love the jhola bearing journalistic look forever.

But these small grouses apart, Fabindia spells ethnic and classy wear that lets your skin breathe and manages it at a fairly affordable price point too.

The clothes, linen and crafts make for great gifts for NRI cousins or firangi guests who go completely ga ga over the obviously gorgeous Indian look.

*Kahan dhoondoon re sajna?

They have stores in all major cities in India. You can exchange stuff at any of their stores irrespective of which one you bought it from and they will gladly help. Online shopping possible on fabindia.com and you can find out where thestore in your city is! No idea how online shopping workls though. never tried!.

778…779…780…781… the count continues!