Wednesday, January 18, 2006
The hypnotic tailor of Mebaz
So I finally get around to writing about my first trip to Mebaz! Feels very appropriate since I just got back from my fitting and all the stuff I ordered is going to be ready in a few more days. But back to the original story...
After spending the day at the museum and visiting the Charminar we headed off to this place called Mebaz which is a kind of an upscale clothing store where many of the expats go to get tailor-made suits and shirts as well as traditional outfits like kurtas and saris. When I came in I was only planning on buying one suit since I heard it would only cost $150 - $200, which is a ludicrously cheap amount by American standards. However, I ended up falling under the spell of the so-called hypnotic tailor and got way more than I initially anticipated.
They showed me a few samples of cloth and I picked out a very nice looking dark blue for my first suit. I really wasn't going to order anything else but they kept laying out different kinds of fabrics and offering to make me more "trousers" (haha, funny word) and shirts. I resisted as long as I could but there were many of them and only two of us, plus they brought out drinks for us to sip while making our selections. It became impossible to resist so I started picking up some shirts along with the other expat who brought me there. He was there specifically for more shirts since he only got a couple on his previous visit. And when I say shirts here I mean fabric from which the shirts would be made, not off-the-rack kind of things. The fabrics were actually very nice as well, various Armani and other designer materials. All in all I ended up with 2 suits (went back for a black pin-stripe as well), 12 shirts, and 6 "trousers" (haha, that word cracks me up). I also got 3 very nice belts and tried on a large number of shoes but decided not to get any of those there. The shoes in Mebaz cost about as much as they do in the States ($130+) and didn't feel nearly as nice as their American equivalents.
The surprise came in the end when I went to the counter to pay the bill. Throughout the course of this buying orgy I kept asking the guys helping us how much all these things were going to cost but they kept telling me, "hang on, we'll tell you in a minute." The information never materialized until the end, however, when all the fabric was cut and it was too late to send anything back. It's funny seeing 57,000 on your receipt, and if I bought all these things in New York the pricetag would certainly have been several thousand dollars. Luckily, these were only rupees, but even so, that many rupees adds up to a lot of "real" money as well. My credit card company didn't seem to mind however, which is actually a bit disappointing, I would expect them to at least flag any large purchases made half-way around the world...I'm not worried about the money however, I figure I will not need to do any more shopping for formal wear for several years to come unless my body shape changes in some drastic manner.
As I said before, I actually had my fitting earlier this evening. The shirt they gave me to try seemed to fit beautifully while the suit and pants needed a little modification. But it will all be ready some time next week and I'll finally have a pretty respectable wardrobe to my name, which is pretty exciting! I actually bought a couple party shirts while I was there earlier today and tried on some kurtas and other traditional gear but none of it seemed very pleasing. I do really want to find a nice comfortable Indian outfit to bring home before I go back that I could wear around the house. Well, that was that for Mebaz, or at least for the time being. I'm still going back there next week to pick up the final products and probably won't be able to resist getting a couple more random items..
After spending the day at the museum and visiting the Charminar we headed off to this place called Mebaz which is a kind of an upscale clothing store where many of the expats go to get tailor-made suits and shirts as well as traditional outfits like kurtas and saris. When I came in I was only planning on buying one suit since I heard it would only cost $150 - $200, which is a ludicrously cheap amount by American standards. However, I ended up falling under the spell of the so-called hypnotic tailor and got way more than I initially anticipated.
They showed me a few samples of cloth and I picked out a very nice looking dark blue for my first suit. I really wasn't going to order anything else but they kept laying out different kinds of fabrics and offering to make me more "trousers" (haha, funny word) and shirts. I resisted as long as I could but there were many of them and only two of us, plus they brought out drinks for us to sip while making our selections. It became impossible to resist so I started picking up some shirts along with the other expat who brought me there. He was there specifically for more shirts since he only got a couple on his previous visit. And when I say shirts here I mean fabric from which the shirts would be made, not off-the-rack kind of things. The fabrics were actually very nice as well, various Armani and other designer materials. All in all I ended up with 2 suits (went back for a black pin-stripe as well), 12 shirts, and 6 "trousers" (haha, that word cracks me up). I also got 3 very nice belts and tried on a large number of shoes but decided not to get any of those there. The shoes in Mebaz cost about as much as they do in the States ($130+) and didn't feel nearly as nice as their American equivalents.
The surprise came in the end when I went to the counter to pay the bill. Throughout the course of this buying orgy I kept asking the guys helping us how much all these things were going to cost but they kept telling me, "hang on, we'll tell you in a minute." The information never materialized until the end, however, when all the fabric was cut and it was too late to send anything back. It's funny seeing 57,000 on your receipt, and if I bought all these things in New York the pricetag would certainly have been several thousand dollars. Luckily, these were only rupees, but even so, that many rupees adds up to a lot of "real" money as well. My credit card company didn't seem to mind however, which is actually a bit disappointing, I would expect them to at least flag any large purchases made half-way around the world...I'm not worried about the money however, I figure I will not need to do any more shopping for formal wear for several years to come unless my body shape changes in some drastic manner.
As I said before, I actually had my fitting earlier this evening. The shirt they gave me to try seemed to fit beautifully while the suit and pants needed a little modification. But it will all be ready some time next week and I'll finally have a pretty respectable wardrobe to my name, which is pretty exciting! I actually bought a couple party shirts while I was there earlier today and tried on some kurtas and other traditional gear but none of it seemed very pleasing. I do really want to find a nice comfortable Indian outfit to bring home before I go back that I could wear around the house. Well, that was that for Mebaz, or at least for the time being. I'm still going back there next week to pick up the final products and probably won't be able to resist getting a couple more random items..
