It’s a designer piece, Ma’am!

I have very simplistic tastes in clothing, especially my Indian attire. I like to wear the traditional clothes every once in a while for no other reason except that my Mum has gifted me so many and I don’t seem to have the occasions to wear them all. I decided my life is an occasion and it ought to be celebrated thus I wear my pretty chiffons, silks and crepe de Chine outfits to work with the flowing dupatta (scarf) to go with them every once in a while.

I also have some items of clothing that are heavily embroidered, and I save them for weddings or other social functions that demand I dress up to the nines. I do enjoy doing that sometimes, especially when there’s a family wedding or function. Its difficult though seeing as weddings in the family are becoming as rare as hen’s teeth.

Anyway, a fortnight ago I decided to go to a local shopping mall to look for an Indian attire I could wear at an upcoming wedding next month. I went to several shops and didn’t quite like what I saw and then went into one of the shops and instantly fell in love with a sari on the mannequin in the window. I’m not one who usually wears saris as I find the whole nine yards to be a bit problematic to handle on a daily basis. The sari is actually a very elegant item of clothing and I have a few that have been handed down to me from my mum but for this particular occasion I decided I wanted something a bit on the blingy side.

My pupils must have dilated when I saw the gorgeous turquoise sari because the shop attendant just jumped into a non-stop chatter about the qualities of the sari. First of all, having a mum who knows her fabrics really well and has always been deemed stylish, I picked a few tips along the way from her. I know a good fabric when I see one and clean embroidery, so when I took a closer look at the turquoise sari, it wasn’t all that. The fabric was an ordinary georgette and I could see that the cleanliness in the embroidery was nothing to crow about. It was an ok piece so I asked the price of the sari and let out a gasp. The guy quoted me a price that made me look at him incredulously and ask him how he justified the cost for such an ordinary piece of clothing.

‘It’s a designer piece, Ma’am!’ he exclaimed. I rolled my eyes. Oh yeah? WHICH designer put together this piece, I asked him and he said it’s a sari that’s in the Satya Paul (famous Indian designer) catalogue. I don’t think he counted on the fact that I had my smart phone with me and decided to Google his claims. If I could raise an eyebrow in disdain I would but because I can’t so I went into verbal overdrive with him telling him he ought to be ashamed of himself for selling a bad copy of a Satya Paul. Then putting a price tag on it that would have bought me an air ticket to India to go to Satya Paul and get an original piece with the amount he quoted. Ok that’s a bit of an exaggeration but you get my point.

I get fed up of these wannabe ‘designers’ who bring mediocre things at the price of peanuts in India then flood their shops and boutiques with these things and try and sell their stuff to me for exorbitant prices. Even with the tax you have to pay on your imported goods, you cannot justify that stupidly ridiculous high price on your items in your shops when you sell me your so-called ‘designer’ pieces. You’re as fake as the things you sell and stop making a fool and a mockery of your customers. People who spend aren’t stupid, and if you think you can con with your lying tactics you need to get a life. You cannot call a bad and pathetic copy of an original a designer piece and expect me to pay you the price of my left kidney for it.

HUH!

I still have nothing to wear at that function next month.