Its our first edition of the review of Indian Ethnic brands 1-1. Excited, well me too...
Have been meaning to write this for a while and wanted to thoroughly go through my personal experience with both brands that I wanted to talk about first. These 2 brands have been long on my radar, ever since I decided recently that it is infact the traditional Indian wear that suits my body better than the everyday casual wear worn commonly as casual workwear everyday.
So the last month and a half have taken me to go shopping in this pandemic, both online and in-store to gauge the variety and versatilities of what both brands bring to the already vast ocean of domestic brands fighting for their share in this wide market.
Cottons Jaipur
Jaipur based brand committed to , as the name suggests - traditional Indian women's wear in 100% Cotton. Except for their accessories like Dupattas and trims in their styles..
Easy to wear with great prints and color schemes is what drew me first to this brand. I am a big stickler for pastel shades and good print combinations and it was love at first sight while browsing their website. They have recently opened up their web shop which enables the user to have a broad view of their latest collections.
They claim to be a fair trade organization also responsible for sustainable , fairly priced garments.
What I Bought
The first purchase from this brand was in August 2020 with this beautiful cotton kurta with chiffon sleeves.
It is easy , casual and perfect for everyday workwear separates and can be paired with multiple choice of bottoms / accessories. Some days I like to pair with chambray pants in grey , some days with normal leggings...
Due to the nature of delicate fabrics, you need to take care in handling of the garment during and after wear. Hence, I would suggest to hand wash their kurtas, especially the ones with fine fabrics and details and prints + embellishments.
*Hand wash in this case, does not mean that you soak the garments in tub with soap as most Indians do. Please don't do that, it will weaken the fabric and prints in this case. Just dip that garment in soap water and wash + rinse after 5-6 minutes (unless there is a stain, for which you need to add stain remover too).
This Kurta is priced at INR 1500 on their website. They also have a mix and match pants in similar tones available with which you can pair this with, however at the time of my purchase my size was out of stock.
I am a humble size (chest-36.5") L from usual brands and not very confident with my body type or shape - for this brand my size is a decent M and it fits perfect on me.
Their sizing range goes upto an XL which can fit easily upto Bust/Chest size of 42.
They have physical stores across the country with locations starting from Jaipur to Ahmedabad, Mumbai to even Bengaluru and Goa.
Website can be accessed at : https://cottonsjaipur.com/
Currently they offer shipping in select locations across India and to select locations worldwide (I could not get more information on their website in regards to this).
Utsa by Westside
For many years the Westside brand by the Tata Group has been a go-to for shopping. Designed as a department store comprising of multiple product categories and gender groups, it is one of the very few standing companies still relying on and building upon their own brands / product lines - rather than driving through solely with multi-brand outlet concept.
In short, it is not like your Shopper's Stop or Lifestyle here in India. Both of these have their own labels and offer MBO (multi-brand outlet) to other brands as well. That is the reason, you will also find brands like Levis, Vero Moda, Biba, W in their stores.
Their website on the other hand - https://www.tatacliq.com/ has everything to offer. Right from Fashion, accessories , Appliances, Home & Furnishing.... all across multi-brands to get a fair share of the Ecommerce market.
What I Bought
The Kurta that I bought from Utsa this time was to be paired with a beige cropped pants for a contemporary workwear look. Absolutely love the fact that this brand knows how to make practical clothes with pockets !
Below is the link to get the Kurta from their online store. With pants , trousers the total ensemble costs not more than 1900 INR. And that is quite affordable to me.
This Kurta is again 100% Cotton and is priced at 899 INR.
Sizing starts from XS and goes upto XXL which offers a good choice for the average woman. I fit easily into a size M.
Oh! and they have another 2000 products to offer just from this brand on their website... so happy browsing and shopping.
Westside also has stores across India and takes absolute care of the sanitization environment and WHO guidelines. In case you plan to go, don't forget to go with full precautions for yourself and your loved ones.
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