Description: My mother and I decided to take advantage of Varanasi’s silk merchants and have some clothes made for us. We went to the tourist office and got a list of recommended places from them, and chose one which was close to our hotel. The tailor had a huge number of silk ready-made products which we looked at – after seeing a bewildering range of ties we picked two green and two blue ones, all made from a gorgeous raw silk, to give to my boyfriend, brother, and father. Each tie cost £1, and they have a wonderful texture and a good range of colours. We then looked at scarves and shawls, and chose 3 shades of turquoise and blue for my mother to give to her friends as presents. (By the end of this process we were rather sick of the phrase “You see more? We have many colours”.) Then we decided to risk the tailoring side of the business. We asked to be shown blues, greens, greys, and dark reds – many Indian women wear beautiful amazingly bright colours of pink, orange and yellow that don’t suit our fair skinned, fair-haired colouring. In the end I chose a silver-grey, my mother a royal blue, and I also chose claret red and turquoise for my younger sisters. The tailor had a good variety of pictures and patterns, and the tailor was sent for from down the road. My mother had a shirt made from the thin silk she chose, and I had a similar shirt made from a thicker raw silk. For my sisters I ordered a skirt each, knee-length, fitted, with a slit at the back. All of these were ready within 24 hours, and were incredibly well-made and fitted. My sisters’ skirts (which I intend to give them for Christmas) are particularly impressive, well-made and lined with satin so as to be comfortable. The skirts costs £8 each, and the shirts £6; both prices included the materials and labour.
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