Trip to India

I went to India the night I broke up for the holidays. Despite having so much work, I figured I would go since I was on track with my work and had the opportunity. Most of my family live in India with some in the UK, USA and other countries. The last time I went was about 10 years ago for a family wedding!

This time, being a fashion and textiles student I really wanted to see and buy fabrics from India. They are not only much cheaper there, but there is so much variety that you cannot get here. Also being Gujarati and speaking the language makes it 1000 times easier when purchasing, asking and even bargaining.

Plane ride with Qatar Airways

Side Note: Their uniform is one of the best I have seen for Cabin Crew for a long time!

India is very well known for gold and through my time there I also did a bit of jewellery shopping. One of the biggest trends there for earrings is 'doul's' the type of earrings that are in the photographs above. 

I also went to several fabric market and shops. This is one of my favourite shops it has fabrics and borders that you can pick and then get stitched. Above are some examples of traditional Indian Lehenga skirts that have been stitched. It really reminds me of Couture and it truly is. Also it is much easier and cheaper to shop here for wedding clothes. So many people I know come here for it and there is more choice as well.

Here are borders and tassels that can be bought as well. This is just a small amount there are rows that follow, full of tassels!

One house I visited of my family has a rooftop terrace and from the top you can see some of the town of Anand, where I stayed.

This photo was taken in Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat. This was also at another family's house. It was incredibly peaceful and the weather was lovely considering it was their winter.

Whilst in Ahmedabad, I visited many fabric shops and this is just the amount of coloured Cottons they had. 35p for Cotton! That is something you wouldn't hear of in the UK. It was so inspiring and amazing to see how much there was! This was just the Cotton...

There were also embellished fabrics as well..

Because India is known for their heavy traditional wear, you can also make sarees and lehengas from these material, which is mainly what it is for. Not many people there wear western clothes (Tops, trousers, dresses). Above are some fabrics I picked to make a Lehenga (Blouse and skirt).

My Aunt's mother-in-law is a fashion designer and she had some incredible pieces of handwork that she showed me! It was stunning and very refreshing to see how much work went into one saree or blouse.

Here is a completely beaded blouse with tassels, with layers of sarees underneath all beaded and embroidered, mainly by hand.

I also visited a heritage site called Rani Ki Vav. It was a huge step well with carvings that was hundreds of years old and recovered.

India is also known for spices and dried fruits. That of course, with plenty of colour!

We also got a visit from a Kashmir scarf seller from Kashmir. Each scarf had hand work and was the Haute Couture of scarves! Each scarf was about 45-60 pounds!

During the last day of the year I went back to a city called Baroda to visit more family and their garden was very beautiful!

Here is one of the lehengas I got made after picking the fabrics and borders.

I also got mendhi on my hands and legs!

Overally my trip was incredible! I cannot believe there is so much in India, even though I am Indian, I very rarely go there, but I am tempted to much more because this is exactly what I love with Fashion, Textiles, Patterns, Prints, New Places and getting inspiration!