Though the month of Ramzan is yet to begin, tailors in the old city have their hands full.
Despite the popularity of readymade apparel there is no dearth of visitors to their workshops as many people prefer to get their clothes stitched, even it means approaching the tailor a full month ahead of Id.
More so it has evolved as a custom for people to get at least a pair of ‘kurta pyjamas’, the traditional dress, stitched at a tailor shop as it needs a custom fit. “It is difficult to get the perfection in readymades unless it is altered,” Mohd. Raqeeb of Mallepally says.
Abdul Gaffar of ‘A. Rahman and Sons’, one of the oldest tailors of the city, says: “In the case of a ‘sherwani’ people prefer a stitched one over a ready-to-wear one because fitting matters the most.”
Heavy demand
Interestingly, there is no let-up in the demand for tailors even though they have raised their charges.
In fact people have now started placing orders even two months in advance to avoid the last-minute rush. “We have our hands full and plan to stop accepting new orders from first of Ramzan,” says Syed Ifteqar Ali of Muslim Tailoring House, Moghalpura.
The increase in the number of readymade shops have little impact on the tailors and instead many new workshops have come up. Moreover, to deal with the demand city-based tailors have hired their counterparts from the Andhra region.
Advance planning
“If we are late then we will not be able to get workforce even in the districts.
So we make it a point to engage them now itself by paying advance wages in addition to providing them lodging and food,” explains Ravi of Glossy tailors, Chandrayangutta.
Though the sales of readymade apparel have not yet picked up there is a good rush at the suiting and shirting material stores around the city, particularly in shops famous for stocking dress material for ‘Kurta and salwar’. “It is a regular trend witnessed before the month of Ramzan,” says a cloth merchant.
