Sari Shopping 101

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In my head sari shopping seemed quite straight forward. You walk in you choose a pretty colour, everyone smiles, you walk out, you eat lunch. How wrong I was.

A girl that Darrell worked with offered to take us sari shopping coz we're going to a wedding and thought we should have the right get-up. We met her outside a store which seemed to not only house the whole of Chennai that day, but it also housed fifty gazillion saris. Not only were there thousands of colours and then thousands more colour combinations but there were also thousands of different fabric types. Tess and I pretended to look relaxed but as soon as we located the door again (it was hard to find through all the fabric) we hit the ground running.

We were taken to a quieter store (phew!) but there was still an abundance of choice. Apparently Indian women will shop for 2 days without making a decision. If anyone has been shopping with me they will have met my impatient side, I don't shop for 2 day especially without making any purchases! Anyhoo, Tess and I bought the material, a pretty silk from a place called Kanchipuram (we're headed there tomorrow to cycle round the temples) but apparently that wasn't the end of the chaos. You also need a blouse, which is actually just half shirt/half bra kinda thing, and an underskirt! We made it out alive and in one piece but I won't be rushing to go sari shopping again!

My advice would to a sari shopping novice would be 1. Have a colour in mind 2. Go with someone who speaks the language 3. Don't be scared to ask them to pull down every colour that you might like 4. Get out as fast as you can and 5. Make sure a delicious lunch can be found within a 200 metre radius of shopping venue (this is the most crucial element of the day).

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