Clothes Shopping Online: Stitched or Partially Stitched? A Review

Many shoppers consider it a boon to be able to shop online without having to leave the comfort of their homes. I had always been kind of leery of making purchases online because of the scams that have made so many online shoppers bite the dust. Wasn’t there a way to shop safe online?

Turned out there was. Companies such as the highly popular Flipkart.com were offering the ‘Cash on Delivery’ option and I decided to give it a try. I think it was a couple of years ago that I first bought an outfit online from Flipkart. It was a lovely, colourful Anarkali-style kurta with which I was very happy. It fitted right, and looked exactly like its virtual counterpart. I would go back to Flipkart for more for sure. The kurta cost me around Rs. 600/- and it was highly affordable.

first bought an outfit online from Flipkart. It was a lovely, colourful Anarkali-style ‘kurta’ with which I was very happy. It fitted right, and looked exactly like its virtual counterpart. I would go back to Flipkart for more for sure. The kurta cost me around Rs. 600/- and it was highly affordable.

So, naturally, I thought why not buy some more Anarkali kurtas via the Internet. Shopping from brick and mortar stores seemed costlier. I tried Craftsville as it too offered the Cash on Delivery option and I liked some of the clothes.

It was a gorgeous chocolate asymmetrical Anarkali kurta with gold embroidery. You know, the kind that’s longer at the back. And it was priced right at around Rs. 500/-. However, it was a mistake. I had no idea that all the garments on Craftsville came partially stitched. Why did they not specify this in the product details?

Grumbling away, I took the outfit to the tailor who grumbled that partially stitched garments were more difficult to stitch. When I tried it on, I noticed that it was different from the one shown online – it did not have enough gathers in the skirt portion. Typically, Anarkali has a lot of gathers in the skirt. So when I belted it over a pair of narrow dark trousers, the middle area over my belly looked rather bald – bereft of gathers. That spoke of an ill-made garment. It would make me look pretty unfinished; ill-groomed. I wore it just once.

Not having quite learned my lesson, I allowed Voonk to tempt me with a purple and gold Anarkali kurta priced at around Rs. 500/- recently. Once again, I had no idea that the clothes showcased were partially stitched. This virtual version had lots of gathers and I loved the colour and the gold embroidery.

But when I got the package, I noticed that it too was partially stitched and had less gathers in the skirt area; a lot less. And the material was chiffon, not cotton, which meant it would need lining inside. Grumbling again, back to the tailor I went. This time the tailor grumbled even more. There was less material in the upper arm portion which meant that he would have to add material. And he could do nothing about the lack of gathers in the skirt.

The tailor made quite a mess of the kurta. It was tight on the chest and under the arms. Back it went for alteration. The gathers in the skirt are crucial to the sumptuous and elegant Anarkali look. I don’t think I’m going to wear this one from Voonk much either.

Buy Stitched or Partially Stitched Clothes?

The moral of the story: never buy partially stitched clothes online. Opt for readymade clothes instead. And Cash on Delivery is the safest option.