My very own Marks and Spencers

Handloom clothes I can live with….. also breathe, like and flaunt. So, it doesn't matter that my mum labels kurtas, "retired man's outfit" or my aunt or grandmum curse me, as they mean high maintenance (seperate washing, starching, ironing). I just find myself in them.
In the hope that out of sight would turn into out of mind, they seldom send my "koni pai" (a sack) dress species' for ironing and and stove them out of my sight. So I often dig cupboards like a miner to find my kurtas.
There are some great places to shop for airy handlooms and cottons – fabindia is not for the monsoons, unless you want to leave a colourful trail and its outfits fade faster than you can say "new dress". Ladybird and other friends have reported experiences, where maids look down upon their mistresses' poor dressing sense.
Anokhi is good for its stitching and designs but expensive. Ditto for temple towers and kalpadruma. Though it is my dream shope there some day and and wear something without the guilt of having wasted almost a month's-salary. Middle-class values are thicker than fashion statements.
However, one gets quite a deal at places like Gurjari, Rajasthali, Lepakshi and Boyanika. The State Khadi Gramodyog Bhavans are good for kurtas that are austere-looking, comfy and sturdy even after 10 years. Their flowery wrap-around skirts (full and half length) are quite classy too – graceful vegetable dyes and ghera lines.
New Nalli is another one stop for most handlooms and at just slightly more expensive rates than Gurjari, you get a great ambience, personal assistance and paneer-perfumed air. And there is Apco for its colourful and rich pochempalli sarees; even the khadi houses store a good collection of them. The best is, one can be assured of value for money here.
Outside madras managaram, I liked the Dilli Haat (delhi) and a friend's shopping from the Dakshinapan in Calcutta. Ofcourse, all this means burning some months-long savings….but then I do it just once a year.