Dresses, Kurtas & More: Where To Buy Fabrics For Everything You Need For INR 100+

Situated in Central Kolkata with convenient metro connectivity, this place stocks royal satin from around INR 135, and silks from INR 120, raw silk with prints at INR 785, kalamkari at INR 165, and chinar at INR 225. Their salespersons are patient and well-mannered, which is a big plus when you can’t quite decide between the red brocade and the green kalamkari.

Located on Sarat Bose Road close to Paddapukur, this shop has a wide selection of glitzy fabrics, georgettes and chiffons, prints, and a range of zips, sequins, buttons and thread. We loved their beautiful collection of Parsi and velvet stone borders. The range starts from around INR 120+.

Situated behind the Kohinoor Building in Park Street, Razies keeps a variety of  designer laces {beautiful damru stone and gota}, borders, designer and even moti stone laces around INR 250 per 10 meters.

This can pretty much be your one-stop shop for making a dress from scratch. A row of fabric shops sells everything – fabrics, borders, buttons, laces. Some of the known names are Geeta, Kavita, Sanjay Exclusive, and Mullick Lace Craft (they stock a variety of borders and laces ranging from zari, fancy laces, motifs and many more).

Situated in Gariahat, one can find here a variety of materials here. Prices begin from INR 50 for basic lining and go up to INR 350 per meter for Phulkari fabrics. Pick up these faux Gujarat mirror-work fabrics for a kitschy OTT look.

There are several khadi shops scattered around the city, but the ones I particularly like are Khadi Bhavan on Ashutosh Mukherjee Road, New Khadi Niketan near Priya Cinema, and the shops in Dakhinapan complex near Dhakuria bridge. My favourite is the Khadi Emporium in Hindustan Park Road, Gariahat. Do not be fooled by its tiny appearance, they have a huge collection inside in three rooms.

The plain and printed cottons ranges from INR 110 to INR 120 per metre, indigo materials are at at INR 250, the South cottons with gorgeous borders are between INR 130-150, ikkat’s at INR 210 to INR 480, the Chanderis are the fastest selling and range between INR 210 to INR 225, and much more.

Their amazing range of readymades are a sellout, but did you know that Byloom also stocks fabrics? I’d recommend the silk and jamdani (between INR 950 to 1,450), matka silk (between INR 850 to INR 1,050) and the quirky, fun prints in cotton (around INR 200).

This blink-and-you-miss store situated near Deshapriyo Park crossing offers a variety of materials. I am just going to reel out the list – lizzy bizzy (INR 80+), khadi (INR 120+), cotton tussar (INR 250+), indigo (INR 180+), kalamkari (INR 180+), brocade (INR 400-450), ikkat (INR 250 to 550), Jaipur prints (at INR 140), cotton raw silk (INR 160 to 210), Phulkari {INR 150 to 200), chikan (INR 180 to 250), cutwork (INR 1,150), and tissue (INR 275) and more.

I spotted a few playful prints last time – cats, cars and scissors on soft indigo cottons and burnt ambers.

It gets very crowded here as it is a tiny space, so be patient and leave claustrophobia behind!

Located in Dhakuria, this shopping complex houses all the state emporiums and the goodies from those areas. The MP-government’s Mrignayani specialises in Chanderi, Maheshwari, cotton, kosa, georgette and chiffon. Boyanika from Odisha stocks the most gorgeous ikkats at INR 281 and upwards. The kalamkaris and single color cottons with gold borders are what you should pick up at LePakshi {the Andhra emporium}. And the block printed cottons at Gurjari (from Gujarat) and Rajasthali will give you a ’90s-wala Dilli college girl look.