Shopping

I'm not usually a big shopper; as much as I love new, unique things, I also try to rebel against the consumerism so prevalent today. But given the fact that I'm being paid in rupees and have a local atm/debit card, its mighty difficult to resist. But then I also have to think of my baggage, the excess weight fees are definitely not worth it, especially since its a weight range, not a charge per kg that you are over the weight limit.

In general, its hard to find truly unique, affordable clothing. So I try to reinvent clothes that I already have. Before I buy something, I try to judge a piece of clothing or accessory by asking myself "Does this piece deserve space in my closet?" I try to think of my closet as prime real estate, it will help prevent me from spending too much money or just buying cheap junk that I don't necessarily need and that is just unoriginal and a waste of space. I would love to do a clothing swap actually and I love the concept of used clothing stores.

Note: I need to make an album of the various ways I can think of to wear a sari, in non traditional ways. But its hard to do on myself, so I need a model.

Shopping in Kolkata has been fun, I've bought some fabrics (which I hope to use on my sewing machine), some handicrafts (not too many though), some western cut dresses from Pantaloons (department store), batik sarong type materials from Shantiniketan; but no jewelry. I'm done shopping for now and will try to pack the bags and see how much they weigh before I even think about shopping more. Hopefully the things I bought weigh the same as the consumables I brought with me and things I will leave behind here.

The two malls I went to are City Centre and South City. City Centre is a bit like the Spectrum or fashion island except multi storied, outdoor type but with some indoor AC areas too, and movie theatre (where I saw "alice in wonderland"). South City is a huge 5 story indoor AC mall with a Target type store in the basement, movie theatre (where I saw "clash of the titans", only b/c I was bored), two department stores (Shopper's Stop and Pantaloon's). The two days I went there a cricket game was playing on the big screen in the center atrium and people were gathered around and cheering. The food court was pretty cool although for some of the eateries you had to buy a pre paid card to buy food. I had Subway! I spent about 1 hour in pantaloon's, the first store I went into in South City, and bought 4 things, and didn't buy anything else that day or the next day when I returned. I was pretty happy with myself for resisting the urge!

My eyes are consistently drawn to the Indian prints and patterns, paisleys, florals, batik . . and the good thing is that its so overwhelming that I can't pick just one or two things, so then I just walk out of the store. whew. crisis averted.

My one splurge, besides the spa visits, is a truly unique, designer dress that I'm really excited about and can't wait to wear. It's getting altered to fit me right now. I found a local designer online that has her own clothing line, some very cool fusion type wear. Some of the patterns were a bit overwhelming for me (pink leopard print or just mis-matched patterns) but I got a beige dress that has sari type draping and is long and flowy. She also came out with a vcd about different ways to wear saris, so i bought one. It's got some cool ideas, but most of the ideas just include more ways to make the sari even more bulky and cover up more of your body.

I also bought some books, which def. might add up on the scale. I think those would be the first I would sacrifice if it was necessary.