With Eid just round the corner, celebrations have already begun with hectic shopping. Shops and showrooms are decked up. Shoppers are more inclined towards cotton clothes, while the trend of bright colours is still there.
A boutique owner said that women prefer cotton clothes with simple designs this Eid. Fancy colours are in trend in accordance with the festive season but the overworked attires are totally out of market.
Hectic activities are being noticed in Old city markets as Eid is expected after a couple of days. People are thronging markets to make purchases. The shopkeepers are opening the shops till late at night to cater to the demands of the customers.
There are numerous markets in the city like Chowk, Ibrahimpura, loha Bazar, Nadeem Road, New Market, Bairagarh, BHEl, and Kotra where people are making beeline to make purchases. The markets are buzzing with activities from morning to late night.
Women are the excited lot. Different types of designer dresses have flooded the market. The tailors are working overtime to meet the deadline of the demanding customers.
Aisha a resident of Eidgah Hills locality said: “I have purchased three designer salwar suits for Eid. Accessories too have been purchased to match the dresses.”
“I always buy party clothes from New Market but this time, the Sunday market at Chowk have a lot better to offer and that too at an affordable price,” said Ruby Khan a resident of Mangalwara.
Ruby further said, “Besides readymade curtains and bed sheets, I found beautiful wallets and reasonable costume jewellery in the market for Eid gifts.”
Though, Chowk maket remains closed on Sunday but during Ramzan, special Sunday market comes up there. However, this time, inflation has hit people hard and even middle-class and well-to-do people are shopping at the Sunday market.
“It is not possible to abstain from fruits and vegetables no matter how expensive they are. But, the best way to make up for this is to shop for dresses, footwear and other accessories from street markets,” said Ghazala Khan, a homemaker.
Excited with the heavy sale Dinesh Jain who sells designer and branded garments at cheap rates said, “Compared to previous years, this time, there is a mad rush.”
“I always visit the last Sunday market of Ramzan as I get to shop for the latest stuff at lesser price, compared to big retail shops of popular markets,” said Irfan Hyder a builder and contractor.
A tailor in the city is having three times extra work load as women mostly wear suit during Eid and they want to get the suits stitched on time. Every tailor is witnessing almost 40 to 50 additional customers each day.
Though the men too are fashion cautious but they do not have much to experiment with this year. The cotton kurta or sherwani are the only options for them. Readymade kurtas are in demand. Those opt to wear sherwanis are getting it readymade from malls and showrooms.
“The men prefer kurtas and sherwanis while youngsters have shifted their fashion statement. The boys are demanding balloon pants, tagged T-shirts and everything trendy worn by favorite actors in movie,” said a shopkeeper in Chowk.