Rajkot youngsters hire clothes for Navratri

Nisha Shukla, who hires clothes, said her collection was “booked” 10 days ago and she has orders for more dresses.

The two primary reasons that hiring dresses has become so popular are: variety and financial considerations. A “good” costume — chaniya-choli for women and kediya-salwar for men — can cost anything above Rs 500. Instead of spending all that money, you could hire a particular item that you like for Rs 75 to Rs 100, says Mital Shah. Also, Mital added that these days traditional dresses like gamthi chaniya cholis and banjaras, which “can be worn only during Navratri,” have become more popular. So people choose not to buy the clothes, preferring to rent them.

These costumes are also very popular because of the enormous varieties available — that too with accessories. This season, silk and polyester clothes are outdated. “Jazzy and heavy dresses with embroidery work are not in demand. Simple and sober cotton clothes are on the hit list,” says Nikita Patel of Bajubandh.

“For women, Gamthi and Bandhni banjaras with pearl and mirror work, and cap-sleeved blouses are in demand. Dupattas with ghughri and pearl work are in fashion. All this is available for the nine nights between Rs 75 and Rs 300, along with matching oxidised metal and silver ornaments”, she added.

For men, cotton kediya salwars, dhoti Patiala and jhaba salwar with bandhni print are available on rent between Rs 80 and Rs 300 with sashes for the head and waist. “Black and red patialas are more in demand as they match with any colour,” she said.

The enterprising youngsters prefer to spend their money on tickets for disco-dandiya, said Desai. “The high rates could be the reason they are opting for rented costumes. The seasonal pass for disco-dandiya, which used to cost Rs 200, a couple of years back, now costs Rs 200 per day.”

The trend has clearly affected the business of traditional dress dealers as their business has gone down in the last couple of years. “Our business has gone down 60 per cent in the last couple of years”, said Yatin Desai of Bajubandh. “The craze among people to buy dresses for Navratri has gone down. Previously, Navratri used to be the best for business but now — as people prefer to hire costumes — we are left with few customers,” Desai added.