Review on W. Review on W for Woman

Like all women I am also very fond of clothes. I love buying as many outfits as my budget allows. And my preference has always been salwar-kameez. Not only because I feel comfortable in them, but also because Indian-wear offers so many choices in colour, texture, designs as compared to western-wear. Formal pants and skirts are a no-no for me. The only western outfit I like is the evergreen ‘jeans’ which I like pairing with Indian kurtis (mostly).

Till a few years back my options were mainly limited to readymade salwar-suit from Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar markets in Delhi or buying good fabric and getting it stitched from my neighbourhood tailor. None of the options were very satisfactory - readymade salwar-kameez never gave a good fit inspite of alterations and stitched ones…well…did not look very cool! There was also the added problem of being called a ‘behnji’ by everybody.

All that changed 4 years ago when I stumbled upon a great new store called ‘W’ in Centrestage Mall, Noida (it has now moved to the more happening TGIP). I had heard of ‘W’ earlier and knew that it was India’s first Indian-wear chain of stores for women. So when I saw the new outlet I walked in without a second thought.

And it was like I was in wonderland! I couldn’t believe what I saw – the cuts, the colours, the prints – they were mindblowing. Another unique thing (for me) was that there was not a single full set i.e. kurta-salwar/churidar-dupatta together. The whole store was a mix-and-match heaven. You could pick up any kurta you liked and then match it with a churdar/salwar and dupatta of your choice. There were also loads of short kurtis/tops.

I and my friend rubbed our hands in glee and pounced on the clothes. I picked up a cotton kurta in tomato red that had caught my fancy and tried it on. I was overjoyed to see that it was a perfect fit, as if it has been made only for me. The churidar I matched with it was also a perfect fit. And the best thing was that I did not look like a behnji! Even though it was a very ‘Indian’ outfit, it made me look and feel international!

No surprise that I ended up buying the whole set (with dupatta) for Rs. 1,200/- which I felt was a bit steep. But the lady at the store assured me that the suit will be value for money. I still had doubts – after all cotton suits hardly last more than two seasons. I was also worried that the cotton will shrink. But I took the risk. And I was not disappointed – the suit did not shrink at all. Whats more it has been 4 years since I bought my first W suit and I still wear it – the colour has hardly faded!

After that I bought most of my clothes from W. Today more than 80% of my wardrobe consists of W outfits. This is one brand that has never let me down. From casual wear to party wear I get everything here. Since the clothes last a long time I don’t mind spending a bit extra on them. And its not like they are very expensive – even today an ordinary cotton full set costs around Rs. 1,200 to 1,500 – perfectly reasonable when the outfit has a very long life.

The clothes are available in 6 sizes – WP (I think it stands for petite), WS (small), WM (medium), WL (large), WG (extra large), WVG (extra extra large). The sizes are fixed keeping in mind typical ‘Indian’ body types. Another great thing is that W experiments a lot with designs and cuts. I find something new every time I step into their store. The reason is that they come out with 5 collections every year - Spring, Summer, Monsoon, Festive & Winter. Each collection is different from the earlier one. They also have a 'Wishful' collection which consists of silk partywear.

W has exclusive outlets in most major cities of India with very friendly and helpful staff. Other than that the clothes are also available in Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons and Ebony outlets.

Now W has extended its designs to western-wear too but at heart remains a chain of stores for Indian-wear. A lot of other companies have tried to follow W’s example and come out with branded Indian-wear but none has been able to match W’s standards. Inspite of almost-nil advertising and publicity, W has grown from strength to strength in the last few years. It has not only managed to keep its quality intact but is also very price-effective. More power to W!

W's website : https://wforwoman.com