Stitched in Pakistan through family or an online service?

How the family route usually runs

You send your measurements, or an old kameez that fits, to a sister, aunt or cousin. She buys fabric or uses a suit you have chosen, takes everything to her darzi, explains the design, goes back to collect it, and then packs and posts the parcel to you. For many families this is a familiar arrangement, and it has real strengths: she can feel the fabric in a shop, she may know a darzi whose work she trusts, and she can see the finished outfit before it travels.

It also asks a lot of her. Each visit, each phone call and each trip to the courier is her time, and the timetable is hers too.

Where the family route gets difficult

None of these is about the skill of the darzi. They come from the distance between you and the person doing the work.

• Measurements passed on by someone else. Your numbers travel through a relative, and a note like “a bit loose at the hips” can be lost or reinterpreted on the way.
• Changes go through two people. A different sleeve means a message to her, a visit from her and a reply back to you.
• Nothing is written down. If the neckline comes out deeper than you meant, there may be no record of what was agreed.
• Posting is left to her. She chooses the courier and fills in the forms, and import charges at your end are a separate matter between you and the courier.

Ordering direct

An online service puts you in touch with the people making the outfit, with no relay in between. With us, you send your measurements on the quote form in centimetres or inches, with photos or notes for the design. The design and measurements are agreed with you in writing before cutting, and the written quote includes delivery to your address and any import duties, taxes and customs or courier fees at your destination. Our explainer on delivered duty paid describes what that means when the parcel arrives.

Making takes 5 to 7 working days from approval and full payment, and shipping time is added. Everything is made in Pakistan, and we have no shops or studios abroad. Our custom stitching service sets out each step, and our article on the online darzi explains how this works without a shop visit.

Side by side

For a fuller comparison with a tailor in your own city, see online tailoring vs a tailor nearby. The list below sticks to the two routes through Pakistan, and when you want to try the direct one, ask for a quote.

• Who checks your measurements: with family, the relative and the darzi; ordering direct, they come from you and are confirmed back to you in writing.
• How changes are agreed: with family, by phone through a relative; ordering direct, in writing with the maker before cutting.
• How it reaches you: with family, posted by your relative, with charges at your end handled separately; ordering direct, shipped to you with those charges already in the quote.
• Who to ask if something is wrong: with family, the relative, who then asks the darzi; ordering direct, the business that made it, under its stated fault terms.