Custom vs ready-made abaya: which should you buy?

Side by side

Here is how the two compare on the points that usually settle it.

• Fit: a ready-made abaya is cut to a size chart, often a letter size or a length number, with enough ease to suit many bodies. A custom one is cut to your bust, hips, shoulder and arm, or copied from an abaya you already like. Abaya size guides vs made to measure explains where the charts fall short.
• Length: ready-made comes in set lengths, so you take it up or live with it. Custom is cut to your shoulder-to-floor length in your own shoes.
• Shoulders and sleeves: the usual compromise on a shop abaya, because a length size says nothing about them. On a custom abaya, both follow your numbers.
• Choice of design: ready-made is whatever the shop stocks this season. Custom is any of our 100 designs, or your own photo or sketch.
• Colour and embroidery: ready-made is sold as it is. Custom means any design in any colour, agreed in the quote, with hand, machine or mixed embroidery, and a name or initials if you want them.
• Time: ready-made is today in a shop, or as fast as the courier. Custom takes 5 to 7 working days of making after the quote is approved and paid, then shipping, which varies by destination.
• Price: ready-made prices vary widely. Our collection starts from £80 with a matching scarf, the same in a standard size or made to measure, with delivery and import charges added in the written quote.
• Returns: shops usually take change-of-mind returns within their own rules. A custom abaya has none, because it is made for one person; if it does not match what was agreed, we correct or remake it.
• Trying on: easy in a shop. With us there is nothing to try on before it is made, which is why every detail is agreed in writing first.

When a custom abaya is worth it

Custom earns the wait when the problem is your proportions rather than the shop’s stock. These are the situations where a size chart works against you.

• Your height is outside standard lengths. Petite women find hems pooling and sleeves covering their hands; tall women find hems at the ankle and cuffs halfway up the forearm. See petite abayas and abayas for tall women.
• Broad shoulders or long arms. A ready-made abaya that is right in length can still pull across the back or stop short of the wrist. Shoulder width and sleeve length are two of the numbers we cut to.
• Plus size. You need room at the bust, hips and upper arm without the abaya being oversized everywhere else. Plus-size abayas made to measure lists what to send.
• A specific design, colour or embroidery. Perhaps you like the cut of the Rosebud kimono abaya but want it in navy, or the palm fronds of the Palm Arc bisht abaya worked by hand. Those are ordinary requests on a custom order.
• A name or initials. Names, initials and monograms can be embroidered, with placement, size and thread agreed in the quote. See initials on an abaya.

What a custom abaya asks of you

A custom abaya is not a shop purchase that takes longer. It asks for a few things up front, and you should know them before you start.

• Measurements. Body measurements, or measurements taken from a garment that fits you well, in centimetres or inches, each labelled body or garment. The size guide shows how to take them.
• Planning. Making takes 5 to 7 working days once the quote is approved and paid in full, and shipping time comes on top. For Eid or a wedding, order with a comfortable margin.
• Decisions in writing. Before anything is cut, the measurements and every design detail are agreed in writing. This is design approval: a written summary, not a sketch or mock-up.
• Payment in advance. The full amount is paid before making starts, by bank transfer, Wise or a card payment link.
• No change-of-mind returns. If the abaya does not match the agreed measurements or design, tell us within seven days of delivery and we correct or remake it without charge for the work; you pay the postage both ways. If it matches and you have simply changed your mind, it stays with you.

The middle way: one of our designs, with your changes

If a fully custom design feels like a leap, start from one of our 100 designs. The shape, motif and placement are already worked out, the price is on the page, and you still get your own measurements and your pick of nida, crepe or chiffon. The images on each design page are design previews, rendered rather than photographed, so read the description of where the embroidery sits as well as looking at the picture.

Then change what you want changed: a different colour, a lining, three-quarter sleeves, an ankle-length hem or embroidery on the cuffs only. Write the changes on the customise form and we confirm each one in your written quote. The Wave tulip abaya, deep teal with gold and teal waves in a spray over one shoulder, is a good base if you like one strong focal point. You can browse every shape on the custom abaya page.

Ordering from the UK or the Gulf

We have no shops or studios outside Pakistan, so there is nowhere to try a custom abaya on before it is made; that is the trade you make for the fit. In return, the written quote includes delivery to your door and any import charges, so the total you approve is the total you pay. There is more for the UK, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

If price is the deciding question, how much a custom abaya costs sets out the tiers, and the custom abaya checklist lists what to send when you are ready.