Embroidered party wear, made to measure

Pick the event first

The event sets the level of embroidery more than anything else:

• Dinners and dawats: delicate or detailed work, often tone on tone. Our dawat and dinner-party guide covers what guests and hosts tend to wear.
• Dholki and mehndi: colourful, lively and comfortable for sitting on the floor and dancing; detailed work in bright thread suits the mood.
• Wedding events as a guest: statement work in richer colours, balanced so you do not compete with the couple.
• Evening parties: Western pieces such as a dress with an embroidered neckline or cuffs work as well as a kameez.

Cuts that carry embroidery

Some cuts give embroidery more room. A kalidar frock has a fitted bodice and a full skirt, so a worked yoke and a bordered hem frame it beautifully. An angrakha has an overlapping front edge that looks lovely outlined with a fine border. A straight kameez with a wide sharara puts the drama at the hem of both pieces.

For Western party pieces, keep the work where it will be seen: neckline, sleeve hems or a waist detail.

Fabric and light

Evening events mean artificial light and lots of photos. Fabrics with a slight sheen, such as raw silk or cotton silk, show embroidery with depth, and chiffon or organza dupattas catch the light. Our guide to cotton silk and raw silk explains the in-between fabrics many people choose for parties.

Remember comfort. You may sit for hours, so a soft lining behind richer work and enough ease at the waist make a long evening easier.

Practical details for a long evening

Parties often run late, involve a lot of sitting, and end with a drive home. A few practical choices make a richly worked outfit much easier to live in for an evening:

• Keep the inside of the sleeves and underarms free of dense work, so nothing rubs when you move or hug.
• Ask for a soft facing or lining behind worked areas that touch the skin, especially at the neckline.
• Choose a trouser or skirt length that clears the floor in the shoes you will actually wear.
• Keep the back of the kameez flatter if you expect to sit against chairs for hours.
• Plan where your bag strap will sit, and keep raised work away from that shoulder.

Starting from one of our designs

If you would rather adapt something than start from scratch, our embroidered karandi suit is one of our designs, and you can ask for changes such as the neckline, sleeves, length or embroidery level through the customise route. The full range is on the designs page.

Getting a quote

Choose casual party wear on the stitching quote form, add the event and date in your notes, and upload a reference photo. Customers in the USA, for example in Houston, choose a quote in dollars, euros or pounds. Our custom embroidery service explains how the work is planned, and everything is agreed in writing before cutting.