What you see - Located opposite the Verb School of Dance and Thinkfilm, this garment shop is in the basement of an apartment building in Chennai. Enter through the tiny grilled black gate that leads straight to the marble stairs and you see a shop with a glass door and a simple wooden frame. The flooring inside has marble, with small hurricane lamps mounted on the white walls here and there. The ventilators overhead are covered by drapes in a plethora of colors.
There is a small glass enclosure to one side of the shop that is used when the owner Vishnupreetam, a former tennis player, and her sister Padmapreetam are present. Having done a fashion designing course, both of them know all about designing unique clothes.
This glass enclosure is where measurements are taken and patterns are chosen. This too has a functional full glass partition, so that the whole shop is in full view. They have a trial room enclosed in plywood.
Readymades made at their own workshop in all the colors of the rainbow, with embellishments and hand embroidery and the odd machine embroidered one, greet you, from hangers along the wall. A sales lady is present at any time to assist you.
What you get – Geniee mostly has clothes for women and kids apart from some accessories and men’s shirts. Ladies’ kurtis (Rs.400), salwar kameez (Rs.650 to Rs.1500 or more) and materials are all available. They even have girls’ clothes like dresses (Rs. 200-300), individual and mix and match tops and skirts, and salwar kameez for six year olds in chiffon and crepe fabrics, with the odd cotton ones. They have long skirts too and spaghetti strap cocktail dresses with embellishments that cost around Rs. 250 and above.
We also spotted earrings, bangles and necklace sets in artificial jewelry that blend well with the colorful outfits here. The prices of these are Rs. 40 and above for earrings, Rs. 50 and above for bangles and bracelets and Rs. 120 to Rs. 300 for the necklace sets. You may even find some embroidered men’s shirts for Rs. 300 or so.
Tailoring facility is also available here. They charge Rs. 100 for stitching an ordinary blouse and Rs. 200 for one with lining. Patterns and embroidery costs are extra. However, they do not take up the tailoring of ordinary cotton or two by two blouses unless it is for a regular customer. Their cut cholis cost Rs. 300 and above.
They also stitch salwar kameez, dresses and even party frocks for little ones that range from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1,000 depending on the person’s budget. Ladies’ handbags can also be made at Rs.200 and above.
Vishnupreetam tells MetroMela that many of her clients are NRIs, and mainly from the USA. They in fact used to export their garments abroad on a large scale, but have now scaled it down to cater to the domestic market too.
Our verdict - If bling and kitsch is your cup of tea and you love colors and sequins, then this is your kind of place. Besides, you can always get things tailored to your tastes as they have the facility attached.
Anytime between - 10.45 AM - 8.15 PM
Posted on: Nov 13, 2008
