Since the last three years, I have been using khadi cotton material for my shirts and trousers, and I am quite happy with the results. I commute in Bombay’s suburban trains and have experienced my khadi-based trousers and shirts help reduce significantly the discomfort in muggy and hot train compartments. Below I share a formal review of khadi cotton.
It is not exactly in vogue but definitely has the potential to fire the imagination of ecologically sensitive or practically-oriented consumers. Hand-spun and hand-woven cotton fabric, or otherwise popularly known as Khadi fabric, is presently not a hot-selling item as far as office wear or formal wear is concerned. Objectively speaking, it is the lack of marketing of Khadi-cotton as a hep and stylish brand that is causing its absence from fashion-conscious corporate managers. In no small measure is also the association of Khadi fabric with politicians and government bureaucrats that puts off many. But what the heck, their khadi attire is mainly in kurta-pajama and sarees, whereas we, the aam janata, can use khadi cotton fabric in trendy and colourful shirts, trousers and dresses.
When current trendy designs and elegant colours are applied to Khadi-cotton fabric the results are so rewarding that it can open up closed minds. In the world of fashion designers who encompass in their work all kinds of wear including informal wear, party wear, ethnic wear and formal wear are very impressed with the results they get when they experiment with Khadi-cotton fabric. Even in formal wear, Khadi-cotton fabric is elegant, understated and classy and works very well in workplaces where you would want to be very relaxed in your corporate attire.
Formal trousers tailor-made from Khadi-cotton fabric and formal Khadi-cotton shirts either tailor-made or ready-made are the options before men. Women, for whom formal wear includes the traditional churidaar-kurta attire, have more options. Considering our hot weather Khadi-cotton fabric is a viable option; in fact, world over, hand-woven fabrics are also a fashion statement.
Khadi-cotton is the coolest fabric one can get since the hand-woven cotton cloth allows easy flow of air through the fabric. Basically, the fabric breathes out the body heat, making the wearer more comfortable. In polyester-based attire the petroleum-viscose element in the fabric blocks the body heat from escaping making the wearer feel hot and uncomfortable.
Government-funded Khadi Gram Udyog Bhavan’s Khadi Bhandar line of retail stores all over the country are the most easily accessible stores to purchase Khadi cotton fabric material that can then be stitched to your individual style from your preferred tailor. Boutiques and popular stores are the other places where you can go to buy Khadi-cotton fabric but their stuff is not always authentic in terms of the fabric being really khadi cotton-based.
A nice colour Khadi-cotton material for a trouser will cost between Rs 100 and Rs 200 per metre. For 3-4 metres you will pay upto Rs 300-800 and add your tailor’s charge of Rs 200-350, your trouser will cost you between Rs 500 and Rs 1, 150. Costs for a good-design and nice-colour Khadi-cotton shirt would be between Rs 300 and Rs 600. For women, at a range of Rs 100-175 a metre, the cost for a churidaar-kurta attire using 6-7 metres and factoring in tailor charges would be between Rs 800 and Rs 1, 300.
Using Khadi-cotton you avoid petroleum-made polyester fabric and so you can also implement your sensitivity towards ecology every day in your workplace and home. Also, since Khadi means hand-woven you also encourage self-employment opportunities for skilled artisans and workers across rural India.