India Fabric Imports

The super-​kind owners of the store helped me pick out the most gorgeous outfits for an Indian wedding. I was clueless and they gave me great advise at great prices. Everyone at the wedding complimented my outfits :)

First of all, I don’t understand why people are giving such high ratings and reviews to the shop owner. For me, he is not honest with the price at all. The dresses have absolutely no price tag, which is very suspicious to me at the beginning and later on, I am proved to be right when he charged me $ 110 for a piece of Salwar Kurta, along with a set of bangles ($ 15) and a set of earring and necklace ($ 25). I totally trusted him at the first place due to his good «reputation», and his «sincere» promise of a reasonable price, so of course I was shocked when he came up with «Mam, it is $ 150 for you» when I asked for payment at the end. Are you kidding me??? The dress is priced at $ 75 in the other store even without discount and the bangles have such poor quality that when I opened the backage, the glimmering powders fell off immediately. Upon that, he kept urging me to make a payment «cash or credit card» for many times, and broke down the price only when I asked. After some negotiation, he agreed to charge me $ 110 allot tail and acclaimed that he had given me the «best «deal». I ended up paying for the items since his service was sort of courteous. But now when I looked at those stuff again, I really regret of letting him make humongous profits out of me and I am thinking of returning those items. Please don’t fall into his trap of courtesy, and don’t trust his empty promise of giving discount, ask for the price at the first place and bargain hard! I definitely will not refer this store to my friends ever!

Going to a Bollywood themed party this coming Tuesday, so decided to find authentic clothes to wear. This shop happened to be a block from another shop that was on my list. Glad we stopped in. We spent some time perusing all the options (men and women) and finally settled on two outfits consisting of tunic, pants, scarf for $ 49.99 each. (Pics forthcoming.)
Before choosing outfits: The owner measured each of our chests before helping us. He recommended a few selections and urged us to try them on. Note: only one dressing room.
Sizing: The tunics are supposed to be roomy and comfortable but…
He picked out a tunic for J that was too large (sleeves past his fingertips and shoulder line past shoulder) and insisted that it was «normal». We disagreed and found a tunic that was 2 sizes smaller and fit J perfectly, so we bought that one.
Price: Prices are not written on the tags, which I find a bit suspicious. However, if you ask the owner, he will tell you. I told him up front that we were looking for costumes for a Bollywood themed party and didn’t want to spend too much money. Most of the things we tried on were either $ 49.99 or $ 59.99. The owner told me that the tunic J tried on last (not the one suggested) was $ 59.99. I asked him why it was $ 10 more than the other one (since no noticeable difference in quality or design) and he said, for us, first time discount, $ 10 off. Towards the end, when I told the owner that we wanted to buy the outfit for J but I would think about mine (translation = go to other shops), the owner, had quoted me $ 59.99 for my outfit, told me, «I can not let you go out of this store without an outfit. For you, even though we won’t make any money, $ 10 off as well, so $ 49.99).
Hints: inspect the fabric carefully before buying — I saw stains on the inside of J’s pants. At first the owner, said, that is the inside of the pants and I turned the pants over and I could still see the stain, so the owner switched them for another pair. Also, on J’s tunic, there are black marks near the buttons but when the tunic is buttoned up, you can’t see them. There was a slight smudge on my fuchsia tunic and all the owner said was «indian manufacturing — what can you do?» You can see the stitching where the sleeves were sewn to the back (that’s one cool thing, you can get sleeves sewn on if desired) and on the pants, you can see the stitching around the hips). Plus, my scarf has a «rough» unfinished edge and the owner told me that it was b/​c it was already stitched, but if so, then why is the end fraying?
Visual impact: the embroidery/​jewels on the tunics are eye catching. In the future, we could wear these outfits to an Indian wedding or party.
Did we get a good deal? At Gap on Bay Street, an indian patterned cotton tunic was selling for $ 39 or $ 49, so yes, I believe we got a deal pending how they do over time.

LOVE THIS PLACE!!! very small establishment but i was in need of indian fabric to make some pillow cases. Nice variety of silks, kurtas, and wall posters. I love it… i will be back for more fabric! The Owners are very nice and extremely helpful.

This small store along University Ave is a good place to start if you’re looking for Indian textiles, saris, shawls or kurtas and don’t want to have to drive to find it. India Fabric Imports is tightly packed with saris, shawls, kurtas, ribbons, scraps — so crowded that not even the proprietors are quite sure what they have or where it is. I came in looking for a specific shawl that a friend of mine had described for me, and one of the proprietors spent quite a bit of time helping me find it. When another group of people came in looking for a kurta, the proprietors were just as nice to them — and didn’t stop looking for my shawl. After we finally found my shawl, we spent some time more chatting about Calcutta, tea, and the legacy of the British Empire. I’m sure there are larger and better stocked stores — but this place has nice people and nice fabric within walking distance of the downtown Berkeley BART stop.