It takes two to shop
Published December 4th, 2006Buying a pair of pants was not easy when I was young. We had to buy cloth and have it stitched by a tailor into something that resembles a pair of pants. To buy the fabric for the pants, we went to a fabric store, where a guy shows you a variety of cloths from which you pick one.
Circumstances have conspired in a way that I had to re-live the experience yesterday. I am the kind of a guy who prefers self-checkout whenever possible to avoid human interaction. You can imagine my discomfort having a salesperson involved in the selection process.
When I entered the cloth store, my expectation was simple. The sales guy would throw some raw material for pants on the table, I keep shaking my head until I find the right one, pay for it and walk out.
When I entered the store, the salesperson asked what kind of pants I was looking for. I told him I wanted something I could wear to work if I ever need to wear formals to work. Without warning, he spread a light-orange colored cloth on the table. Did I mention I don’t work at the circus? I explained to him, “I’d like something dark and plain, just like the way I like my coffee.”
He: You want coffee color pants, sir?
Me: No! I mean, something simple. Plain. Dark gray, preferably.
He (shaking his head disapprovingly): No.
Me: You mean you don’t have dark gray?
He: We do sir, but it is not the latest fashion. You must buy latest fashion, sir.
As prima facie evidence of latest fashion, he pointed me to a poster of Mahesh Babu, a young Telugu hero, wearing some sort of orange pants. I suspect most people in the US do not know Mahesh Babu and hence are blissfully oblivious of the fashion trend he is setting. I am not too compelled by the option. I insisted that as the prospective wearer of the pants, my preference is given priority.
As I went through the stacks of raw material, the salesperson was visibly dismayed at how barbaric my taste was and how ignorant I was about the “latest fashions.” He kept pushing more flamboyant (and more expensive) cloths, which in my opinion are more appropriate for curtains rather than pants. Everything I liked was met with stern disapproval from the salesperson. He kept reminding me “For a man of your good color, you must wear nice colors, sir. You are picking all dull colors.” (”Color” here does not refer to my race. It refers to my skin complexion)
The crowning moment of the shopping experience was when the salesperson suggested, “May be you should bring madam (my wife) along sir?” sounding hopeful that she would talk some sense into me.
After an hour of archaeological digging into the heaps of clothes, I unearthed something we both liked. I liked the cloth and he liked the price.
You don’t even want to know the ordeal at the tailor.
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heheheheh i dislike the salespeople thing too! i feel bad because they literally pull everything off the shelves and then i feel bad for not liking anything thus compelled to buy. luckily my mom is there to knock some sense into me.
also i cannot bargain to save my life.
waiting for the amusing wedding story =)
hehehehe… thats why i choose ready-made over tailor-stitched clothes. more comfortable and best part don’t have to deal with the salespeople too much
!
orange coloured pants!!!!!!
hahaha…even though havent seen u I can just about imagine someone wearing orange pants and walking into office…am gonna die of laughter!
one wud have thouhgt guys had it easy with limited options in clothing..
orange coloured pants!!!!! you must be kidding!!!!! (BTW I have read you post on this topic before
)
But he didn’t let you go empty handed….. so he is a good sales man
!!!!!
LOL. sometimes I find the sales person can be so irritating!
So, finally u have got one.
Hmmm…so why is that u didnt take Madam along?
Dash
Hilaroius!!
Coffee color and referring to skin color for a choice of pair of pants is so typical of India and made me smile:)
Enjoy.
:-) you fashion-fossil how could you leave those lovely orange pants?!?!?
We want to hear about the tailor. Tell tell!
“Did I mention I don’t work at the circus?”
That made me crack up. Another great post, and YES, tell the tailor story!
DNA: When you said orange color, it very well goes with telugu movie heroes who come in different shades. Who knows, you wud be a big hero too when you land in AP:-))
I think actor vijay wears sometimes and may be thaz why the its a fashion.
Its odd for a man to wear a orange color in formal wear. Cowboy shud work thou’. You can take a role in local ads/movies huh. Very funny. Hope you are enjoying your vacation…
me wants tailor story!! tailor story pliss.
sounds like ur trip was sprikled (or IS being sprinkled) with such hilarious lil incidents
have fun! actually blogging about these is even more fun than the ACTUAL experience.. heh..
Funny how tastes differ between people, for the salesperson orange pants is equivalent to the most amazing looking armani suit maybe! btw am waiting for what happened at the tailors’
Did u know orange shirts go well with grey pants … ???
.
:) and another typical Indian salesmen catch phrase is calling every woman customer “shishter” Annoying!
and I know why are you still getting pants stitched
I mean’t to say ” I don’t know why you are still getting pants stitched”
i ditto ‘orchid’ - seriously why? I have huge trouble with tailors back home, they wouldn’t even have cut the material on the deadline day!
Painful and traumatic the whole 4 weeks are…
hehehe, I kinda like all the fuss - madam this will suit you, this colour would look sooo good on you, cute kids, bacchon ke liye bhi designer wear hai - shankar, bacchon ke kapde dikha, saab ke liye kuch dikhaoon ? even though saab isn’t even in the country and b4 u complete the sentence - they will take out a whole lot of ‘latest fashion’ shirts, pants, kurtas-pyjamas to take for saab. And if you say ‘no’ the salesman would say - arrey madam kitne NRIs humare paas se leke US jaate aur aapko pasand nahi ? they would start taking out all plain short kurtas and insist that saab can wear those with jeans etc etc etc…oh, how I miss that when I go shopping here
Weird ??
sorry for writing a whole post here instead of a comment
I just love shopping in Hyderabad!!
I do want to know about the tailor experience…tell me tell me
Orchid: I think few ppl’ prefer to get stitched for perfect fit. Here even with ready to wear pants if you have to cut it short or make the length short it costs more right.
i think orange is so your color
.. you know being in the good color of Mahi n all 
yes, we do — want the tailor story, i mean.
now, i like shopping but your experience with the “helpful” salesperson would make me want to run screaming too!
ha, ha…at least you didnt have to deal with being told that your life was incomplete without a “rose pink” chiffon salwar suit stiched all over with gold chamkis…with your mother agreeing in the background!!!
Awesome post, blog-hopped here. Will definitely visit regularly.
Good God! Orange pants? And here I was thinking that we only had to bear with that awful colour once a year during the St. Mary’s feast.
hehe.. orange.. thats interesting.. wonder how wd u look like.. goin to office in Orange trousers..
Howdy ?
Tsk tsk. When you could be resplendant in yellow and red. Some men have no fashion sense! Nice blog. Gonna be a regular.
orange is a weird colour esp in the making of a pair of pants… i guess the tailor lacks sense of colours… i hate pants with light colours… colurs such as dark grey, navy blue , black would be nice:)
Orange? were they like a lá MC Hammerish? or were they like tailored orange pants…
I need a visual….
Orange wouldn’t be half bad here in Puerto Rico..they’d make you extremely visible as a pedestrian crossing at midnight…and it would work wonders for all those co-workers who are still half asleep after the coffee break….
::makes mental note to buy orange fabric::
So you are having a good time shopping. Enjoy.
wow! pat urself on your back from my side:) u managed to keep ur cool around such a salesperson???? wow!I would’ve ran away from that shop or pulled his hair out!:p somehow i can never tolerate someone peeping over my shoulder while I shop! as soon as i enter a shop I tell them i need to see stuff alone without ANY assistance in a little tough tone:) that does the work and they leave me alone to do my shopping peacefuly:)
Yup, I remember those days of going shopping where I had to fight both the salesperson and my mom to get the clothes I wanted.
Orange colored pants ?? Ugh !!
You mean, u did not buy the stylish orange pants despite the sage advice of the shopkeeper?!! No fashion sense whatsoever. Tsk, tsk…
;-)
yes, we do want to know about tailor. ahahahahaah one particular friends episode comes to mind.
yes, we do want to know about tailor. ahahahahaah one particular friends episode episode comes to mind
and i suck at html
http://www.tv.com/friends/the-one-with-rosss-new-girlfriend/episode/369/recap.html
I’m as far from fashion conscious as one can get, but even I know orange pants can not be a good idea.
so pelli ayipoyindaa.. ee post naaku nacchindi..
wow… what fashion conscious sales guy wonder what color he was wearing. btw waiting for the wedding story/ in law episodes and other india episodes. including the tailor’s
Ha,the joys of shopping in India.I do miss that after coming out of India, though when I was back there I hated those nauseatingly over enthusiastic salesmen.Orange pants?haha is it really a fashion trend there now?Thought they went out of style with Govinda!the horror!!!
Glad you made through the journey and the wedding.Enjoy the stay and get us all the best stories!:)
“After an hour of archaeological digging into the heaps of clothes, I unearthed something we both liked.
Good god, nice to know you at last did find something cater to your liking & escaped the ordeal of trying on those flashy orange pants ..hee hee.
“You don’t even want to know the ordeal at the tailor.”
Even if it takes long enough to find something that catches your fancy ,I would say getting the tailor do his job is yet another ordeal intself .
Hahaa…
the great shopping disaster!
loved ur blog..
Why put yourse;f through this - go for readymade pants, I say
Bookworm:
they literally pull everything off the shelves and then i feel bad for not liking anything thus compelled to buy
I think they deliberately inculcate such guilt in us to make us buy! I go through similar guilt if I didn’t buy anything.
also i cannot bargain to save my life.
You are sounding more and more like me! I can’t bargain at all.
hkarthi:
thats why i choose ready-made over tailor-stitched clothes.
I would’ve preferred that too. But couldnt find any good ready made stuff in Hyderabad in my limited shopping time. I had to go with tailor made.
Ekta:
There are a certain professions that orange pants may be acceptable, but I am not in any of those professions 
even though havent seen u I can just about imagine someone wearing orange pants and walking into office…am gonna die of laughter!
I promise you that it wouldn’t be any less funny even if had seen me
Di:
one wud have thouhgt guys had it easy with limited options in clothing..
Not any more! In India the choices for men are quite wide ranging… including bell-bottoms! I am not kidding!
rooma:
!!!!!
But he didn’t let you go empty handed….. so he is a good sales man
Either he is a good salesman or I am a bad shopper for letting him sell me something. The one I picked up is not that bad though
Dr@ma Div@:
LOL. sometimes I find the sales person can be so irritating!
Kalpana:
So, finally u have got one.
Yes. As I said, I had to. I have no other choice. I had to like one and get it stiched.
Dash:
Actually, she was busy dong her own shopping 
Hmmm…so why is that u didnt take Madam along?
Because I want get my shopping done in less than 12 hours
Asha:
And we all know how India is obsessed with skin color!
Coffee color and referring to skin color for a choice of pair of pants is so typical of India
Ya! They have interesting names for colors, “orange color”, “wine color”, “pista color”
Diligent Candy:
:-) you fashion-fossil
LOL! Good one.
We want to hear about the tailor. Tell tell!
Soon, hopefully
gnightgirl:
That made me crack up. Another great post
Thanks so much!
YES, tell the tailor story!
:) I hope to get to it soon
priya:
But for some reason these heros insist on wearing bright colored pants and suits, orange, yellow, light-green!
When you said orange color, it very well goes with telugu movie heroes who come in different shades
I don’t think so
I think actor vijay wears sometimes and may be thaz why the its a fashion.
Boy, you know more about these actors than I do! I don’t know any of these new actors. I will find out who this Vijay guy is.
Hope you are enjoying your vacation…
Thoroughly! Nothing beats staying home and eating mom’s food
Sneha:
me wants tailor story!! tailor story pliss.
As soon as I can get to it.
sounds like ur trip was sprikled (or IS being sprinkled) with such hilarious lil incidents
Yes, the sprinkling is still going on. Either all kinds of weird things happen to me or I am so weird that normal things look weird to me. So yes, my trip (life in general) if full these incidents!
actually blogging about these is even more fun than the ACTUAL experience.. heh..
LOL. So true.
Life Lover:
for the salesperson orange pants is equivalent to the most amazing looking armani suit
That is very true. The guy just couldn’t understand why I was not choosing those amazing looking latest fashions!
Seashells:
Did u know orange shirts go well with grey pants … ???
ROFL. Glad that sales guy didn’t think of that!
Orchid:
another typical Indian salesmen catch phrase is calling every woman customer “shishter” Annoying!
Hahaha. You will want to be called “sister” when they start calling you “aunty”
I don’t know why you are still getting pants stitched
It’s a long story. (Ok, it’s not a long story but my wife will kill me if I say it in public).
rads:
The ready-made stuff in my home town is so bad.. it’s not even fit for Telugu heros 
seriously why?
Seriously, I had not choice
I have huge trouble with tailors back home, they wouldn’t even have cut the material on the deadline day!
Now tailors are a whole different story! The standard excuse I used to get when I was young, “The pants went for ironing. Will be back tomorrow!”
Talking about tailors and women.. how much I wanted to be a ladies tailor!
NZ:
shankar, bacchon ke kapde dikha,
LOL! So typical
arrey madam kitne NRIs humare paas se leke US jaate aur aapko pasand nahi ?
haha
sorry for writing a whole post here instead of a comment
Please please write a post! What you wrote is so hilarious it deserves it’s own post… I beg you, write it as a post in your blog, your readers will love it.
I just love shopping in Hyderabad!!
Wait a minute.. from your blog I never got the impression that you got anything to do with Andhra. What is the connection?
La vida Loca:
I do want to know about the tailor experience…tell me tell me
I never knew people love tailors so much! I will try to write it up.
priya:
Orchid: I think few ppl’ prefer to get stitched for perfect fit.
Some people do. But in my case, it’s not the fit that made me sink so low, pretty much everything about the ready-made pants in our town was despicable!
Isha Reddy:
i think orange is so your color
Just because my blog template has orange in it, it’s not fair to classify as orange-wearer!
you know being in the good color of Mahi n all
You are not a fan of *Mahi* are you?
Mahi, huh. Since when are you two on pet-name basis?
si:
yes, we do — want the tailor story, i mean.
Boy, people really do love tailos!
now, i like shopping but your experience with the “helpful” salesperson
Ya, that kind of shopping we do with and with out a salesperson are completely differnt experiences! Funny part is, in the US I can’t find a salesperson even if I wanted one
magicrna:
Welcome!
with your mother agreeing in the background!!!
LOL! I am glad I didn’t take my dad or mom along! For some reason they all think we don’t know how to shop for ourselves!
blog-hopped here
Glad you landed here
The Agony Aunt:
once a year during the St. Mary’s feast.
Do you have to *wear* orange for the feast? Saying it and not sharing your pics in Orange is not fair
Apy:
wonder how wd u look like.. goin to office in Orange trousers..
More important question is, how would my colleagues rolling on the floor.
iz:
Welcome to the blog!
Some men have no fashion sense!
You sound like my wife
my life….:
orange is a weird colour esp in the making of a pair of pants…
Orange is not a good for any garmet worn by anybody who is more than 4 years old
colurs such as dark grey, navy blue , black would be nice:)
Me too. I never wear anything other than dark blue to work.. I mean jeans
Mary Poppins:
were they like a lá MC Hammerish?
Haha. Possibly. The tailor seemed determined to give them the MC Hammer shape too!
extremely visible as a pedestrian crossing at midnight…
Had the salesperson thought of this, he would use this as another selling point!
::makes mental note to buy orange fabric::
If anybody can pull off Orange pants, it would be a tough chica like you!
Shreemoyee:
So you are having a good time shopping.
Not sure which part of the story made you use “shopping” and “good time” in the same sentense. In general, yes. I am having a great time.
Yashita:
u managed to keep ur cool around such a salesperson????
Well, you see, this is the only good store in our town. If I don’t have a new pants and shirt to wear before my brother-in-laws wedding, the consequences are dire. So I had no choice otherwise I would’ve done the same thing as you.
I tell them i need to see stuff alone without ANY assistance in a little tough tone:)
And that works! Damn, I should’ve know this before!
Swapna:
I had to fight both the salesperson and my mom to get the clothes I wanted
You too!? I had to go through the same thing when I was young. For some reason my dad and the salesperson were always on the same side.
Vani:
No fashion sense whatsoever. Tsk, tsk…
He he he. Thank you for the kind words. I mean they are kind when compared with my wife’s opinion of my fashion sense
The_Girl_From_Ipanema:
yes, we do want to know about tailor.
Lot of interest in the tailor story from people… let me tell you up front, there was not cupping
Thanks for the Friends link. It was a funny episode. Remember Ross’s line? “Yes, it’s normal…. in the prison” LOL!
and i suck at html
No it’s the blogger.com that sucks at links
Alan:
I’m as far from fashion conscious as one can get,
I am right next to you! But male fashion is so different in India!
Sush
so pelli ayipoyindaa..
ledu inka. 12th na. mee pelli preparations baaga jarugutunnaaya?
itchingtowrite:
what fashion conscious sales guy wonder what color he was wearing.
Dman, I didn’t think of that! He was wearing normal clothes. Well, if I had asked him about it, he would’ve said it was becaus he was older.
btw waiting for the wedding story/ in law episodes and other india episodes. including the tailor’s
:) Thank you for the enouragement! Will write a few more stories soon.
Fuzzylogic:
I hated those nauseatingly over enthusiastic salesmen.
Yep! They pressure you so much!
Orange pants?haha is it really a fashion trend there now?
Telugu heroes are trying to start a trend I guess.
Glad you made through the journey and the wedding.Enjoy the stay and get us all the best stories!:)
Thank you. It’s been a wonderful and relaxing vacation so far. Will write up more stories soon
Lera:
Good god, nice to know you at last did find something cater to your liking
More importantly, to the salespersons liking
getting the tailor do his job is yet another ordeal intself .
You are absolutely right! All planets have to align to get a good pants made
Canary:
Welcome!
the great shopping disaster!
For some reason, the above line seems to describe my shopping experience
loved ur blog..
Glad you liked it!
Rohini:
Having pants made was my last resort 
Why put yourse;f through this - go for readymade pants, I say
The problem is, ready-made pants in my town are not made for humans
heheheee…
So now all guys back home are wearing orange pants? Damn.. I need to go home just so that I can point and laugh..
Take pics plzzzzzz
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
God no!!! i’ll die before i’m caught in orange pants Mary’s feast or otherwise!
LOL….I cant wait to read about the “ordeal at the tailor”
dude!! you totally missed out on a pair of wickedly twisted orange pants…why??
:D
…you so need the Madam to come shop with you.
now you’ve broken the salesperson’s heart! next you are going to break the tailor’s heart. bet all your relatives are already nodding their heads sideways - wondering what ‘Amrika’ did to you. And did you pay by credit card? and did they tell you - 5% extra for credit card payments?
Orange pants=Govinda:-)
Few years back I got pants & shirts stitched for hubby.. But thank God I didn’t have to go through alot choosing & getting them stitched even though he wasn’t there with me..
Enjoy ur trip and these incidents will bring a smile on ur face even years from now:-)
Ha haha hha haha…
Maybe next time you’ll say that you want to buy cloth for the trousers of your boss who you really hate. I’m sure the salesperson will find exactly what you are looking for
Hope you are enjoying your vacation, including the trip to the tailor.Orange colored pants?
I want to know what happened at the tailor- next post maybe?
Hey come on…Orange is the color of flame, burning passion and all that. Do not deride the BJP, RSS, VHP et al!
this somehow reminds me of a Friends/Seinfeld/Everybody Loves Raymond episode… since your life is turning into a sitcom, you should start shopping for producers once you get back to Cali!!
ooooooooh, you’re back! so good to have you in the blogosphere again! you were missed :0)
and u have blogged from India? awwwww I just came here after a long time and I see this post!
** I liked the cloth and he liked the price.
LOL its always the case isnt it. They somehow sell u the expensive stuff.
Missing ya…
Keshi.
oh yes, we do want to know about the ordeal at the tailor!
And the best sentence of the post? Curtains rather than pants..
O yes we want to know…
And all the while, guess what was there in my mind. Mr. Bean in Love Actually!!!!!!!
*Orange should not be worn on any garment by those over 4 years of age*
I object!!! Most vehemently!!!
i think ur the second funny indian guy i have seen after russell peters
So you got a lesson now.Next time if you want to buy cloth take your wife with you or buy ready-made pants instead.
want more posts.
quick. quick
call fashion these days, woe to us all. haha. Someone needs to inform these people that our idea is to get compliments not get stared at hey! I can totally understand your ordeal! People do the same thing with saris. I’ve learn to tell them up front that it’s ugly and that my taste is better than that and that if this is what people (maybe that is what they consider a compliment!). Anyway, nice to know you had a good trip. And I hope your tailored pants turned out okay.
I think you’re a damn nut
who should be shot on sight.
Nice one…
maybe you should turn off anonymous posts too. (i can say that since I’M now a “blogger”.)
LOL… I am rolling with laughter… ur plight I admit (though rather shamefully) brings a smile to my face…. and I hope your pocket feels lighter and “Madam” is happy with ur choice as well
//You don’t even want to know
the ordeal at the tailor.
Yes, we do. BTW, 2 mins of pure humor. Good one !!!
Cheers !
where are u? happy new year
toooo good!!!
i really liked the previous post.
the inheriting bro-in-law part. LOL
Ah, the art of compromise….I’m glad you got your pants eventually. I have very little patience for shopping myself.
Happy new year:-)
Happy new year!I guess you are still enjoying your vacation!
HappY New Year, TDNA! Are you still in India? If so, I envy you guys so much coz I’ve never been to Indian longer than 3 weeks!
Have a wonderful 2007!
hey Pants-shopper HAPPY NEW YEAR!
When r u comin bakk? Enough of that holiday, Im missin ya too much!
Keshi.
why have u dissappeared off the face of the planet Blogosphere
dont u care for us anymore??!
New yr yaar!!!Come back now..
Have great yr ahead
we know u came back 2 weeks back;-) drop a line or 2:-)
Exactly the kind of thing I go through at a shop.
One guy even went to the extent of asking me, “why you donot want to wear the latest fashion? you donot look so old!”
Even for the stiched ones, I avoid going to the shops where sales people wouldnt disturb you unless you ask for some help.
LOLZZ
even i hate sales ppl. telling me wat to do and wat not to do at every corner!