Tanjore NYC: Original Indian fashions for women on the Upper East Side

Some call New York City the melting pot, others call it a tossed salad. I agree with “the others.” There are people of many cultures living in the five boroughs, but we don’t all “melt” into a single culture. Instead, we live side by side as neighbors, friends and coworkers. We adopt each other’s phrases and gestures, share the food and drink of our native countries, and celebrate our ethnic roots in holidays, parades and street fairs every weekend.

Purple Kurta

As a student majoring in Advertising and Marketing Communications at FIT,  I've been surrounded by fashion-forward people. In this creative environment, I became interested in the art of fashion. To me, fashion is more than wearing the latest Versace dress or Louis Vuitton shoes. It's more of an art, where a person uses their imagination and creativity to invent different paintings, only the outcome is an outfit. The glamorous designer names are nice to wear, but I feel as though most of us believe that fashion is only what designers make & sell.  Growing up in Westchester away from my native country of Mexico, my mother told me about our culture and how our people dressed many centuries ago. She shared stories of how my grandmother made their clothes using her own imagination and creativity, not patterns bought from the store.

Outfit on display

As a new blogger writing about ethnic fashions in NYC, I knew I had to move away from popular brands and look at authentic ethnic shops outside the mainstream. I decided to start with a trip to an Indian clothing shop: it’s the first culture that comes to mind when I think of ‘ethnic fashion’. Tanjore NYC, a small shop on the Upper East Side, which I found on Google, turned out to be a lucky find.

On my visit I was greeted by Angie, a stylist and a neighbor of the owner, Neeta Sharda, who is home caring for her new baby. “Everything here is made by hand,” Angie said, as she showed me where the dresses and shirts were racked in the shop. The full line, which also includes scarves, hats, jewelry and purses, are all Mrs. Sharda’s designs and manufactured in small runs by workshops in Kashmir. Along with her husband and partner, Sid, Tanjore produces special orders for the Donna Karan and Bergdorf Goodman private labels.

By the entrance there was only one outfit on display, which might discourage some shoppers who are on the run, but careful looking can pay off for a woman who wants to add something unique to her wardrobe. I started with a rack of different colored tunics, a mix of solids and patterns bundled together, and slowly looked through them one by one.

Hand-stitched

I love purple, so I let my favorite color pull me through the racks. For me, purple is playful and young, yet peaceful and elegant. The tunic shown here (priced at $69) is a Kurta of embroidered flowers with rhinestones, sewn on individually. A Kurta is a collarless loose shirt worn in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and other countries. The rhinestones, as Angie explained, will be easy to repair if one comes off.  A break in the stitching will not come unraveled as machine--made designs do.

A woman in India wears the Kurta with a top underneath to conceal her body, and styles it with pants or a skirt. But here in NYC, you can wear it with dark jeans or leggings. Small boots, flats or even sandals will work, if the weather is nice!

The semi-sheer Kurta shown to the left is a bit more revealing than the purple one, but the print gives some coverage and is completely appropriate for a nice spring or summer day. Priced at $89, this tunic is long and has tiny glass beads and rhinestones at the waist.

These hand-sewn garments can be laundered by machine at home, but carefully, in a lingerie bag to  protect rhinestones and any other delicate designs as they tumble in the machine. Then hand dry. Do not put them in the dryer.

I must also share with all of you this silk scarf, which I bought for $39. It isn’t purple, although I did pick up a purple one first. But I had to place it down and venture onto a new color I didn’t have. After all, I’m on a mission to learn more ethnic fashion. I have to step out of my fashion box. What culture will I explore next?  African, Indonesian, Peruvian? I have to ask my fashion friends and women whose clothes I admire.  Where will this ethnic fashion journey take me to?  I hope you’ll ‘follow’ me on Google or Bloglovin’.

You might not notice the shop if you aren’t looking for it, so I’ve included a photo here.

Tanjore NYC
Location: 1322/A 3rd Avenue (between 75th and 76th streets), New York, NY 10021
Booth at Grand Central Holiday Fair in Vanderbilt Hall, Nov 14-Dec 24, closed Thanksgiving Day
Website: http://www.tanjorenyc.com/New-York/