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Buying an Anarkali from India when you live abroad
An Anarkali is a shape rather than a craft, which changes entirely what you should be checking before you pay.
Yes — you can buy anarkali suits from Indian shops even if they do not deliver to your country. India Rabbit gives you a free delivery address in India. You order to that address as an ordinary domestic customer, we receive and hold the parcel free for 30 days, combine it with anything else you buy, and forward the lot to you.
Why this is hard to buy where you are
Every other garment on this site is a regional craft with a place attached to it. The Anarkali is a silhouette — fitted bodice, long flared kameez — made everywhere from Surat to Delhi, and sold at every price from a few hundred rupees to several lakh. There is no origin to verify, so the only questions that matter are what it is made of and how the flare is built. Abroad you get one importer's guess at those. In India you get the whole ladder and the specification to go with it.
Where to buy it
| Shop | What they are good for |
|---|---|
| Utsav Fashion | Far and away the deepest catalogue, filterable by price. The volume option rather than a curated one, trading since 2003. |
| Biba | High-street label with its own Anarkali lines. Predictable sizing and repeatable stock, which matters if you are buying a size unseen. |
| Aza Fashions | Multi-designer boutique selling labelled designer pieces rather than house brand goods. |
| Kalki Fashion | Occasion and bridal skewed, with a real store network behind the online range. If any of these cannot deliver to your country, your Indian address makes it a domestic order. |
International policies differ between these sellers and change without notice. Ordering to your India Rabbit address keeps it a domestic sale and usually avoids the overseas surcharge as well.
What to check before you order
- Read the stated composition, never the product name. Most Anarkalis sold as silk are polyester georgette or art silk, and the listing will say so further down even when the title does not.
- Genuine flare comes from panelled or kalidar cutting. Cheap versions get their volume from stiff synthetic lining that collapses the first time it is washed, and no photograph will show you which you are buying.
- Check what the lining is and whether the hem is faced. At any given price that is the real quality difference, and it is the part that decides whether the garment still hangs properly in two years.
- Most Anarkalis are sold as a set, but what is in the set varies. Confirm whether the dupatta and the bottom are included before comparing two prices.
- Work from the measurement chart rather than the size label. Indian sizing runs smaller than European, British or American, and a fitted bodice is the least forgiving place to guess.
Weight, customs and getting it here intact
Weight
Nobody publishes a figure for this category and the honest answer is that it varies more than almost anything else we ship. An unlined cotton Anarkali is light; a lined, embellished occasion piece is several times that. Ask the seller for a weight before you buy anything heavily worked, and put that number into the calculator.
Volume
The flare is mostly air, so this is a category where volumetric weight can decide the price rather than the scale. We repack out of the shop box and compress what compresses safely, which usually takes a parcel down a band.
Customs
Mid-market Anarkalis often sit under the threshold where you live; designer pieces will not. Duty is charged on declared value plus shipping and the threshold is set by your country, not by us. Check what your destination allows.
Condition
Anything with mirror, sequin or dori work is wrapped separately rather than packed against other garments, because that detail snags on plain fabric as readily as on itself.
Where we send it
Pick your country for transit times and customs notes.
- the UAE
- Saudi Arabia
- Qatar
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Bahrain
- the USA
- the UK
- Ireland
- Switzerland
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Singapore
- Malaysia
- Germany
- the Netherlands
- Italy
- Spain
- Belgium
- Austria
- Sweden
- Norway
- Sri Lanka
- the Philippines
- Japan
- France
- Nepal
- China
- Bangladesh
- South Africa
- Poland
- Nigeria
- Thailand
- Kenya
- Hong Kong
- Denmark
- Mauritius
- Indonesia
- Zambia
- Georgia
- Uganda
- Tanzania
- the Maldives
- Kazakhstan
- Ghana
- Finland
- Armenia
- All destinations
Questions
Is a silk Anarkali actually silk?
Usually not. Art silk, polyester georgette and silk blends are all commonly sold under the word silk in the product name. The stated composition further down the listing is the part to read, and if it is not stated, ask before paying a silk price.
What size should I order?
Use the centimetre measurements, not the letter. Indian sizing is cut smaller than European, British or American sizing, and the Anarkali bodice is fitted, so it is the garment where guessing goes wrong most often.
Can it be altered where I live?
The bodice can usually be taken in. Letting it out is much harder because there is rarely seam allowance, so if you are between sizes order the larger one and have it fitted.
How much will shipping cost?
It depends on the weight, which for this category genuinely ranges from light to heavy. Ask the seller for the figure, then use the calculator; the bands on your destination page give you the shape of the answer in the meantime.
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