What goes into the price of a ₹2,650 pavadai set

We are sometimes asked why our pattu pavadai set costs ₹2,650 when similar-looking sets are sold for under ₹1,000 at festival sales. The difference is mostly on the inside, so here is roughly where the money goes for a size 5 set.

Fabric comes first. The skirt and blouse use about 1.6 metres of art silk at ₹260 a metre, which is ₹416. The full cotton lining takes another 1.6 metres at ₹110, or ₹176. The woven zari border, 2.8 metres of it, costs ₹240. Elastic, drawstring, cotton binding tape, buttons and thread add about ₹90. That is roughly ₹920 in materials.

Tailoring is the next big part. Cutting, stitching, hand-finishing the border corners, gathering the sleeves and binding every inside seam takes about four and a half hours across three people. At the wages we pay in our Pulimoodu workroom, that is close to ₹620 per set.

Then come the costs nobody sees: the tissue and box, about ₹45; free delivery within Kerala, averaging ₹70; the exchange we absorb on roughly one set in six, which works out to about ₹60 a set; and rent, electricity and the shop staff. Together these come to roughly ₹500. What is left, around ₹600, is what keeps us going and pays for new designs. A cheaper set usually saves on lining, seam binding and hem allowance. That saving is real, but you often pay for it later, when your child refuses to keep the set on.