Mystery Shopper: Kurtis and cattle in Mumbai

Anxiety set in as my aircraft taxied down the runway of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai. Although my four-day business conference offered many “optional” activities in and around Mumbai, none of them remotely resembled shopping. Could I leave India without a sari? This was the question.

Luckily, the summit was being held at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower hotel, and a very accommodating concierge named Rubina advised me that “all the good stores close late”. So, without missing a single PowerPoint presentation or breakout group, I managed to find a few hours here and there to add to my wardrobe.

Not that the local map provided by the hotel was a good starting point: it was printed in English, and all the cabbies speak the local dialect of Hindi. However, the concierge had thoughtfully annotated it in Maharati with names and directions to the choice stores. While I can’t be sure what the notes said, I was never disappointed, and usually arrived within a block or two of my desired destination – after various non-scheduled pit stops, including tea for the cabbie and waiting for cattle to amble across major roads.

The first evening I was jet-lagged and decided to stay close by the hotel. Less than one block away is a snazzy little boutique called Bombay Electric (www.bombayelectric.in), that proudly displays a recent article in the lobby comparing it (accurately) to Barneys New York. Some of the items artfully draped around the high-ceilinged store are vintage, while a few of the designers are so new that they don’t yet have websites.

I bought a V-neck Kali Roar dress by Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna that was crafted from a black-and-white psychedelic fabric with a metallic belt. Although it looked complicated, for a little more than $300 the fit was comfortable and even flattering. Equally artsy was a fitted, short-sleeved crêpe de Chine black dress by Anupamaa ($95, www.anupamaa.com) with curious cut-outs that weren’t so much pockets as vents. There was also a collection of legwear, including a wide assortment of leggings and a single pair of Manish Arora black tie-dye tights ($35, www.manisharora.ws): too thin to be worn as leggings, but very useful for spicing up an otherwise plain black shift dress.

. . .

A few blocks away is the aptly named Ensemble (www.ensembleindia.com), which boasts chic pieces from India’s finest designers including Manish Malhotra (www.manishmalhotra.in) and Tarun Tahiliani (www.taruntahiliani.com). Both work magic with blacks and nudes (or, as I like to say, “light blacks”). I spent about half an hour browsing and trying to get the attention of the sales staff, but they were preoccupied with a few celebrity clients, and all of the items I could find were medium or large. When I asked, I was told, “That’s the size of our regular clients”, and that tailoring requests had a two-week, two-fitting minimum, leaving me to deduce that this is the perfect store if you’ve got a long stay in Mumbai, fit their size profile, or are a celebrity.

On the third (and final) night of my stay, I decided to visit what is billed as the largest shopping destination in Mumbai: High Street Phoenix (www.highstreetphoenix.com). This necessitated a more strategic approach to fully experience three areas: Skyzone, Palladium, and Galleria. The latter turned out to be mostly accessories and home furnishings, but Skyzone features Ritu Kumar (www.ritukumar.com), where I scored an embroidered black-and-coral kurti ($67) that I will wear as a dress.

At the Palladium, the standout boutique was Ranna Gill (www.rannagill.com), where I found a knee-length, flared black dress with chocolate brown braided leather around the neck and sleeves ($55). It appears conservative from the front but has a large (bra-safe) triangle cut-out on the back, between the shoulders.

I loved it. I bought it. I forgot about the sari.

The Mystery Shopper is a globe-trotting executive who reveals her international shopping discoveries