Little India situated in the neighborhood Rose Hill, from 25th to 30th street, has become known as Curry Hill of Manhattan. Neighborhood developed rapidly between 2000 and 2010 as Manhattan’s Indian population nearly doubled. Among many restaurants and spice shops, there are two shops with authentic Indian clothing. Both shops abound with colorful clothes and golden jewelry. I chose to examine Lexington Saree Palace on 29^th street. From the outside shop looked very modest but I was encouraged to go inside because I saw many women in Indian ethnical clothing trying jewelry and saris. Once I entered, full range of colors, sweet smell of lightened incense sticks, and oriental music showed the true colors of India.

Owner of the shop is 43 years old Indian women, Kareena, who is managing that shop for the last 23 years. When she opened, initially it was tailoring shop, where women could choose the fabrics and she would sew the top or long skirt. In the last few years, Kareena orders tops for saris from India, because she finds it cheaper and more profitable then sewing it herself. Shop is full of textile; walls are cover in shelves which are full of colorful material. Kareena told me that it is mostly used for saris. Textile that Indian women will choose varies.

Usually wealthier women will choose silk which is the priciest and they will combine it with golden pieces of jewelry that Kareena will sew into their and teach them how to wear it. The most common style, among others, is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff. Other textile that is very popular for sari is velvet and chiffon. Lately, with the increase of the young indian population and their attempt to assimilate with American fashion, Kareena’s store doesn’t sell as much as it was in early 2000s. Nowadays, women mostly buy cotton fabric which is considered as a boring textile used for day outfits.

Sometimes, if she is lucky, she prepares women for Indian wedding, which could count up to 100 women. Kareena showed the whole assortment of tops that are worn under sari. They are all imported from India, handmade out of cotton, with golden ducats or crystals, made to reach woman’s waist. Price of each top is $50, but Kareena told me she bought it for much lower price from India.

Mostly she imports fabrics and tunics from India. She said that it is very cheap comparing to United States. Tunics are the best sold items, because they can be combined with other clothing items easily, but also Indian women wear the whole year long.

Kareena almost never orders from the U.S. market, not just because it is more expensive but also it is not fashionable. Indian women give a lot of attention to their look and especially younger women want to be dressed up to date. Moreover, New York, being such an international  mecca, puts a lot of competition on Kareena’s way. Her first neighbors, The Indian Village store is her biggest threat because owners are young American-Indians who step out of the ethnic frame by introducing more casual clothing line for women. However, Kareena thinks she is still preferred better by customers because of her longevity in the neighborhood. Furthermore, often her store makes outfits for Bollywood movies that are filmed in New York. Probably the best income she gets is from the film industry, because they buy a lot and want the best and most popular clothing and jewelry details.

In the last few years, there is big number of American customers who travel to India or go to Indian celebrations for which they need a “costume” to assimilate. Kareena said that Americans laugh when she puts half a pound of jewelry on them. “Indian women love to look like peacocks. They love colors and jewelry.” Bijouterie is very cheap, under $5 for the pack of bracelets or rings. However, Indian women rather wear gold that they get as a dowry on the wedding day. Imitation jewelry is mostly for unmarried girls, the more they put on themselves will make them more attractive in the eyes of men.

The last but not least detail are shoes. The most popular are shoes called ‘jutis’. The commonly shoe-style worn in India is in leather with beaded work, mirror work, thread work and hand embroidery work

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From my conversation with Kareena I concluded that women in India crave for silk and chiffon, while they do not cherish cotton due it its accessibility and very afordible price. When comparing it to the western world in which women want to turn to organic way of living and would like their clothing to be organic but cheap, where clothing producers rise the price of clothes and it started to be hard to find something that is made out of cotton and cheap. Kareena told me that each tunic cost less than $5 in India, and here she feels resonable to sell it for $50 because the lack of cotton made women appreciate quality.

Upon strolling down the Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side, I came across Fivestory. Located on 18 East 69th Street, this boutique offers multi-brand women’s wear from international ready-to-wear designers. Opened five years ago by Claire Distenfeld, this store is hidden between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue with an interesting entrance as if walking into a townhouse.

In a neighborhood known for its residents of the upper class and luxury stores, Fivestory is not far from the intention to serve this particular population. The store welcomed me with a doorman opening the doors before me and two sales assistants greeting me. There were no other visitors or buyers in the store, and my first impressions were that the space is beautiful. This is not surprising for the luxury stores that tend to exceptionally decorate their interior, but this was just a boutique and it looked like a small castle filled with apparel. There are two floors in the boutique and the space, although very nice is very tiny, narrow and small.

However, on the hangers and shelves not much clothing and accessories can be found. As I entered the shop, I went down the stairs and was first surrounded by small purses. Then I proceeded through a narrow hall filled with glass shelves, on which sunglasses were placed, into the clothing room, where every piece of garment was on its hanger. The clothing items were spaced close to each other, which in other stores compared to the price of the item would be different, as every item was way over its ‘’real price’’. For example, white T-shirt costs $75. Other clothing items were priced over $1000. I proceeded into the room with shoes, which is at the back of the store, where I found a large mirror and a sink that were a very rich addition to the look of the store. Shoes were beautiful, and flats cost approximately $500.

I went up the stairs onto the second floor. There were jewelry and more bags. There was also a nice painting on the wall as well as nice sofa in the room. I went straight in another room, where the dressing gowns and short mink fur coats were displayed. The clothing items had a very nice print and I liked the short mink coat in a pale rose color.

While I was observing the boutique, the sales assistant was following every step I made, so it was really hard to take pictures. This store is intended for any class or race, but according to the prices and luxury, one can certainly assume that most of the customers are of the white upper class. On December 5, 2012, Harper’s Bazaar conducted an interview with Claire Distenfeld. When asked if she believes that fashion should be ageless, Claire responded, ‘’Yes. Whenever somebody asks me who’s your demographic, who’s your customer, how old are they? I don’t understand what that even means. As I said, I’ve had an aesthetic since I was so young and I think I’m going to have that same mindset until I grow old. It’s really a mindset. There’s almost a symmetry. Like why do people think that other people are beautiful? Because there’s symmetry to their face — there’s a symmetry to an outfit when it works — and when it’s balanced, you feel it. You feel it like the balance of the Earth.’’

While trying to find the store for this project, I called multiple boutiques and had sales assistants hang up phone on me. After visiting Fivestory, I went to Chloé where the saleswomen were, of course, following me around the store, but I could sense they had a prejudice about me, based on whether I will buy a certain item or not. I am really glad that I found Fivestory because among luxury brand stores, it was pleasant to discover a store that offers internationally branded clothing, from people all over the world who try to sell Claire their innovative designs and prints.

Burlington Coat Factory originally sold coats; now they sell products varying from socks to dresses to baby furniture. Attracting a demographic with the same variety found on its shelves. This Burlington is located in Glen Oaks. In this small town, this is one of the only real clothing stores in the shopping plaza. The store is always filled with comfortable shoppers who have extensive experience searching through the racks of this two-leveled department store. It’s filled with parents and grandparents who rely on this store for the best deal for ordinary brands.

This isn’t the pinnacle of fashion but rather the pinnacle of practicality; Burlington sells all the items that make up a personalized home. Taking the place of the more expensive shopping outlets, this department store has the tone of the wanderer. The shopper who browses the racks casually, usually in search for nothing in particular. In fact the shoppers are so swept up in this empty minded wandering that many have bumped into each other, too absorbed in the good deals that populate these opportunity filled shelves. As I walked around, it was evident which departments were more frequently visited, as those were the peaceful isles; every item tucked away into its own random spot on the shelf, rarely ever to be touched. Each item, a deal; each shopper, on a budget, but willing to buy if they believe they’re getting a deal. The manager told one of the customers, “It might be expensive, it might be twenty dollars,” to which the customer replied “okay, I can do that.” This is a store where twenty dollars is able to stretch not necessarily in quality, but in quantity. Through these observations, I ended up learning the importance of Burlington’s affordability and how this appeals to a large portion of the middle class.