Shyamali Boutique

Our little boutique is located at No. 109 Baghajatin S. P. D. Block, right on Raja S. C. Mullick Road. It’s a busy stretch of road, and you can hear the buses and rickshaws going by all day long without stopping. Inside the shop, it’s mostly just rolls of fabric and the steady sound of the sewing machines running. We have been here for a long time, making clothes for the people in the neighborhood who need something new. It’s not a big fancy showroom with mirrors everywhere. We have some shelves with finished suits and sarees, and a big wooden table where we do the cutting and marking. The floor usually has bits of thread and cloth scraps by the time we close up. Shyamali Boutique is really just a place where we work on designs and talk to customers about what they want for a wedding or a party. Sometimes it’s a bit chaotic when we have a lot of orders to finish before a festival arrives. We spend a lot of time matching colors and checking the stitching to make sure it holds. The light in the back room isn't the best, so we do most of the detailed work near the front window where the sun comes in. It’s a local shop, so we know most of the people who walk in by their first name. We don't have a big staff, just a few of us. It’s hard work on the eyes, but it’s what we do.