Did Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother know such a place?

If you have an evening ahead of you when you want to turn everyone’s head – who wants Prince Charming any more? – and yet want to keep things pocket-friendly, here’s the solution. An outlet in the city allows you to borrow clothes, including the best designer stuff. For a few thousands, sometimes hundreds, you can borrow outfits with the best labels for at least three nights.

Glam World, tucked in a corner of Queen’s Park in Ballygunge, is a well-lit, specious and colourful store, offers on rent offers designer clothes, including bridal wear, saris and gowns for women to sherwanis and kurtas for men, as well as accessories, including costume jewellery and purses.

The mannequin wears a dazzling Manish Malhotra lehenga choli set. A pert Christian Dior dress hangs inside. 

The young Nandita Daga, who runs the place, explains the rules. She fits the clothes, handpicked by her from the best stores in the country and abroad, for her clients with the right measurements.

Daga, who keeps a deposit before sending the clothes out, keeps changing her wardrobe every few months or so.

Her store sees regular footfalls, but clients come crowding in, predictably, during wedding seasons.   

“Hygiene is as important as maintaining the clothes in their best condition,” she says. All clothes are laundered crupulously after use, so that not the faintest body odour remains from the previous wearer.

Last but not the least: she ensures the privacy of her clients, as everyone is not comfortable admitting that he or she is wearing borrowed clothes.

There. We still don’t know how the Fairy Godmother did it. But in this age of super-consumption, renting an outfit is a better idea than splurging on another. Better for the environment, better for you. 

(From top): 

♦  The bridal wear and occasion-wear racks at Glam World

♦ Nandita Daga wearing  a gold Christian Dior dress in her collection 

♦ A floral gold-plated set from Ogaan, Delhi

♦  Coral ghagra by Manish Malhotra 

♦ Pink Gown from Ogaan, Delhi

? Photographer: Rashbehari Das