As Vasu mentioned on stage, organizing and making this event grand is not a simple button-click action or a one-night plan; it involves nearly 3–4 months of planning. Similarly, I began my preparations for the red carpet on November 1st.
You might wonder, what preparations did I go through?
I have a habit of dressing up appropriately for various festivals, functions, occasions, and events. One competition that I loved the most was the fancy dress competition. In my childhood days, I portrayed characters like Thiruvalluvar, Bharathiyar, Bhagath Singh, Kuravan Kurathi, Abdul Kalam, Raja Raja Chola, and even a sage.
As I grew older, the friends I had and the gang I was part of never encouraged or supported this wish of mine. They usually dressed casually and, in the middle of an event, would have some beer before parties or functions, considering it a moment of pride. They made me feel the same way. Moreover, we would label someone who behaved differently as "cringe."
It took years for me to mature enough to understand the concept, "If you want it, go get it! Don't overthink it or worry about what others say. Those who talk will always talk, so don't let them stop you."
If someone asks me what Zuci provides for me, the one thing I would say is that Zuci offers a stage and space to dance with my dreams, where longing transforms into being, and where salary, hikes, knowledge, and appreciation come second.
Now, coming to the point, the kind of preparations I am going to discuss here is my outfit selection.
Initially, I thought of wearing a Bandhgala suit. After many searches, I decided to go with two clothing stores: Anecdote.men and Tasva.
Anecdote.men:
This was my initial choice for the Red Carpet. They offer custom-designed outfits with their own fabric, specializing in various types of men's suits.
Website: https://anecdotemen.com/Address: SIDDHI VINAYAK TOWER, Kataria Automobiles Rd, Makarba, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380051, India.
To get in touch with them, you can fill out the form on their website. Upon contact, they will provide you with a set of measurements required for tailoring. You can obtain these measurements locally and send them back. Since this option is not available in Chennai, and considering my infrequent online shopping habits, I decided to pass on this choice. Instead, I opted to take the design and consulted my regular tailor in the area.
Mizaj:
They provide a range of fabrics and professional tailoring services for men's wear. I customized my outfit for the previous Red Carpet event at this shop. They typically deliver within 5 - 7 days, and during peak seasons, it may take up to 2 weeks. Due to budget constraints, their quote was around 15k without additional design for the Bhandgala suit, so I skip this option too.
Location: They have three outlets in Chennai (T Nagar, Pallavaram, Parrys), and my personal preference is the T Nagar shop. You can simply type "Mizaj" and the outlet region into the map, and it will direct you to the right location. Additionally, they have new outlets in Madurai, Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli.
Later in the second week of November, I decided to opt for Kurtas and a Shawl. For this, I visited Tasva outlets in Chennai, specifically in Phoenix and EA Mall. Tasva is a newly opened wedding collection store by Aditya Birla Groups. The Kurtas available here are more suitable for weddings, featuring grand stone work, but may not be the best fit for a party or award function.
Tasva serves as a one-stop store for wedding purchases. If you're planning a North Indian-style wedding, they have curated dress selections for all wedding events for both the bride and groom.
Following that, I explored Manyavar in TNagar and Velachery in search of Kurtas. They did have some plain, shiny Kurtas, but they were on the expensive side. I discovered a trick where purchasing from Manyavar's online store offered lower prices, starting from 3500 rupees for a Kurta set. You can try the outfit in the store and then order it online.
After several trials and online searches, I came to the conclusion with the attached outfit. In the middle of the third week of November, many friends suggested that I had already worn a Kurta to the office twice, so I should try something different. That's when I thought of wearing a suit.
Then, I visited Louis Philippe (Thoraipakkam) and Black Berry's (Mylapore) to purchase a coat. My budget for the event was 10K, but the starting price of the coat itself was 14K in both of these stores. After searching, I found a complete coat suit outfit from Westside that fell within my budget.
I visited all the Westside stores in Chennai except the ones in VR Mall and Anna Nagar. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the color I desired. I planned to order it online, but I couldn't find the desired color. The attached outfit is the one I chose.
The delivery date was 12-14 days from the order date, and the expected delivery date for me was Dec 12. I ordered it via the Westside mobile app. However, there was a twist: due to Cyclone Michaung, the delivery time extended, so I canceled the order. I then decided to go with a designer cut from someone I've known for the past year, @108bespoke.
Before visiting @108bespoke, I got some information that the Westside Anna Nagar store had all the coats I was looking for. However, when I visited, I had no luck; there was no stock. You can also find the Curate Mens Wear Anna Nagar outlet on the same road as Westside, but nothing satisfied me there either.
At that point, I was deeply upset and depressed, wondering what to do, and the dates were too short. I was thinking about this in front of the Westside store when God came up with a different plan. A huge horn sounded behind me from a lorry, making me move aside. Once the lorry passed, there was the bright light of a banner for an Imported Liquor Shop. In the next 10 minutes, I was standing in the queue for billing with the newly introduced GodFather and ThunderBolt beer in Tamil Nadu.
Note:If you are planning to visit any part of Anna Nagar region from OMR, follow the route that I did.
From OMR, reach Alandur Metro and take a ticket to Anna Nagar East or Anna Nagar Tower, depending on your destination. The train will come on the 4th platform. This is the cheapest and least time-consuming way; you can reach there from Alandur within 17-20 minutes, whereas the normal road route will take nearly 1 hour. From Anna Nagar metro, you can take a Rapido or a running auto where the cost won't exceed more than 150 rupees to reach any part of Anna Nagar from the metro station.
If you are carrying liquids, they should be sealed, and they won't allow any tin beers inside the station.
Then I visited the 108Bespoke store in Alwarpet, where I explored outfits that could be delivered in a short duration of time. I didn't have any idea about what to choose and wear, but the staff was quite friendly and suggested a lot of combinations. From their suggestions, I finalized the outfit I wore on the day.
Website: https://108bespoke.com/Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TyDbKXSYKjpkNN9g7I got the shoes from Ilyzly store, KNK Nungambakkam outlet. They have a variety of customized design shoes where you can choose according to your preferences. The shoes I wore were not initially in my options, but due to budget concerns, I decided to choose them from the store. The attached image shows the shoes that I wished to wear from the store.
The above-attached shoes range from 8k to 15k, and you can customize the sole, heels, design works, and even choose your favorite design for all leg sizes.
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/hSTnDCWNS9mjpVyJ8Finally, we concluded the Red Carpet event with a closure party at Kari Theory Namma Bar and Kitchen inside Radisson Blu, next to the event hall. I am the kind of person who loves to experience and taste various high-quality beers. One thing that made me feel amazed was that I had never tasted Kingfisher with that flavor before in my life. I couldn't express how awesome the feeling was.
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