Chaniya cholis for garba, made in Vadodara
Hand mirror work, bandhani and gota patti, cut to one body and couriered to you — measured on a video call, without anyone crossing an ocean to be fitted.
Nine nights in Edison, in Naperville, in Sugar Land. The cloth still begins on a frame on Old Padra Road.
Garba travelled with the families who dance it. Every autumn the halls fill in New Jersey and Chicago and Atlanta and Houston and the Bay Area, and the question is the same one asked in Vadodara: what am I wearing, and will it move properly when I turn. This page is for the families who ask it from six thousand miles away.
How it works from there
- First Tell us the nights you are dancing A message on WhatsApp is enough to start. Which nights, which city, whether it is a garba at a community hall or a wedding sangeet, and the colours you actually wear. Photographs of what you have loved before help more than any description.
- Then Measurements, on a video call About twenty minutes on a WhatsApp video call, with a tape measure and someone to hold the other end. Nirali watches where the tape sits and corrects it as you go, rather than sending a sheet and hoping. It is the step that decides the fit, so nothing is cut until it is right. What to have ready, and what gets taken →
- During Mirror, bandhani and thread, by hand The work is done in the studio on Old Padra Road — kutchi mirror work, bandhani tied and dyed, gota patti, aari. We send photographs as it comes together.
- Finally Couriered, in time to dance The finished chaniya choli travels to you. Tell us the date you need it in hand, not the date of the festival, so the courier is planned backwards from the night you will actually wear it.
From the Navratri collection
Tell us the day you need it in hand, not the day of the festival. The courier is planned backwards from the night you will actually wear it, and if your date is too close for the work you want, we will say so rather than promise it. Navratri is 11–19 October 2026 this year.
Questions families ask
Can I order a chaniya choli from India if I live in the USA?
Yes. Families in New Jersey, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and the Bay Area already order this way. You message us on WhatsApp, your measurements are taken together on a video call of about twenty minutes, the piece is made by hand in our Vadodara studio, and it is couriered to your door. You do not need to be in India at any point.
When is Navratri in 2026, and when should I order?
Navratri falls on 11–19 October 2026, with Dussehra the day after. Order as early as you can: hand work takes the time it takes, and the studio is busiest in exactly the weeks before the festival. Tell us the date you need the piece in hand and we will tell you honestly whether it is still possible — we would rather say no than deliver late.
What is the difference between a chaniya choli and a lehenga?
They share a shape — a skirt, a blouse and a dupatta — but they are built for different evenings. A chaniya choli is made to dance in: the ghagra is cut fuller and lighter so it flares on a turn, and the work is mirror, bandhani and thread rather than the heavy zardozi of a bridal piece. A bridal lehenga is built to be photographed standing still. A garba outfit has to survive nine nights of raas.
Will it fit if I am never measured in person?
Yes, and this is the part people doubt most. The measurements are taken with you on the call rather than posted to you as a form, so mistakes are caught while the tape is still in your hand. Chaniya cholis are also built with seam allowance for adjustment. Between the two, families abroad get the same fit as anyone who walks into the studio.
Do you make chaniya cholis for children?
Yes — for girls, and kurtas for boys, in the same fabrics as the main collection. Families ordering for everyone at once usually find one courier works out better than three.
Will I pay customs duty on a chaniya choli?
In most places, yes. Customs treats a chaniya choli exactly as it treats any adult clothing, so the same thresholds apply — the United States no longer has a duty-free allowance at all, Canada’s is CAD $20, the UK charges import VAT above £135, and Australia allows AUD $1,000, which a chaniya choli may well stay under. The four are set out side by side on our shipping and customs page. We declare accurately and tell you the declared value before it ships.
How much does a chaniya choli cost?
It is priced per order, because the price is really the embroidery: how much mirror work, how much bandhani, how many hours on the frame. Tell us on WhatsApp what you have in mind and we will quote before any work begins. Nothing is started before you have the figure.
Can you copy something I have seen online?
We would rather make you something that is yours. Bring the photograph by all means — it tells us the shape and the colour you are drawn to, which is genuinely useful — and we will design from there. Nothing in this studio is made twice.
Do you ship anywhere other than the USA?
Yes — the UK, Canada, Australia, Europe, the Gulf, Singapore, South Africa and Kenya. Wherever there is garba, there is usually someone who needs a chaniya choli.
Message the studio.
WhatsApp is the fastest way — it is where the measurements and the photographs happen anyway.
WhatsApp +91 98256 64994 →Or write to hi@niraliamin.com. The studio is on Old Padra Road, Vadodara — Monday to Saturday, 2 to 7 pm, by appointment.