Shopping in Ctg, for style

Shoppers look at bangles at a shop ahead of the Eid festival in Sanmar Ocean City in Chittagong. Photo: Prabir Das

Eid shopping is not limited to dresses and saris alone. Accessories are a big part of looking good, and shoppers in Chittagong are surely shopping for style, crowding the markets before the upcoming festival of Eid.
Accessories include bags, jewellery, belts and even cosmetics to perfectly complement the arduously chosen outfits for special occasions like Eid.
Shoppers become busy dress shopping and selecting even before the beginning of Ramadan but that does not apply to accessories. Those become important mostly after the dresses have been selected.
Most jewellery and other similar stores are only now getting the attention of shoppers, mostly women, and tasting the frenzy of the Eid season from the third week of Ramadan.
“Women are selecting gold-plated sets instead of pure gold and demand of imitation jewellery is high this year,” said Anukul Chowdhury, owner of Modern Kusum Jewellers, a jewellery shop in the Akhtarruzzaman Centre in the port city.
“Because of an increase in gold prices, many people cannot afford gold jewellery. Married women are more interested in buying gold-plated sets,” he added.
Amena Hasan, who came to a jewellery shop to get a gold-plated set made with different coloured stones said, “Gold prices are very high, so I want to get gold-plated jewellery to match my sari on Eid.”
“The trend among the young girls is to buy imitation jewellery in stones, silver and silver jewellery plated in gold. That is why demand for these items is on the rise every day,” said Md Zabed, owner of Ophelia, a ladies items shop in Sanmar Ocean City, a well-known shopping mall in Chittagong.
“The collection, price and variety of items in my shop are different than the other shops and so people come here for ornaments to match their dresses,” he added.
Asma Akther, a Chittagong University student who came to the shopping mall with her friends, said: “I bought my dress last week and now I am looking for stone earrings and bangles to match.”
Not only jewellery shops, but cosmetics shops are also crowded during the Eid season in all the shopping malls in the city.
“We try to keep high quality cosmetics products from western countries in our shop,” said Mohiuddin Kokon, owner of Ameena in Ameen Centre, a shopping mall in the Lalkhan Bazar area of Chittagong.
“Since our products are imported from different countries, prices are slightly high and customers can choose items according to their means,” he added.
“In this Eid season, we have invested more than last year and hope to have higher returns,” said Abdul Haque, owner of Grace View, a beauty items shop in Central Plaza.
“Though business was not brisk in the beginning of Ramadan, it picked up quite well in the last few days and now we are happy,” he added.
It is considered trendy by the young girls to carry handbags and purses that match their outfits.
“The young girls have already bought their Eid dresses and are now busy getting handbags and purses to match,” said Md Zubair, owner of Fairy, a bag shop in Sanmar Ocean City.
“I am looking for a nice colourful bag to match my Eid dress,” said Tamanna Rahman, a college student.
Beauty parlours are offering special packages for their customers for the festive season as well but it is expected that customers will respond from the last week of Ramadan.