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Getting married in India following the traditions is expensive. Not just inviting people, but it involves a lot of stuff to buy, right from the attire to jewellery and what not! Before you freak out at the estimation bill of some lakhs, let’s assure you there’s a wedding clothe rental service in India now. 
 <keyword id="51958" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="YES">Yes</keyword>, you heard it right. You can take on rent your choicest lehenga and look gorgeous. Founded by <keyword id="2639099" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shilpa-Bhatia">Shilpa Bhatia</keyword>, an entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience, The Clothing Rental has been the ultimate saviour. Not just gowns and lehengas, there are accessories as well. Even grooms can take on rent everything they want to look dapper on the d-day. And the prices are quite decent starting at Rs 5000 or even lesser. Not just bride or groom, it’s even a grace for numerous celebrities and page three personalities who need to maintain status at red carpet events. This boutique start up began in 2005. <keyword id="6360500" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shilpa">Shilpa</keyword> who shuttles between Mumbai and <keyword id="6355838" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-York">New York</keyword> has to keep herself updated with latest trends to keep the rental wardrobe in vogue. 
 
Many a time it is said that wedding attires are useless as they are never ever used. Well, that’s the thing. You rent it, look good and return. 
So how did it all began? Shilpa credits the “Chowmahalla Palace” in Hyderabad as the motivation behind her store design. Starting out as a young fashion stylist to becoming an innovator- that’s really an achievement. 
 
She is quite democratic in her clientele. “In terms of money, people from both ends of the spectrum, i.e. the super-rich and the moderately or not so well off have come to me for their clothing needs. Fashion – aware people who belong to a cosmopolitan setting and people without any inkling of fashion who come from humble backgrounds have also come to my store,” said Shilpa. 
 
“There are some people who are aware of top fashion brands and their heritage and history, but most people that come aren’t. They are taken by surprise when they come to know about the value of the clothes. People mostly come with an image in mind. Like they would want to get the same type of a clothes that an actor / actress wore in a movie or an ad. Depending on their clientele, my team looks to guide people so that they are satisfied and have a great experience,” added she. 
 
 
 Pricing is figured out on the perceptions of the clients’ likes and dislikes. Fabric, colour and styles impact pricing. The demand among the clients is made by making them aware of the brand value. Reputation and brands do matter, agrees Shilpa. Once she bought a <keyword id="15578" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Halle-Berry">Halle Berry</keyword> worn gown worth Rs 4 lakhs, which hardly had any takers. 
 
So how does she source the clothes? “I have worked in the fashion industry long enough to have a vast network of contacts. I find out about their portfolio, and urge them to provide clothes that I like at reasonable discounts. I also follow brands from around the world, and source directly from them when required,” said she. 
 
Talking about her initial challenges, Shilpa said, clients would come to my store and really savour being in a beautiful environment. They were taken aback slightly when they realized that these über expensive clothes could be afforded on rent at much lower prices. I am trying to change the stereotype about rented clothes by informing the masses that even beautiful and fashionable clothes can be rented.”

You can now rent your wedding lehenga for just Rs 5000

On Wednesday, the body of the last Nizam of <keyword id="6354552" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="hyderabad" source="Orion">Hyderabad</keyword> will be laid to rest here along with many unanswered questions about his life, inherited riches and his life away from India. Described by some as the 'story of the decline of the grandest hereditary princedom', the recorded life story of Nawab Mir Barket Ali Khan Walashan <keyword id="125800" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mukarram-jah" source="Orion">Mukarram Jah</keyword> Bahadur, the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad, who passed away in Turkey on Saturday, is sketchy at best. Mukarram Jah, the Prince was proclaimed as the successor designate in 1954 by his grandfather and the Seventh Nizam of the erstwhile Princely State of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan. Since then he has been identified as the eighth and the last Nizam of Hyderabad. "For years I had read stories of the eccentric ruler of a Muslim state who counted his diamonds by the Kilogram, his pearls by the acre, and his gold bars by the tonne, yet who was so frugal he would save on laundry bill by bathing in his clothes," wrote John <keyword id="16082382" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="zubrzycki" source="Orion">Zubrzycki</keyword>, the author of The Last Nizam: The Rise and Fall of India's Greatest Princely State, while describing Mukarram Jah. Mukarram Jah was born in 1933 in France. His mother Princess Durru Shewar was the daughter of the last Sultan of Turkey (Ottoman Empire) Sultan Abdul Mejid II. <keyword id="16082383" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="prince-mukarram" source="Orion">Prince Mukarram</keyword> Jah was officially called the Prince of Hyderabad until 1971 when the titles and privy purses were abolished by the government, says senior journalist and a keen observer of Hyderabad's culture and its heritage, Mir Ayoob Ali Khan. Khan pointed out that Seventh Nizam made his grandson the successor to the gaddi instead of his first son Prince Azam Jah Bahadur. Therefore, Mukarram Jah succeeded as the eighth Nizam on the passing away of the last former reigning ruler of Hyderabad in 1967. After moving to Australia initially, for a good part of Prince Mukarram's latter half of his life, he had been residing in Turkey. "I had listened to improbably tales of a Darbar in the desert of Australia where an Indian Prince preferred driving diesel-belching bulldozers than riding in the howdah of an elegantly caparisoned, elephant.And I had heard rumours of a recluse living in Turkey who had arrived carrying two suitcases and a load of shattered dreams," the author John Zubrzycki wrote about the prince about their meeting at the latter's two-bedroom flat in Turkey. There is paucity of a record of the details of the modern day decline of the riches inherited by the Prince or even his grandfather. But, in his time, Mukarram Jah is never known to have taken kindly to anyone who recorded their lives in an undignified manner. According to Zubrzycki, when The Times ran a 1000 word obituary portraying the Seventh Nizam as a 'miser' and touched up on certain personal matters of his, "Jah shot back an equally long letter to the Editor. It was unjust to conjure up the image of a shabby man shuffling through his dream world, asserted Jah," writes Zubrzycki . Journalist Ayoob Ali Khan said people of Hyderabad had expected that Prince Mukarram Jah would do a lot of things, particularly for the poor, because he had inherited immense wealth from his grandfather who was the richest man in the world at one time. "However, it did not happen," he said. Mukarram Jah first married Princess Esra of Turkey in 1959. In an interview as told to Huma Bilgrami Latif published in Youandi.com, Princess Esra talks about her early married life in Hyderabad and how restoring inherited properties and palaces of family later became her passion. "I always wanted to do something for the city, but it was a bit difficult when I got married because my husband's grandfather was alive, and my life was very restricted back then. There was a certain way one had to behave, places one could go, and who one could see. After his death, however, we had the possibility to do things our way, but then we had enormous problems: the death duty, the tax was 98 per cent, etc." "Then our privileges were taken, and the land was taken; it was impossible to keep up one's dreams," Princess Esra is quoted as saying. "Later, I got divorced, and after 20 years, Mukarram Jah asked me to come back and help out in Hyderabad because everything was in a mess and there were big problems. When I came back, the whole place looked as if it was the loot of Delhi by <keyword id="12138556" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nader-shah" source="Orion">Nader Shah</keyword>. There was nothing left; everything was taken. It was terribly sad, and I thought to myself that I have to give something of the family back to Hyderabad." " It was our duty," the Princess is quoted as saying while describing her efforts to renovate and restore the Chowmahalla Palace and Falaknuma Palace. Decades after this interview was published, today, it is the same Chowmahalla Palace where Mukarram Jah's mortal remains will first be taken to after arriving here in a chartered flight. Jah's body would be kept at the Khilwat Palace from 8 AM to 1 PM on January 18 to enable people to pay their last respects. The burial would take place at the Asaf Jahi family tombs here, a statement issued by an office of Prince Mukarram Jah had said. As per his desire of being laid to rest in India, his children are scheduled to travel to Hyderabad with the mortal remains of the late Nizam on January 17, the statement added. Telangana Chief Minister <keyword id="80355" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="k-chandrasekhar-rao" source="Orion">K Chandrasekhar Rao</keyword>, who condoled the death of Prince Mukarram Jah, directed officials to conduct his last rites with the highest State honours in recognition of his social services in the fields of education and medicine for the poor as the successor of the Nizam. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/ongc-reliance-industries-paytm-siemens-among-stocks-in-focus/articleshow/97045293.cms">Sensex, Nifty50 likely to open on a tepid note amid mixed global cues: ONGC, Reliance Industries, Paytm, Siemens among stocks in focus</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hiring-by-it-cos-down-96-in-q3-compared-to-preceding-7-quarters-even-as-attrition-cools/articleshow/97023873.cms">Hiring by IT cos down 96% in Q3 compared to preceding 7 quarters even as attrition cools</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/zillionaire-this-startups-founders-walk-away-with-an-investment-double-the-original-ask-on-shark-tank-india/articleshow/97029721.cms">Bling and ka-ching! – This startup’s founders walk away with an investment double the original ask on Shark Tank India</a>

Hyderabad's Nizamate comes to an end but the mystery shrouding a chequered saga continues

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You can now rent your wedding lehenga for just Rs 5000

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Hyderabad's Nizamate comes to an end but the mystery shrouding a chequered saga continues

PTI

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