About the Cloth

We use fabric woven with mostly natural fibre. Some fabrics are woven with natural fibre blended with cellulose fibre; this is particularly to increase durability and softness of the fabric.The fabrics are sourced from handloom weavers from different parts of India. A lot of care and attention has been taken to get the cloth produced with these weaving communities, so as to get the right weight , hand-feel and durability for our styles.

The process of dyeing is manual, bucket dyeing, as we have small quantities of fabric per colour and would love to offer you a choice of many colours. The dyes are chemical, but safe. The color will run while washing the garment. But this is excess dye that will stop running naturally after a few washes. We hesitate to use too much of the chemical to fix the colour. No, the color will not fade. Hence, please hand wash separately in cold water and drip dry in the shade.

Wash & Care

Hand wash separately in cold water
Wash bright colors inside out
Drip Dry in shade

Here’s how we advise that you do it:

Some of the our fabrics take longer to absorb water than most fabrics. Please soak the garment separately in cold water for at least half an hour. Rinse and change the water a few times. Use half a cap-full of liquid soap meant for delicate clothing and mix thoroughly in a bucket of fresh water. Immerse the wet garment in the soap water. Rinse and change the water a few times. Gently squeeze out the water (do not wring) and hang to drip dry on a hanger, indoors. If not hung to dry indoors, the fabric stiffens and will be difficult to iron.

Starch
We would advise you NOT to starch our garments. Starching will definitely make the fabric new and fresh, but will reduce the strength and life of the fibre.

Ironing
Please use a good steam iron and iron all garments at home. For our Indian clients, if given to the local dhobi/presswala for ironing , we will warn you that the heat from the heavy coal iron or the industrial steam press machines that he uses, will reduce the life and lustre of the fabric.

Dry Clean
Yes you could give it to a good Dry Cleaner who knows fabric very well. But we would advise you to try NOT to Dry Clean, as all our fabrics are made of natural fibre and natural fibre needs water for strength and durability.

Machine Wash
We would advise you NOT to wash our garments in a washing machine.

Storage
Natural dyed fabric is sensitive to light. We advise you to store these garments wrapped in muslin, in your closed wardrobe.

Specific Instructions for garments made with Natural dyed cloth
There will be variations in colour on the panels and streaks on parts of the garment. We have not avoided this while cutting the cloth for sewing. There might also be a faint odour of the natural dye used. This is not to be viewed as errors but to be accepted as a part of the beauty of the cloth and the hand process involved in its production. The stitch lines and the raw edge finish will look even better after a few washes.

Indigo - Natural dyed 

Iron - Natural dyed

Turmeric Yellow - Natural dyed 

Red, Red Plum- Natural & Chemical dyed

Ratanjyot - Natural dyed

Due to the typical process of the dyeing, washing and drying, the excess colour will rub off very slightly till the garment goes through a few wash cycles. Natural dyed fabric is sensitive to light. We advise you to store these garments wrapped in muslin, in your closed wardrobe. We have hand-washed each garment three times before it is ready to be packed. But we urge you to be part of this wonderful ageing process of the specially made cloth and wear dark inner wear and be careful till the dye settles into the fibre of the fabric.

Styling

Why are all your garments in solid colours and have no print or any embellishments?
Our design philosophy is to use cloth, colour and cut as our main elements for our work. We believe a solid coloured garment goes very far in a wardrobe and can be worn many times in many different ways.

Why do all the garments have the sides hanging long?
If you place most of our garments flat on a table, you will see that the hemline is straight. But the width of the garment is very very wide. This is why, the sides hang. The idea, in these designs, is to not cut the fabric into too many sections and to use blocks of cloth with minimal joinery.

Why are all the garments so large?
The entire design idea of Plantation House is inspired by the ancient folk costumes from all over the world which are based on the geometric shapes of fabric draped around the human body. The idea is to wear these garments loose, to allow the cloth to flow and float around the body. So we don’t make any garments that are even remotely fitted. In fact, the aim is to further push the boundaries and try to make larger expanses of cloth into garments in an attempt to explore interesting ways of drape around the human form.

Why do you have the same set of styles over years and years?
Yes. This, we believe, is a strength. A client who loves a certain cut and style from our store, will definitely find the same style again , when she returns to purchase it even after ten years. The styles are classic and not bound by the contours of time, seasons and definitely not ruled by the passing trends in the fashion industry.

Do you have clothing for cold weather / winter?
Currently we have fabrics that are cottons and silks which are of light and medium weight. As our concept of styling is layering, you could wear our flowing signature styles over your warm winter pullover or thermal inner wear. But yes, we will let you know when we introduce a winter collection.

Why can’t I find any wash care labels on the garment?
We don’t like to sew any labels on the garment . In fact, the name label, is also only sewed on the garments in a way that you can easily remove it before wearing the garment. The size, wash care and fabric content details of the garment are all on the hang tags. Please read carefully before throwing away the tags. Or you can visit this site and read our detailed wash care instructions on this page.

Sizing

We use our own formula for sizing. Garments are made in sizes that are suited for that particular style. Discretion to assign sizes to each style is our own. Our sizes cater to body measurements corresponding to UK size 6 to 18. Many of our styles are made in a free size – one size fits all. Yes, a petite size person, as well as a plus size person can wear our free size garments. For further assistance, do take some time to read our size instruction that accompanies every style displayed on this site. We are happy to clarify your queries, if any, about specific measurements / sizes etc. if you email us, before you decide to make your purchase.