Biba

18-year-old multi-crore brand Biba has a counter in the women's apparel section at Hyderabad Central Mall, but at City Center, it has its own store, albeit an, er, undersized one. But this outlet's size - rather, its lack of it - has no bearing on that of the stock; Biba is as well-attired here as it is in other outlets.

And so you have hand-printed, embroidered kurtas in the tradition of royale, sunny ones embellished with gold antique work, soft Maheshwaris with hints of sequins, crinkled paisley prints dotted with eye-catching embellishments, and entire salwar-kameez sets. For those patrons seeking a more contemporary look, they have casual white dresses, some crinkled and adorned with tonal embroidery, lacy sleevelesses that can be worn with their range of colorful, asymmetric skirts, and a wide range of tunics in various hues.

Pick up individual pieces and wear them with jeans or lycra bottoms. Or mix-and-match them with Biba's collection of churidaars, salwars and dupattas (regular and crushed). The helpful staff will get your purchase altered as per your requirements, but they can be painful about making the delivery on time, as we found out the hard way.

Like most other branded wear, Biba offers its quality merchandise for a high price - it costs Rs. 2,000 (approximately) to buy a churidaar-kurta-dupatta set here. However, those looking for a, er, cut should visit the Biba counter at Brand Factory, Lumbini Jewel Mall - some of the same garments are being sold for discounts as high as 30 to 40 per cent!