What will this suit actually cost?
Cloth rate alone does not tell you. The width decides how many gaz you need, so the cheaper rate is often the dearer suit. This works out the whole thing from your measurements.
Fill in the form and press Calculate.
| Item | Amount | Rs | Share |
|---|
| Shop | Width | Rate | Gaz needed | Cloth cost |
|---|
Estimate only. Stitching charges, trims and lining rates vary by city, tailor and season — this uses the figures you enter, not any quoted market price. Confirm the cloth quantity with your tailor before buying.
The cheaper rate is often the dearer suit
This is the whole reason the calculator asks for width and rate together rather than a rate on its own.
Narrow cloth needs more running length, because the front and back panels cannot sit side by side. A shop selling 36" cloth at a lower rate per gaz can still cost more per suit than a shop selling 58" cloth at a higher rate — and the comparison table above shows exactly where the crossover sits for your measurements.
To find the crossover yourself: enter your measurements, set both widths, then raise Shop B's rate until the two cloth costs match. That number is what the wider cloth is genuinely worth to you.
What the lining figure is
Lining is not "the same as the suit". A lined kameez needs the body panels again — front and back — but not the sleeves, not the shalwar and not the dupatta.
So the calculator runs the layout a second time with only the body panels, at the lining width you enter, because lining cloth is often a different width from the outer cloth.
Do not assume it comes to half. The ratio swings a lot, because it is set by two widths at once. On 44" cloth throughout, lining a kameez costs roughly half of a kameez-plus-shalwar figure. But buy 58" outer cloth and line it with 44" lining, and the lining can reach 80% of the main figure — the narrow lining needs almost as much running length as the wide outer cloth did for the whole suit. Enter both widths and read the number rather than guessing.
Where the money actually goes
The share column in the breakdown is worth reading before you shop. On an everyday suit with a modest cloth rate, stitching is often the largest single line — which means haggling over the cloth saves less than choosing the tailor carefully.
On a formal or branded cloth the balance flips completely and the cloth dominates. There is no general rule here, which is why the tool works it out from your own numbers instead of quoting a typical split.
Ready-made against getting it stitched
Enter a ready-made price and the result panel compares it with your total. Two things the number cannot capture, and you should weigh yourself:
- A stitched suit is cut to your measurements. A ready-made one may need alterations, which is a cost that does not appear on the price tag.
- Ready-made sizes are finished garment measurements, and they vary between brands. Check the brand's own chart rather than assuming your usual size.
Questions people ask
Why does the gaz change when I change the shop?
Because the two shops have different cloth widths, and width decides how the panels lay out. Same suit, same measurements, different amount of cloth.
Does this include shrinkage?
No. Work the allowance out on the allowance page and add it to the gaz before pricing, or you will under-buy on untreated cloth.
Should I enter the rate per metre instead?
Convert it first — a metre is 9% more cloth than a gaz, so entering a per-metre rate in a per-gaz box understates the cost. The converter does it in one step.
My tailor charges by the piece, not by the suit.
Add the pieces up and enter the total in the stitching box. If you are only getting the kameez stitched, set the dupatta to no and use the suit calculator in kameez-only mode for the cloth figure.