Shopping

From The Peopling of New York City: Indian Communities

Shops in Indian neighborhoods sell clothing, jewelry, and entertainment in order to service communities that want to preserve their national Indian identity in New York. Jackson Heights, Flushing and Murray Hill in particular are often popular destinations for Asian Indian-Americans looking to shop.

Clothing

Clothing stores frequently follow the fashionable trends in India. Pictured in the window are three 'churidars' of the 'Anarkali design'. A 'churidar' is an ensemble with three pieces- well fitted legging style bottoms, the tunic style top, and a scarf called the 'dupatta'. The 'Anarkali' design refers to the cutting of the tunic.

Clothing

Clothing stores in Indian neighborhoods sell the newest Indian styles straight from India. They sell a wide variety of saris, as well as other forms of traditional Indian dress such as salwar-kameez and churidar. In her research on Indian immigrants in New York and Boston, Johanna Lessinger notes that many stores pride themselves for catering to the tastes of modern Indian women by challenging the traditional styles of salwar-kameez, which consisted of a long tunic worn on top of loose pants that came together at the waist and ankle. As times and styles change, these stores have begun providing salwar-kameez with innovative styling that enable young women to wear traditional Indian dress while still feeling modern and emancipated.

Jewelry

Many shops in Indian neighborhoods sell a large variety of traditional Indian jewelry. The jewelry is often very ornate, made of gold, and decorated with ornaments, unset stones such as pearls and coral, and a variety of semiprecious stones. Jewelry is often given as gifts or included in dowries.

Jewlery

Entertainment

Stores in Indian neighborhoods also sell everything to fulfill Indian immigrants' entertainment needs

Store

Store

Merchandise