For many of us, the last week of Ramzan is a time of self-reflection, good deeds – and chaos once you start exploring the market for sartorial picks for Eid.

Whether it is battling it out with your darzi who betrays your trust every single time (what in the name of twin flames is this complicated relationship?) or burning a hole in your pocket to find a suitable RTW that can later serve as dawat wear as well – Eid is a mix of emotions.

This year, before the idea of Eid approaching could set in, social media was rife with memes on the affordability (or lack thereof) of a ‘lawn ka jora’, with influencers adding to the chatter with their own comic take on the drastic increase in prices.

Putting the price debate aside, a panoramic view of the fashion market shows a lot of cookie-cutter fashion trends making a comeback (in all honesty, they never really left). Brands like Ego with their hand screen and block prints and light embroidery, and Generation with their flowy cuts sprinkled with mukesh/gota have stuck to what they feel they do best. Both brands have shied away from spending big budgets on marketing their collections and like their previous RTW – the Eid collection too was quietly launched on their websites, and it seems as if both brands rely on their loyal customer base to pop by the website whenever they need a retail fix.

While Generation was always known to be the brand you can make a quick, last-minute run to and grab a three-piece for an iftar – Ego seems to be rebranding itself as the premium brand it was once considered before it became the go-to brand for the working woman. Ego has further branched out into unstitched as well as festive wear that doubles between dawat wear and ‘friend’s cousin’s nikah wear’ – starting from Rs 12,000 and going up to Rs 25,000+. Generation shows more versatility in prices, with extravagant, flared shirts going up to Rs 12,000 and everyday wear that could very well be donned on Eid starting from Rs 2,000.

Niche brands such as Manto made their Eid debut with a rather simplistic approach called ‘Gul-e-Eid’ modelled by Faiza Saleem. The collection is a mix of kurtas, three-pieces and Anarkali frocks with the signature calligraphic patterns Manto is synonymous with. Kudos to the brand for keeping their Eid collection prices closer to what the brand asks for their RTW/everyday pieces. Amidst the big wigs in the fast fashion world, Manto’s steady growth is nothing short of a quiet success story which it celebrated recently with the launch of their flagship stores in Karachi and Lahore. The brand is the perfect example on how one smart idea can turn into a force in the market.

In the last few years Ethnic has become the trailblazer in fast fashion with their diverse price range, design, cuts and variety. The brand’s floral printed co-ords took the daily wear world by storm and were quite the hot sellers last summer. The brand has launched an Eid edition in all three of their brand categories – Rozana, Boutique and Capsule. The difference between the three categories is quite undistinguishable – and unlike their previous collections – the prices between for Eid wear in the three categories seem to overlap too. In fact, the price range of these dresses don’t speak ‘mass appeal’ and ‘affordable’. Most of the dresses in the brand’s Eid collection come with a heavy price tag of Rs 10,000+.

In the same vein, Khaadi added silks to the mix with the same screen print, embroidery, lace work and basic embellishments taking the price of a three-piece close to Rs 15,000+. Sana Safinaz much like the other RTW brands mentioned above – offers a mix of embroidered, screen printed and lace-embellished suits between the range of Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000. The brand however was hardly ever marketed as a layman’s brand and for Eid too, Sana Safinaz has stuck to their premium brand price ranges.

The fact that many household fashion brands are not offering anything new in terms of design, fabric or embellishments makes one wonder if we have exhausted the RTW category and left no room for originality. One can also see that the prices for RTW have increased exponentially. The question is, will the average man/woman get their trusted darzi back on speed dial or give in to the price hikes? Only post-Eid sales will tell.

Taniya Hasan is a content marketer at a fintech.