In December 2015, I attended a family wedding.

I spent hundreds of pounds on glamorous Indian attire to wear to the various functions in the lead up to the big day and, of course the wedding day itself. Once the occassion was over, the outfits were hung up in my wardrobe, my thought process being that they'd be called upon again, for the next special occassion.

Three years on, the opportunity to wear those beautiful clothes hasn't arisen.

This evoked a multitude of feelings. One of which was guilt, over the fact that I’d spent a considerable sum yet didn’t feel I’d gained my money’s worth. Not only that – it was obvious that much time and skill had gone into the manufacture of these items; they deserved to be worn again. As such, I decided it was best to try to sell these clothes; after all, they’d been worn for only a few hours and were as good as new.

I browsed online to see whether I could find a dedicated space from where I could sell my lehengas and saris and recoup some of my spend. My search proved fruitless: apart from the usual selling websites such as eBay & Gumtree, which list all manner of items, I couldn't find a specialist website through which I’d be able to sell my clothes.

It dawned on me it was unlikely that this experience was mine alone. After speaking to many friends and family, I learned that countless others too were spending vast amounts of money on Indian couture, only to have these items either left taking up space in their wardrobes, or packed into suitcases and stored in the loft.

Indian dresses are an epitome of grace and elegance. Being a lead photographer at i-maani photography and part of the Indian wedding industry for more than 10 years, I’ve seen thousands of gorgeous wedding dresses and designer outfits that, much of the time, are worn for literally hours.

Today, we live in a world where there appears to be an emphasis on looking and feeling great; it’s something people achieve through wearing stylish outfits and following the latest trends. Fashion is evolving at great pace; however, keeping up can prove a problem when disposable income is limited. More importantly, with environmental concerns growing, sustainable fashion has also now become a hot topic in a bid to reduce textile waste.

With Buy My Sari, my aim is to tackle both issues.

Shital Perwaz