If you have bought Indian clothing online and been surprised by what turned up, this is usually why. Three terms, and they mean genuinely different things.
Ready to wear (or “stitched”)
Made up to a stated size. Take it out of the packet, check the fit, wear it. This is what most people assume they are buying, and it is what you should look for if you do not have a tailor.
Semi-stitched
Partly made up, deliberately left unfinished at the seams so a tailor can fit it to you. Usually the bust and the length are left with extra fabric.
The size on the listing is the maximum it can be let out to – a semi-stitched 42 can be taken down to a 38, but it cannot be pushed to a 44. Buy at or above your size, never below.
Unstitched
Fabric, cut to the right lengths for the garment, with the pieces matched – but nothing sewn. An unstitched suit set is three pieces of cloth: kameez fabric, bottom fabric, dupatta. It is not wearable until a tailor makes it.
People buy unstitched deliberately, because you get a garment cut exactly to you and you can choose the neckline and sleeve. It is not a mistake or a lesser product – but it is not clothing yet.
Where the saree blouse fits in
Most sarees come with an unstitched blouse piece: an extra 0.8 metres or so of matching fabric, attached to the end of the saree, for a tailor to make a blouse from. Some come with a ready-stitched blouse in a stated size. A few come with neither.
We say which in the title and the description. If it matters to you – and it should – check before ordering.
The returns catch worth knowing
Once a blouse piece has been cut or stitched, it cannot be returned. Neither can a semi-stitched garment a tailor has finished. That is not us being difficult – the item genuinely cannot go back into stock.
So the order of operations matters: open the parcel, check the fabric and colour, decide whether you are keeping it, and only then go to the tailor. You have thirty days from delivery, which is plenty of time to do it in that order.
Finding a tailor in the US
Any competent alterations tailor can finish a semi-stitched garment. For an unstitched suit, look for someone who has made Indian clothing before – the cut of a kameez is not obvious if you have not done one. Dry cleaners in areas with a South Asian community very often have someone, and it is usually a good deal cheaper than you expect.