Hameedia is one of the leading menswear stores in Sri Lanka. Their prices aren’t cheap but they’ve got a great selection of apparel, shoes and accessories with some elegant designs to boot.
Apparel
Hameedia’s has been around since 1949 (!) and now they have a bunch of outlets located in and around Colombo. We dropped in at their flagship store in Wellawatte. They’ve got everything from casual wear, to suits, to ladies and kids apparel, but we wouldn’t really recommend Hameedia for the latter two.
The ground floor is for casual wear, with casual plaid shirts (Rs. 1500 – Rs. 3000), some pretty nice kurtha shirts (Rs. 2995 – Rs. 4995), an array of shorts, jeans and tees, as well as a small section for Adidas sportswear.
The first floor is dedicated for menswear with a good selection of work attire and linen pants ranging between Rs. 2000 – Rs. 7000. These aren’t really cheap but they’re also not as high as some of the other designer brand showrooms that have opened up recently.
If you’re looking to buy a new suit but you don’t have the time to have it tailored, the second floor has a great selection of ready-made suits from Le Bond, Envoy and Signature. We actually found some pretty good looking suits at around Rs. 15,000 which isn’t too bad, but they’ve also got stuff all the way up to Rs. 100,000+.
If you’re looking for something snazzy or a one to make you stand out, FH Studio has some bright coloured custom tailored jackets that fits the brief.
The third and final floor has the ladies and kids apparel, albeit with less of a selection. Bright colours seemed to be the theme with ladies wear with whole lot of kurtha type dresses with a very loud and vibrant designs. That being said they do have some subtle choices as well.
Shoes and Accessories
Hameedia is more or less known for its apparel, but they’ve actually got a great selection of formal and casual shoes. If like myself, you hate the pointy ended “”bottu-fied”” shoes you find at most shops in Colombo, you’ll love this place since they’ve actually got up to date, classy designs like oxfords and loafers.
Prices range between Rs. 5000 – Rs. 13,000, with the higher end pairs being hand made in Spain.
Most of the accessories are found on the ground floor. They’ve got a wide selection of leather belts with elegant buckles, which is becoming increasingly difficult to find.
They’ve also probably got the best selection of cufflinks I’ve come across. Besides those, you’ll find bow ties, suspenders, wallets, leather bags and even some nice watches.
Conclusion
When it comes to menswear, Hameedia is pretty hard to beat. They’ve got all their bases covered with a great selection of casual wear, formal wear as well as some of best shoes around.
