Price guide
Abaya price in Pakistan: what you are actually paying for
Zee & Zaa sells every abaya at Rs. 6,800 flat, in sizes S to XL, with free Cash on Delivery anywhere in Pakistan. Abaya prices across the market fall into four brackets: unstitched bazaar cloth you have tailored, mass-market machine-embroidered ready-to-wear, hand-finished small labels, and imported Gulf pieces. Fabric weight, lining and hours of hand embroidery are what move a piece between them.
Every abaya listing in Pakistan shows you a number and none of them show you the structure behind it. That is the gap this page fills. It is written from the inside of a small label that cuts and stitches in Multan, so the cost lines described here are ones we actually pay.
We do not quote anyone else's prices on this page, because we cannot verify what is behind them and a number without its structure is worse than no number at all. What we can do is describe the brackets honestly and tell you exactly what sits inside ours.
How much does an abaya cost in Pakistan?
An abaya in Pakistan costs whatever its fabric, its lining and its embroidery hours cost, which is why one word covers both a bazaar cut-length and a hand-worked occasion piece. Zee & Zaa charges Rs. 6,800 for every abaya in sizes S to XL, with no delivery charge inside Pakistan, so that is the exact amount you hand the rider.
The market sorts itself into four brackets, and knowing which one a listing sits in tells you far more than the figure attached to it.
- Unstitched cloth from a bazaar, plus a tailor. The cheapest route and the most work. You choose the metres, you carry the risk on fit, and the finish is only as good as the tailor you already trust. Nothing is lined unless you pay for lining separately.
- Mass-market machine-embroidered ready-to-wear. Made in volume, usually in lighter fabric, with the motif run under a machine head so every piece is identical. It arrives quickly and photographs well. Sizing tends to be one loose cut relabelled across the range.
- Hand-finished small labels. Fewer pieces, heavier fabric, embroidery set by hand on a wooden frame called an adda, and a person who has actually looked at your piece before it was packed. This is where Zee & Zaa sits.
- Imported Gulf ready-to-wear. Priced against a different economy and a different currency before it ever reaches a Pakistani shelf, and usually graded for a different height range, which is why the hem so often sits wrong.
What actually drives the price of an abaya?
Six things drive the price of an abaya: how many metres of fabric the cut consumes, how heavy that fabric is, whether it is lined, whether the embroidery was set by hand or by machine, how the piece is graded and checked, and what it costs to get it to your door. Everything else is margin or marketing.
Fabric is the first and largest line. A flared abaya consumes noticeably more cloth than a straight one, because the flare comes from extra panels rather than from clever cutting, and heavier cloth costs more per metre before a single extra panel is added. That is why a piece can look plain and still cost more than a busy one.
Lining is the line most buyers never think about and feel immediately. An unlined light fabric is sheer in daylight, so either the seller lines it, which is a second cut and a second set of seams, or you buy a slip and wear two layers in Pakistani heat. We line rather than leave it to you.
Then there is embroidery, and this is where the brackets separate hardest. A machine head repeats a motif in minutes. Hand tilla is laid on the surface of the cloth and couched down with tiny stitches of matching silk, because metallic thread is too stiff to pass repeatedly through fine fabric. It is slower by an order of magnitude, and it is the reason the gold sits proud of the cloth and catches light as you move instead of lying flat in it.
Karigar labour is the fourth line and it is a real wage, not a rounding error. Drawing and pricking the motif, setting the panel drum tight on the adda, couching the thread, knotting each bead individually so a snag cannot unzip a row: none of that is fast, and none of it can be made fast without it showing.
| Cost driver | What it changes | How it shows up in the finished abaya |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric weight | Metres and grams of cloth in the piece | How it hangs at the hem, and whether you can see through it standing in sun |
| Number of panels | How much cloth the flare consumes | Whether the abaya swings when you walk or falls straight |
| Lining | A second layer, cut and stitched to the shell | Whether you need a slip underneath in daylight |
| Embroidery method | Hours on an adda against minutes under a machine head | Whether the motif is identical on every piece, or slightly its own |
| Metallic thread | Material cost plus couching time | Whether the gold sits proud of the cloth or flat in it |
| Grading and cutting | A separate pattern per size instead of one loose cut | Whether the shoulder and sleeve sit right on your frame |
| Checking and rejects | Pieces pulled from the run and remade | Whether you are the one who finds the fault, at your door |
| Courier and Cash on Delivery | A paid delivery leg and a cash collection fee | Whether the price on the site is the price you actually pay |
Why does Zee & Zaa charge one flat price for every size?
Zee & Zaa charges Rs. 6,800 for sizes S to XL because we would rather absorb the difference than make a taller woman pay a surcharge for being tall. An XL genuinely consumes more cloth than an S, roughly six inches more length before the flare is accounted for, and much of the market prices that difference through to the customer.
We average it across the run instead. The embroidery is the same work on every size, the checking is the same, the packing is the same, and the fabric difference is small enough to carry. Pricing by size would earn us a little more and would cost us something we care about more, which is that a size is never a reason to hesitate.
The same logic covers embroidery. We do not run a plain version and an embroidered version at two prices, because that turns the handwork into an upsell and quietly pushes the plain piece to be the cheap one. One silhouette, one standard, one price.
The practical consequence for you is that comparing our pieces is only ever about shade and fabric. There is no configuration of options that makes the number move, and no discount code you are missing out on by not hunting for one.
What does free Cash on Delivery actually cost the seller?
Free Cash on Delivery is not free to run, and Zee & Zaa absorbs it rather than adding it to the price at checkout. The courier charges for the delivery leg, charges again as a percentage to collect and remit cash, and charges a return leg on every parcel that comes back. None of that appears on your bill.
The refused-parcel rate is the part nobody mentions. With Cash on Delivery, an order that is not accepted at the door has already consumed a delivery leg and a return leg, plus the fabric, the labour and the packing of a piece that comes back to us to be checked again. That cost is real and it is spread quietly across every order that does complete.
We keep it that way on purpose. The alternative is asking a first-time customer in a city we have never shipped to for money in advance for an abaya she has not touched, which is exactly the transaction most Pakistani buyers are right to be wary of. Opening the parcel before paying is worth more to us than the margin.
What it means in practice is simple: Rs. 6,800 is the whole amount. No delivery charge, no collection fee, no fuel surcharge, no advance payment, anywhere in Pakistan, in 3 to 7 working days, depending on your city.
Is a more expensive abaya always a better abaya?
No. Price tracks materials and labour, and plenty of what raises a price adds nothing you will ever feel. Imported freight, a shopfront on a main road, a heavy discount permanently marked against an invented original price: all of those sit inside a number without putting a single extra hour into the garment.
The reverse trap is just as common. A very low price on a finished, embroidered, full-length abaya has to have come from somewhere, and usually it came from the fabric being lighter than it looks in the photograph, or from there being no lining, or from the embroidery being a print rather than thread.
The useful question is not how much it costs but what the cost is made of. An abaya where the money went into cloth weight, lining and hand hours will outlast one where the money went into freight and shopfront rent, at the same figure.
How do you judge an abaya's price before you buy?
Judge an abaya by the six things a good listing will tell you and a bad one will not. If a seller names the fabric, states whether it is lined, says how the embroidery was made, publishes real garment measurements, gives a delivery window and an exchange window, the price is at least legible. If the listing only shows a photograph and a number, you are guessing.
- Is the fabric named, and named specifically? Nida and crepe behave differently, and a listing that just says premium fabric is telling you nothing.
- Is it lined, or will you be buying a slip separately? Ask outright, especially on pale shades.
- Hand embroidery or machine? Hand work varies slightly piece to piece and that variation is the proof.
- Are there real measurements, in inches or centimetres, per size? A single loose cut relabelled S to XL is not a size range.
- What is the delivery window and who pays for it? A low price with a delivery charge bolted on at checkout is not a low price.
- What happens if the size is wrong? An exchange window with clear conditions is worth more than a small discount.
Common questions about abaya prices
Why do abaya prices in Pakistan vary so much?
Abaya prices vary because the word covers very different garments. An unstitched cut-length, a machine-embroidered mass-market piece, a hand-finished small-label abaya and an imported Gulf piece all get listed as abayas. Fabric weight, whether it is lined, and whether the embroidery was set by hand or by machine account for most of the difference you see.
Is a hand-embroidered abaya worth more than a machine-embroidered one?
Hand embroidery costs more to make because it takes hours rather than minutes, and it looks different up close: the metallic thread is couched onto the surface so it sits proud of the cloth and catches light as you move. Whether that is worth more to you depends on whether you want an occasion piece or a daily one.
Do larger abaya sizes cost more at Zee & Zaa?
No. Every Zee & Zaa abaya is Rs. 6,800 in sizes S to XL, and an XL costs exactly what an S costs. A larger size does consume more cloth, but we average that across the run rather than charging a taller customer a surcharge. Size should never be a reason to hesitate over a price.
Do I pay extra for delivery when I buy an abaya online in Pakistan?
Not with Zee & Zaa. Delivery inside Pakistan is free on every order, so Rs. 6,800 is the exact amount you hand the rider at your door. There is no delivery charge, no cash collection fee and no advance payment. International orders are quoted separately by email or Instagram DM after you order.
More abaya guides
Fabric guide
Nida vs crepe abaya: which fabric is better?
The two fabrics almost every Pakistani abaya is made from, compared on weight, drape, heat and washing.
Definitions
The difference between an abaya, a jilbab and a burqa
Six garments defined plainly: abaya, jilbab, burqa, chador, niqab and hijab, with Pakistani and Gulf usage separated.
Care guide
How to wash an abaya without ruining the fabric
Temperature, cycle, detergent, drying and ironing for Nida, crepe, tilla embroidery and beadwork, plus stains and storage.
Ready to choose
Every Zee & Zaa abaya is Rs. 6,800 in sizes S to XL, with free Cash on Delivery across Pakistan in 3 to 7 working days, depending on your city and a 7-day size exchange.
Shop all abayasSize guideDelivery times by cityAll questions
Last reviewed 22 July 2026.