An Indian textile businessman, Pankaj Parakh made himself a shirt purely out of solid gold weighing more than 4kg to commemorate his 45th birthday, The Straits Times reported today.

The news portal reported that Parakh paid a whopping £127,000 (approximately RM683,000) for the 22-carat gold used, which took him two months to be made by a team of about 20 craftsmen.
“I wanted to wear something special when I say my thanks for my success at a thanksgiving visit to the Siddhivinayak Temple of the Hindu elephant god in Mumbai," Parakh said.

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Indian businessman Pankaj Parakh is escorted as he is wearing a four-kilograms shirt made of gold in Mumbai, India.

The businessman said the shirt is as flexible as any other shirts and it is just as comfortable, as it's lined with a thin cloth inside.

Parakh is married to wife Pratibha and has two sons Siddharth, 22, and Rahul, 19, both now in college.

He admitted that he is the one in the family that seems so passionate about gold citing that the rest of his family members do not have share his expensive passion.

"In fact, even on my wedding 23 years ago, a lot of people said it was embarrassing that I was wearing more gold than my bride, but I just love the royal metal. I never go out with less than two to three kilos of gold jewellery," Parakh added.

Due to his expensive obssession, Parakh moves about with a huge entourage for fear of falling victim of thefts.

However, Parakh is not the first to own a gold shirt.

Datta Phuge, a 32-year-old money-lender from Pimpri-Chinchwad, made headlines with a custom-made shirt which took a team of 15 goldsmiths two weeks to create and weave the gold threads, The Dailymail reported.

The shirt complete with its own matching cuffs and a set of rings crafted from leftover gold.

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Indian businessman Datta Phuge poses for a photo with a shirt made of gold, worth 12.7 million rupees, USD 240,000 at a shop in Pune. Phuge's shirt is made up of 14,000 pieces of 22-carat gold and put together by 15 craftsmen over 16 days.

Phuge's shirt was assembled on a fabric base of imported white velvet and comes with six Swarovski crystal buttons and an intricate belt, also made of gold.

According to reports, the gold shirt has been one of his dreams.

'I know I'm not the best looking man in the world but surely no woman could fail to be dazzled by this shirt?' Phuge said.

Sure.