Saree – Beautiful and Beautifying Down the Ages

Turning the pages of history, one would find that saree has always made its presence felt. In every civilization, age or generation, woman of the eastern world have always revealed her true grace in a saree. A saree has always veiled her shyness, and expressed her dignity.

A sari is probably the most lengthy of the garments. The fact that it is unstitched, allows the artisan to use the entire dimension. The base tells a story and the borders draw the conclusions! The blouse adds to the final finish.

It is a panoramic. It can carry prints, machine embroideries and handworks. It can be worn in various ways to display the most prominently ornamented portions of the length. There is the simple style where the ‘aanchal’ or ‘pallu’ is pleated and tucked onto the left shoulder. This is mostly for young or modern women. The older generation might take the ‘aanchal’ up from behind, allow it to come in front over the right shoulder and fix the loose end on the left waist. There is yet another style preferred by the women of Bengal and Orissa in India and also Bangladesh.

In this the skirt is left non-pleated. There is a simple enwrapping. The ‘aanchal’ is left hanging over the left shoulder, at times a bunch of keys knotted on the end.

Again, in parties or weddings, the aanchal is left non-pleated to display work, if it is a saree with heavy embroideries and embellishments.

Choice of Fabrics

Various fabrics are available for weaving of sarees, depending upon the seasons and occasions. The stature and built of the person who would wear the saree also matters. Fabrics that are lustrous like tussar silk, brocade silk, jamevar silk are for heavy work sarees for very special occasions. Cottons, chiffons and georgettes are for casual wear. If one is slightly bulky and broad-shouldered, then chiffons and georgettes are best suited for her. The slimmer bodies should be draped in cotton, khadi and silk.

Saree coupled with the right kind of blouse

A saree becomes yet more elegant when the blouse is designed to be compatible. True artistry lies in bringing about a harmony between the saree and the blouse. There are several cuts, neck and back designs, based on the occasion, the ornamental works on the blouse. The sleeves can be spaghetti very short, short, till the elbows and covering the elbow. The shoulder could be puffed, piped, frilled or laced. There is the open back style, where the blouse needs to be string tied. It could be buttoned on the front or on the back. Nowadays, the pull –on blouses, that are not hooked, buttoned or stringed, are also in vogue. They are stretchable. Traditional sarees are usually coupled with bordered, embroidered and stringed blouses. The party wears are usually bettered by spaghettis and shoulder-less ones.

So a saree can be stylized and fashioned in every way. It can be the best friend of woman who adheres to tradition as well as the woman who changes her preferences with the changing fashions, or one who is bold enough to make her own style statement – a trend-setter. It veils a shy woman and reveals the bold beauty. Saree is ever beautiful and beautifying. It is hand-in-hand with history and heritage yet can bring a fresh lease whenever woman desires a new look.

Salwar Kameez and the Comfort Factor

Once the right fabric prepares the base for the artisan, the real play begins with his handwork. By handwork, it is meant that it is not0 machine embroidered. The work is done with manual labor and patience. India has a great many number of embroidery styles having their roots in different provinces. The most common for salwars and kurtis, is the chikkankari of Lucknow, Rampur and Agra. Fine threads are used to embroider floral patterns usually cotton cloth. Hand-painting and Jamdani weave are the specialization of Faizabad.

Moving to the north of India, the embroidery most prominently practiced by the women of Punjab is the ‘phulkari’. ‘Phulkari’ means growing of flowers. It dates back to the vedic ages. There is the use of silk floss on simple Khadi cloth. Stitching done in different directions brings out the light-and-shadow effect. Some of the different styles of Phulkari are – chope, ghunghat bagh, suber, darshan-dwaar and chamba. In Bengal there is the famous Kantha Stitch that is mostly thought of in association with wedding sarees. The variations are – sujni kantha, archilata kantha, durjani kantha and rumal kantha. The run stitches are of various types. For example simple, mat style, maze style and tessellation style. Mirror-work over multi-colored thread embroidery is the contribution of the western India. It looks very colorful and befitting the gypsy culture where people enjoy wandering, singing and dancing in groups. There is the enigmatic jaali work of Jodhpur. Rajasthan has given to us the art of block printing and tie-and die (baandhni).Places in and around Indore and Bhopal are renowned for their Zari and leather appliqué works; Sikkim, for leather appliqué.

The Aari or Zardosi embroidery has been in India since the Mughal regime (15th century). ‘Aar’ means needle. The zardosi stitch requires a wooden frame in order to keep the cotton cloth fixed and fully stretched so that the designs on paper can be traced and thereafter the needle could be firmly pushed through the cloth. The concept is borrowed from the idea of a stretched cot or khatia. This enables the craftsman to use both hands with adroitness and speed. After this work, beads, sequins or fine wires of real gold and silver are used for ornamentation.

Indian embroidery and artistry has always been seducing people from different corners of the world with its colors, individualities and ability to leave the gazers awe-struck at the skill which has come down from one generation to the other without a loosening of the chords of tradition.

Silk and Cotton

Silk: Silks are the wonders from the bounties of nature. The home of a worm turned into fine resplendent fabrics with a natural sheen. Silk is measured in “mm”, pronounced as “mommy”. Raw silks are usually not as lustrous as the processed silks. It has the sericin removed, but looks luster-less and easily absorbs dirt and odors. This silk can be used if one prefers stiff fabrics for occasional wear. Jacquard silks are truly enigmatic with multi-threading so has to give off a light and shade.They are heavy because of the dense weave. There is the douppioni silk cannot resist stress and abrasions. They need dry-cleaning. With the first few washes the fabric sheds away the dyes. Quite unlike douppioni, the noil silk can bear abrasions due to casual wearing and travel. Though often mistaken to be cotton, it has a unique soft and wrinkle-free attribute. The tussah silk is the stubborn one of its breeds. It is difficult to dye tussah silk and therefore, it is usually available in its natural tan or dark wheat color. Charmeuse silk is befitting the common man’s idea of silk. It is apt for blouse, scarves and ladies lingerie. In India Mumbai, Surat, Benaras, Chanderi, Maheshwar, Mysore, Kanchipuram, Tanjore and Kumbakonam contribute to the silk weaving industry. Parts of Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram are also famous for silk.

Cotton: The word ‘cotton’ originates in Arabic. Cotton is the most comfortable and elegant fabric for daily wear. It needs to be tailored properly. It is especially preferable in hot and humid weather. But, it is equally advisable for winters too. It has an ability to retain body temperature. In rainy seasons it takes time to dry up, as the fibers retain water/moisture for a long time. Handloom cotton looks most graceful. Formal or casual Salwar Suits or casual Kurtis are mostly in cotton.

India has a wide variety of cotton. Most wonderfully, in spite of all its diversities, India has always dressed up unanimously in a variety of cotton. It saw the birth of Khadi. In every state, there is the use of cotton for garments.

Cotton can be beautifully printed and embroidered. It remains well-set and is quite manageable. Slimmer bodies look good in cotton apparels. Cotton sarees are also appealing to the Indian women. If worn tidily, a simple cotton printed saree and salwar kameez can really be fascinating and they enhance your dignity.