Blogs on Sarees

Chiffon has been a favorite in the textile industry for a long time now because of its high demand among people. From dresses to tunics, chiffon is used to make a lot of garments including sarees. Their sheer and transparent fabric makes Chiffon sarees a favorite among saree lovers. People usually believe that chiffon sarees come only in prints. However, they also come with exquisite embroidery, sequin work, and gota patti work which make a chiffon saree party wear perfect. People can style these sarees according to their personal preferences and mood.

Kalamkari has its roots in South India in the state of Andhra Pradesh and dates back to at least 3000 years ago. Generations of craftsmen have spent their lives practicing and perfecting it and making this art what it is today. It is mainly done in Machilipatnam and Srikalahasti with the processes adopted in both the places being slightly different from one another. While wooden pens are used in Srikalahasti to create the outline of designs, hand-carved wooden blocks are used to print the outlines by Machilipatnam artisans. Breathtaking patterns of flowers, vines, trees, peacocks, parrots, etc are created on cotton and even silk fabrics by using natural dyes.

Discover different ways to wear Banarasi sarees and make a fashion statement at events. Choose from various styles such as Neck Drape, Bengali, Lehenga, Dhoti, and Pant styles with tips and tricks to enhance your look. Experiment with new styles and add versatility to your traditional Indian attire.

Women consider the Silk Saree collection as an asset. An authentic, finely woven silk Saree can last for generations if maintained well. So, it is no wonder that Indian women prefer their wedding Sarees in silk fabric. Moreover, it's a blissful way of celebrating if a girl wears her grandmother's Saree on traditional occasions. Wedding Saree shopping in India must include a Kanchipuram Silk along with a Banarasi Silk Saree.

Known for their vibrant colors, luxurious fabric, and opulent look, Banarasi sarees have a mystical propensity to attract all eyes. When it comes to donning ethnic wear on special occasions such as weddings and festivities, the first thing that comes to the mind of Indian women is wearing a heavy Banarasi saree which can make them stand out in the crowd. These sarees are handcrafted by the skilled artisans of the holy city of Banaras. They pour their heart into making these sarees and maybe that’s the reason why every woman appears immensely beautiful when draped in a Banarasi. If there is one variety of sarees that Bollywood celebrities love, it has to be Banarasi saree. Not just ordinary women, but Banarasi saree has got a special place in the hearts of the Divas as well.

The word ‘Bandhani’, also known as Bandhej, is descended from the Sanskrit word ‘bandha’ meaning ‘to bind’, a craft predominantly practiced in Gujarat and Rajasthan. This tie-n-dye technique dates back to the 6th century and was traditionally used by the Khatri community in rural areas of Gujarat, India. At present, it has gained immense popularity in mainstream fashion. As per the historians, the first Bandhani saree was sported at the time of Banabhatt’s Harshacharita in a royal marriage. Bandhani is an ancient art. Earliest references to this technique of picking the cloth with fingernails and tying it before dyeing are found in Indus Valley Civilization records. Even the Buddhist paintings, in the famous Ajanta caves, have Bandhani testimonials. Texts dating back to the times of Alexander the Great, have also inscribed Indian Bandhani.

History says that the Kanjivaram saree, considered as one of the most gorgeous sarees in the world has a close association with saint Markanda. He used to weave clothes for the gods themselves. Also, the Chola king Krishna Deva Rai who ruled Kanchipuram city from the year 985 to 1015, took the initiative of trading silk sarees. Thus Kanjeevaram saree originated from a small town named Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, India. These saris are loved and worn as bridal, and special occasion saris by womenfolk of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. Now, it is an international sensation. Owing to its name, it could be judged as the south Indian version of the Banarasi silk saree.

Banarasi sarees have always been in trend since the time of the Mughal invasion of India. Modernization has led to many changes in the fashion industry but the love for Banarasi sarees among Indian women has never been diminished. As the name suggests, Banarasi sarees originate from the holy city of India, Banaras or Varanasi, located in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The diligent weavers of the city are the experts in designing beautiful handwoven sarees made of pure silk fabric (Banarasi silk), making them quite expensive to buy. They use gold and silver metallic threads to create heavy embroideries and this work is called Brocade or Zari. Formerly, Banarasi sarees were handmade using metallic threads dipped in real gold and silver, and each saree would take around a year to make. Endowed with a brilliant and soothing shine all over, Banarasi sarees are undoubtedly the most beloved attire country-wide.

The word “saree” is believed to be derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “strip of cloth”. Saree, symbolic of femininity, is probably the world’s only erstwhile, unstitched attire extensively and affectionately enjoyed in India and other Asian countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal & Myanmar. Wearing a saree is an Indian tradition and culture for many ages. Womenfolk used to drape sarees since the Indus valley civilization. Since then it has undergone a lot of adaptation in designs, colors, fabrics, and styles of draping. Traditionally saris were worn without blouses and most of the drapes had no petticoat. Modern style of draping sarees originated during the Mughal era. During earlier days, the six-yard cloth was worn in a single sheath, without pleats. An illustrious woman from Bengal taught the society to drape a saree with pleats.

Made in the ancient city of Varanasi or Banaras, Banarasi sarees are one of the most loved sarees among Indian women. Be it a glamorous wedding or a grand festival, they choose to wear Banarasi sarees to enhance their traditional look, which in itself brings in grace. The intricacy of designs, their rich base colors, and the opulent broad silken borders are the basis of these sarees that make them never go out of style.

While the classic drape is always a favourite for women, sarees have been constantly given a touch of modern flavours, such as the traditional cotton and silk saree is now found in a variety of jute, nylon, rayon, georgette, chiffon, satin and also blended fabrics. Both classic and modern or fusion drapes find a place in every woman’s wardrobe. And with the online purchasing, love for this quintessential piece has grown even more. However, some sarees remain unnoticed by women who desire to flaunt the traditional attires. Hence, we have come up with ten regional sarees of India that you can add in your wardrobe and create a collection that showcases the brilliance of Indian craftsmanship.

Sarees have been an essential part of the Indian wardrobe since time immemorial. It’s a timeless garment that has been evolving as years passed by, and even today is one of the most elegant and voguish pieces of clothing owned by an Indian woman. A date with a special someone? A festival on the weekend? A college farewell? Sarees are there for every moment of your life!! A saree has the power to convert a girl next door into an artist’s muse! Everyone drapes a saree slightly differently and everyone’s body looks different in it. But women in sarees are like snowflakes. Unique yet beautiful in their own way. Designer sarees of today are an Indian girl’s best friend

Jamdani is a vividly patterned, sheer cotton fabric, traditionally woven on a handloom by craftspeople and apprentices around Dhaka. Jamdani textiles combine intricacy of design with muted or vibrant colours, and the finished garments are highly breathable. Jamdani is a time-consuming and labour-intensive form of weaving because of the richness of its motifs, which are created directly on the loom using the discontinuous weft technique. Weaving is thriving today due to the fabric’s popularity for making saris, the principal dress of Bengali women at home and abroad. The Jamdani sari is a symbol of identity, dignity and self-recognition and provides wearers with a sense of cultural identity and social cohesion. The weavers develop an occupational identity and take great pride in their heritage; they enjoy social recognition and are highly respected for their skills. A few master weavers are recognized as bearers of the traditional Jamdani motifs and weaving techniques, and transmit the knowledge and skills to disciples. However, Jamdani weaving is principally transmitted by parents to children in home workshops. Weavers – together with spinners, dyers, loom-dressers and practitioners of a number of other supporting crafts – form a closely knit community with a strong sense of unity, identity and continuity.

While Indian women famously wear beautiful saris, for Indian men, the equivalent of the traditional garment is the Dhoti. The Dhoti is a common form of menswear in India. Originating from the Sanskrit word “dhauti”, which means to “cleanse or wash”, the Dhoti refers to a cleansed garment which is part of everyday wear and frequently worn. A form of men’s trousers, the style of the Dhoti actually evolved from the Antriya, which was an ancient garment what was worn by passing a cloth through one’s legs and tucking it in at the back of the waist. The Antriya loosely covered one’s legs and fell into long pleats at the front. Part of Indian men’s national and ethnic costume, the Dhoti is also referred to as dhuti, chaadra, mardani, dhotar, and panchey. The traditional Dhoti is made of a single rectangular piece of unstitched cloth. It usually measures around four and a half to five meters or fifteen feet long.

What makes the sari stand out from other clothes and fashion garments is the color options it comes in, combined with the long history of India, and with the addition of modern trends. As such, the sari today is the true representation of the beauty and the significance of how one traditional garment can survive the test of time. The abundance of prints and colors were all perfectly combined to deliver pieces that will make every woman beautiful in its own way, and additionally, convey a message that could hold a religious and cultural meaning. As such, the sari has become the ultimate and must-have Indian fashion garment that is still very popular today.

Odisha is considered one of the major handloom-concentrated states in India and its handloom products are recognized all over the country and abroad for their highly artistic and intricate designs, color combinations, and durability even today. The handloom originated from a small village called Bomkai in Patrapur Tahsil of Ganjam district and originally it was woven with coarser cotton yarn. The characteristic of this traditional Bomkai lies in the stepping and shaft formula and the regular motif remains the same in any composition. The uniqueness is that there is no fixed layout for the Anchal panels developed by extra weft in various colors.

The Glory of Jamawars of Kashmir The glory, and the colors of nature captured skillfully on cloth characterize the famous Jamawars of Kashmir. "Jama" means robe and "war" is yard. King and nobles bought the woven fabric by the yard, wearing it as a gown or using it as a wrap or shawl. The base of the Jamawar was always wool-with perhaps addition of a little cotton. The brocaded parts were woven in silk or pashmina. Most of the designs were floral, with the kairy or paisley as the predominant motif. The art of weaving a Jamawar was painstaking and intricate one. Several kannis or little wooden shuttles of different colors were used for a single weft line of the fabric. Upto 50 colors could be worked into one shawl-the most popular colors being zard (yellow), sufed (white), mushki (black), ferozi (turquoise), ingari (green), uda (purple), gulnar (crimson) and kirmiz (scarlet). Months of hard work went into the preparation for each Jamawar, with not more than an inch being added per day in a 48-inch width of material. Elegance, luxury, sophistication and class. These are but a few of the adjectives that describes the Jamawar Art. Jamawar & Tanchoi are satin weave techniques where the motifs are created using the primary weft itself creating an inlaid look, unlike a brocade, which uses supplementary warp or weft to create the motifs. In industry jargon, we use the term Jamawar when the motifs feature more than one color, while Tanchois usually feature single color motifs. Often the patterns and colors in a Jamawar are more subtle and create an old-world-charm. Predominantly a silk-only weave, we sometimes also throw in some zari in the body or borders to create cross-over fabric that offer the best of both Jamawar and Brocade weaves in the same product.

Baluchari Art – Intricate Weaves and Visual Narratives Comprising saris, shawls and handkerchiefs, this textile is probably the only woven narrative in India. Every piece holds an interesting story in its folds — the lavish lifestyles of Nawabs and European sahibs and bibis. Though much is not known about its origins and also why the tradition stopped, over the years an effort has been made to revisit and revive Baluchari. The Baluchari saree was one of the National Award winners among the main weaving styles in the year 2009 and 2010 presented by the then President of India. hrough time, the visual language of textiles has offered up vital clues to the prevailing social contexts, to ideas of what was desirable and fashionable, to the economy and the body politic that was significant at their time of production and use. Examples abound from the late-16th-century woven Vrindavan Vastra with its images inspired from the Hindu text of the Bhagavata Purana, and on to today’s graphic t-shirts this widespread means of communication continues to endure. The late-19th-century pictorial Baluchari weave can be viewed through this prism of history and context with its enduring continuum echoing its past. The Baluchari sarees are known for their intricate designs and handwork on them. No other saree uses as many mythological designs as the Baluchari sarees. They are dominated by stories and characters from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. These characters give a royal look to the Baluchari sari. Saris depicting the story of Lord Krishna explaining the Bhagavad Gita to Arjun is one of the most popular design of Baluchari Saree. The mythological designs make a Baluchari saree perfect for ceremonial and festive occasions which have a religious touch to it. They are distinguished for their elaborate borders and fabulous pallu. The borders are ornamental and surround Kalka motifs within it. A series of figures are designed in rows and motifs, which are woven diagonally. Mostly the motif designs are in four alternative colours on a shaded background.

Bandhani –The Tie and Die Art since Time Immemorial Bandhej & Lehriya (implying Tie and Dye), a form of resist dyeing, is a technique of patterning fabric by tying parts of it in different ways to prevent the penetration of dyes. Bandhani comes from the Sanskrit word, ‘bandh’ which means to tie. This craft is one of the oldest in the world for making coloured designs on a fabric. The technique involves dyeing a fabric which is tied tightly with a thread at several points in various colors, thus producing a variety of patterns like Bandhni, Lehriya, Mothda, Ekdali and Shikari depending on the manner in which the cloth is tied. There is a magical quality about Bandhini: vibrant colours, arresting combinations, dramatic swirls and twirl – “Bandhini” derives its name from the Hindi word Bandhan which means ties, relation and therefore tying up. It is an antique art generally practiced mainly in Western India. Bandhani is being sold all over India and the demand has increased over the past few decades. Sales go up during the festive and wedding seasons in India. Majority of the market is domestic. If talking in terms of International demand, Safas and turbans of various kinds are more popular. It is generally believed that ‘Tie & Dye’ method began almost 5000 years before! Again, it is another assumption that it was during the reign of King Harshacharita, ‘Bandhani’ saree was donned initially and the occasion was a regal wedding. It is also presumed that the method of ‘Tie & Dye’ was customary at the time of Tang Dynasty rule in China and at the time of Nara in Japan.

Kalamkari – The Art Comprising Giant Tapestries to Small Squares Amongst the Indian textile tradition, the simple cotton Kalamkari fabric had a greater impact and revolutionised the garment trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. The vibrant jewel-bright colours, printed and painted, caught the fancy of women in England and France and became the fashion for daily wear. Kalamkari fabrics, dubbed as chintz, by the English traders, formed a major part of the trade of the East India Company. Kalamkari is an ancient Indian art that originated about 3000 years ago. It derives its name from Kalam meaning Pen, and Kari meaning work, literally Pen-work. The Kalamkari artist uses a bamboo or date palm stick pointed at one end with a bundle of fine hair attached to this pointed end to serve as the brush or pen. These paintings were earlier drawn on cotton fabric only, but now we can see these paintings on silk and other materials as well. Centuries ago, folk singers and painters used to wander from one village to other, narrating stories of Hindu mythology to the village people. But with course of time, the process of telling tales transformed into canvas painting and that’s when Kalamkari art first saw the light of day. The Kalamkari art includes both, printing and painting. Kalam, means a pen, and the art of freehand line forms the base of Kalamkari designs. The function of a painting was to convey a story, and the artists were well versed in iconography and stories of the epics. The colours used were to depict a mood, for example, rajas (a violent emotion) was painted in red and sattvic emotions were done in white and yellow. The Islamic culture took a larger synthesis of this art form and their inherent love for natural motifs surfaced in the Kalamkari fabrics of that time. The lotus, the palm, the mango, the peacock and the elephant motifs intermingled and blended in their design.

A quintessential item of Indian fashion is undoubtedly the Sari. In fact, when considering Indian style, the first thing that many often think of is the sari. The word “sari” itself comes from the Sanskrit word “sati”, which means strip of cloth. From the very meaning of the word, the Indian sari, which can also be spelled as “saree”, is one long piece of cloth, which is unstitched and usually measures between four and a half to nine yards long and twenty-four to forty-seven inches wide. Now, a sari is not just any simple piece of cloth. Saris come in a wide range of eye-catching colors, and striking designs that often feature various prints, embroideries and embellishments, and are made of different fabrics. There are said to be approximately thirty different regional varieties of Saris in India. The nation’s well-known tradition and expertise in dyeing, printing and silk weaving fabrics all come alive in the countless saris worn by women in India and beyond the country’s shores.

Banarasi Saris originate from the city of Varanasi, also known as Banaras, which is, naturally, within the region of Uttar Pradesh, India. It was during the Mughal period in the 14th century when the art of intricate weaving began to flourish in the city. During those times, the exquisite silk of the Banarasi Sari was exclusively crafted for royalty and was woven using genuine gold and silver threads. It could often take as long as one year in order to handcraft these silks. Suffice it to say, when it came to garments, the Banarasi Sari represented the pinnacle of quality craftsmanship, luxury, and extravagance.

A six step demonstration of how to easily drape a Saree.