#6 Drape a sari perfectly

As  a part of my 30 before 30 list, I learned how to drape a sari well. Special thanks to my mum, and the internet!

I love the sari, it is a beautiful garment,makes me feel elegant and grownup. I learnt to drape it fairly late in my youth, and even made a little comic about it. The only problem is I don't love it on myself. Post-wedding, I accumulated a lovely collection of silks and chiffons and net saris. But something was still amiss, saris always seemed a little "off" on me. 

That's when I realised I need to learn how to drape it well. There are a few little tricks of how to do it, and you need to adjust it to your own body type. 

 For instance I am a small person, with a few extra pounds in the middle. I have slim hips and broad shoulders. I don't have the typical large hipped small-waisted Indian figure(which looks so amazing in saris). So I made up a few tenets for myself, especially when it comes to the traditional silk saris.

1) No long pallus  for me, sadly. I stick to neatly draped accordian pleats, that is the only way I will not look over-whelmed by the sari.  The folded section of the pallu cannot extend too much beyond my shoulder blade. Otherwise I look like one of those rugby players.

2) A tiny bit of waist exposure is essential, for people who are blessed with no hips & a paunch. This falls nicely in line with a gathered pallu.

3) Front pleats are a bit of an issue for short & not-very-wide-hipped people. Especially since some saris these days seem to be long and tall and make up for a nice "pouf" right in front of your tummy. My solution(courtesy my mum) is to move them ever so slightly to the right.

4) Heels! Buy(and wear) the most comfortable high-heels you can find. Wedges always work for me. Many people dislike the look of wedges,but I like to think that having small feet can let you get away with chunky shoes.Wearing heels under a sari elongates the lower part of the sari, and makes you look elegant. 

So these are my four observations for draping a sari well. There was a wedding in the family recently, and I think I managed to pull off the sari pretty well.

Sari-draping for dummies

 

I am trying to document all the knowledge I gained during the process of getting married. One of the crucial learnings was how to sucessfully drape and be comfortable in saris. Sari-draping is a complex process, and you can only improve with practice. I say this from personal experience. And here's a shout out to my ex-colleagues R. here who inspired me to wear saris to office :) and Nabs for all the styling tips.

Summer begins

Its been seriously getting warm in the city. Though realistically, since i spend most of my day in an AC environment, the outside weather does not affect me as badly. but its still an excuse to bring out my summer clothes.

Red-head

I made myself a facebook profile picture today. I have no good photos of me, so why not make one I thought? I put in some elements I thought vital. Curly hair(of course), red lipstick, tea cup, giant sunglasses and a fancy jacket with huge shoulders. And blue skies. I love blue skies, they make me happy.

Just to clarify, I am not a red-head. But I love red hair, I think its so Celtic. And exotic. And nothing like mine. But then, whats the point of making your own picture, if you can't even change your hair colour! So it stays.