The saree is a traditional Indian garment that exudes femininity and modest sensuality. The flattering cascading silhouette has been a part of Indian culture as early as 300BC with ancient figurines depicting a female figure with a rectangular cloth draped across her lower body. Naturally, the traditional garment has been updated following present societal and cultural norms. According to the BBC, it wasn’t until the 20th century that Jnanadanandini Devi (the wife of Satyendranath Tagore, brother of the famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore) popularised blouses, jackets, chemises and the modern saree style. There is an art to styling a saree and many ways to do it too. To clue us in on three styles, we called upon Miss Universe Malaysia, Shweta Sekhon to guide us on how she dons the traditional Indian garment.
Style #1: The traditional saree
i) First, wear an inner skirt that matches your saree cloth.ii) Hold up the saree breadth-wise, and make a knot on the top right corner. iii) Place the knot at your spine and tuck it in your saree skirt.iv) Wrap the skirt around your body once and tuck in the top ends into your skirt.v) Make your pleats at the centre of the cloth- the bigger the better! vi) Place them at your navel. vi) Adjust them according to the desired height (ie. Are you wearing heels or flats?)vii) Now tuck them into your skirt. viii) Make pleats with your remaining fabricix) Position it on your left and then circle it around your body once. x) Place on your left shoulder.xi) Adjust and pin to secure in place
Style #2: The Gujarati saree
i) i) First, wear an inner skirt that matches your saree cloth.ii) Hold up the saree breadth-wise, and make a knot on the top right corner. iii) Place the knot at your spine and tuck it in your saree skirt.iv) Wrap the skirt around your body once and tuck in the top ends into your skirt.v) Make your pleats at the centre of the cloth- the bigger the better! vi) Place them at your navel. vi) Adjust them according to the desired height (ie. Are you wearing heels or flats?)vii) Now tuck them into your skirt. viii) Make pleats with your remaining fabricix) Place on your right shoulder. x) Take the pleat closest to your body, pull it across your body and pin it to your blouse.
Style #3: The jumpsuit saree
i) Start out with trousers as an innerii) Divide your saree into four parts. Place a quarter of your saree on your left.iii) Place the cloth at hip level.iv) Tie a double knot at your navel. v) Tuck the knots into your trousers. vi) Take the cloth on your left and thread it under your left leg.vii) Find the end of the cloth and fold them into pleats.viii) Tuck the ends into your trousers. ix) Repeat steps vi and vii on your right side.x) Place the cloth on your left shoulder
CreditsVideography: Shepherd PicturesMakeup and hair: Ling ChongArt direction: Calleigh Yap and Joan Kong
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