All About the Gorgeous Saree - Part 2

In part 1 of this series, I wrote about how to wear a saree and how a saree can be of different types and styles. The saree can be worn in more than one way and each has it's unique aspect. Of course, this may cause a bit of panic to a first time saree user but trust me, the trick is to pick the one that you feel most comfortable in and suits you the best. Not every Indian woman knows how to wear the sarees in different ways. Most women know the common way of wearing a saree and they stick with it except on certain special occasions. I explained the easiest way to wear the saree in my previous post. Now onto the next important step, picking the best saree for you. It is as important as how to wear the saree. Sometimes, people wear it right but they don't just pick the right saree for them. Here are few tips on how to pick the best one for you. Of course, you can add your own flavour to it and make it more personalized to your style. This post covers two aspects of picking the right saree. The rest will be covered in the next part.

Colour Matters

As any other attire, the saree needs to be picked up based on ones skin complexion. Indian women range through fair to wheetish brown to darker brown. Understanding their complexion leads to better selection of saree.

For women who are on the darker side of the complexion, subtle colours usually do not bring out the beauty of the saree or their skin. They should go with darker colours like maroon, dim red, peacock green, peacock blue. It would be better for them to stay away from colours like cream, baby pink or white as it might end up dominating their dark skin complexion, thereby showing their skin darker.

If you are a westerner, trying out saree for the first time, go for bold colours as the complexion of must westeners are fair and colours like red, blue, dark green, pink, enhance their skin tone. They give a balance to their fair complexion and bring out the beauty in both the saree and the skin. Important point to remember, Indian Saree is most popular for their colour so dare to go bold. Subtle English colours and pastels may look great on western dress but doesn't really bring out the beauty in an Indian Saree. Of the two, I prefer the second one better. The first one is definitely elegant but not traditionally Indian. You decide which one you would choose. There is no right or wrong.

 

If you really want to try out the colours of India, go for a Saree with many colours instead of a monotone saree. Sarees with contrasting colours bring out the real spirit of India. In some sarees, the border and/or pallu contrasts with the main body of the saree (as in the below photograph). Most traditional South Indian Sarees are fashioned this way and they add a tint of tradition to the already beautiful Saree.

Choose the Right Fabric

In Part 1, I listed the various fabric you can go for while choosing a saree. Knowing which fabric suits you the most is important before you pick. This is especially important if you are picking a saree just for the kick of it. If you are not going to wear a saree too often, don't spend a fortune on it. A traditional Indian saree can cost from anywhere between 300 Indian Rupees (5 USD) to 40 lacs Indian Rupees (100,000 USD - a world record). You read it right, 100,000 USD! The cost factor is based on the fabric, the way by which the fabric is dyed, how the saree is embellished, precious stones/metals (if any) added to the design, and of course the amount of manual labour put in creating a saree. The cheapest sarees are usually machine produced. The 100,000 USD saree is embellished with 12 precious stone encased in platinum, gold and silver, includes 11 woven painting replicas of legendary Raja Ravi Varma's painting and a group of 50 weavers worked to produce one saree. That justifies the cost but I don't think I will ever buy it. My point, pick the right material, and you can get away with a great saree with a low cost.

The 100,000 USD (40 lac) Saree

If you are only going to wear the saree once or very rarely, you may want to ignore silk. Silk sarees are usually priced at a higher rate than other materials and maintenance of silk saree isn't an easy affair. You may want to choose between cotton, or other synthetic fabric.

If you are trying the saree for the first time, I would go for synthetic fabric. They are easy to manage when compared to Silk or Cotton. Silk and cotton have the tendency to get creased quickly if you do not manage the saree well. Synthetic lets you be yourself and feel comfortable in this foreign attire.

If you are picking a saree for a special occasion, chuck cotton. Go for silk or synthetic fabric embellished with crystals and shiny metals. They add shimmer to the occasion and you get brighter colours in silk and synthetic.

Silk saree with woven golden thread

 Plain & Simple - Cotton Saree

           

 Low cost synthetic machine design sarees

  

 Synthetic saree with manual crystal and metal patterns

My personal favourite is silk is silk saree with gorgeous jari (woven golden thread). It's traditional, colourful, glorious and elegant. Ofcourse, it comes with a little additional cost and maintenance effort.

In the next part I will write about few more tips to choose the perfect saree and how to care for your saree. Until next time... Namaste!