Saree that won ballroom dance prizes

This dashing young Air Force officer (those days Royal Air Force) and his gorgeous wife were fabulous dancers and won many a prizes!

This is such a delightful picture, it is easily one of my most favorite picture on this site.

Picture Circa 1940’s.

Mona – in a saree from 1937 – Saree History

Mona at her Father-in-law’s place in 1937 – dressed in a saree.

Came across a delightful Retroblog of Najm Tyabji. It is a retroblog of Mark Devereux’s grand father, who lived in India and was married to a Scottish woman, Mona.

It is a fine silk saree and looks like the blouse is more of a european style.

I am still looking for saree pictures from 1880’s- 1930’s; please send me a copy or a pointer if you find any.

Antariaya – saree from early times

an unstitched length of textile was the wearvof Indian women since as early as the Mauryan period (300-185vB.C.), if not before. Worn on body’s lower half, below the waist, the wear was known as antariya.

Men and women continued to wear three unstitched garments, as in Vedic times. The main garment was the antariya of white cotton, linen or flowered muslin, sometimes embroidered in gold and precious stones. For men, it was an unstitched length of cloth draped around the hips and between the legs in the kachcha style, extending from the waist to the calf or ankles or worn even shorter by peasants and commoners. The antariya was secured at the waist by a sash or kayabandh, often tied in a looped knot at the center front of the waist. The kayabandh could be simple sash, vethaka; one with drum-headed knot at the ends, muraja; a very elaborate band of embroidery, flat and ribbon-shaped, pattika; or a many-stringed one, kalabuka. The third item of clothing called uttariya was another length of material, usually fine cotton, very rarely silk, which was utilized as a long scarf to drape the top half of the body.

Remembering Chantal Boulanger – Happy Birthday

This blog is dedicated to Chantal (Sushila) Boulanger, a cultural saree anthropologist, in a true sense of the word. Her work and her book Saris: An Illustrated Guide to the Indian Art of Draping, describes and categorizes more than 100+ ways of draping a saree. She addressed the Saree draping in both artistic and scientific manner and has left a mark on the Saree World. Her work has been inspiring for me and her presence is missed.

She meticulously took pictures and organized information about the saees. This is a picture of a saree from a sculpture from 7th century.

OF ALL the arts that have emerged out of India, one of the least known and studied is that of draping. Chantal Boulanger-Maloney devoted much of her time between 1980 and 1996 to travelling throughout south, central and eastern India researching and documenting 100 different styles of draping saris. She was particularly concerned that many of these styles would be forgotten if they were not documented. Her pioneering research was consolidated and published in her book Saris: an illustrated guide to the Indian art of draping (1997), which included many of her own drawings.

Vintage Saree picture from 1959

From 1959 Life Magazine.

100 year old saree picture : Sri lanka

This is a gem. A picture circa 1908; a saree clad woman tapping a rubber tree.

Seems like a single piece garment as one would expect.

Mormons: you can not wear saree in church!

Marissa (from NY) in her Spinalmoth blog has a posting titled “Sari Sadness”:

In an earlier post I expressed my sadness for not having an excuse to wear a sari. At church today one of the brothers (the first bishop in India!) gave a talk about preparing for the temple. In it he explained how for Indian women in the church, although wearing a sari is something most women want to be able to do, especially once they are endowed, Indian LDS women cannot if they are to dress modestly.

For some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that sari’s were immodest. The choli (the top) is often short sleeved and not super low cut and the pallu (the loose draped fabric) often covers up the front of the midriff so I didn’t think much about it. For those who don’t know, traditionally, sari’s leave part of the midriff exposed. How much midriff exposure varies but there is almost always SOME.

I am not going to reflect on the Later Day Saints (LDS or Mormons), but to suggest that a saree is “immodest” is not fair to the perishners. Saree is the most versatile garment there is. If a muslim woman following Hijab can wear a saree, there is no reason a member of the LDS can not wear a saree.

You just need to use the right blouse and have an appropriate length of the blouse so it covers your body and you can use your pallu to cover yourself and remain “modest”.

But there is no logic to religious practices; you got to follow your faith and avoid wearing a saree at the church.

But I do share her sari sadness!

PS: This is only true for LDS (Mormon) church; other churches and denominations do not have such restriction. In fact, the most recent bible approved by the church for India, includes pictures of women in saree. There is a picture of Virgin Mary in saree somewhere.

We are all imitators – Raja Ravi Varma Paintings

Every time I see painting of Raja Ravi Varma, I am reminded that as to how little have we learned about the saree design since he put paint on the canvas.