My dad wears something like pantaloons when he and my mom go to our temple in Goa-it’s called a pitambar or something. My mom dons the 9 yard sari which also have “pants.” They’re very old-fashioned garments and they only wear them b/c the priests require it. Neither seems terribly attractive-the 9 yard sari is especially unflattering! Also, the pitambar is solely a male garmet, I believe.
Here’s a link to a great previous thread on the subject.
I have two saris now, but haven’t found a proper occasion (or the gumption) to wear them.
That leads to another question- a lot of women I saw with Saris didn’t appear to be wearing bras. Some would wear this tight, short sleeved sports bra looking thing, but other than that it appeared as though they were just wearing the Sari and nothing underneath.
(before anyone starts pointing fingers at me, let me clairfy that this was not as a result of ogling 50 year old Indian women at while at work, just casual observation)
My sister’s husband is Indian and she and I wore saris to her wedding. They looked really cool (if a bit odd given that we’re both fair-skinned redheads) but were a bitch to put on - I don’t think I’d want to wear them on a regular basis.
After the ceremony a bunch of us went out to the pub and I took off the main part of the sari, wearing only the blouse (and a pair of jeans). The Indians who went along didn’t take offence to that (or at least they didn’t seem to), but they did comment that they’d never seen anyone do that before.
My white friend wears one occasionally, although I’ve never seen her in it. The whole thing is held together with ONE pin, which amazes me.
Personally, I don’t think they look comfortable at all. I’ve always admired the fabrics, and could see making something more Western out of it, but I’m taking a pass on the sari for me.
When I was in high school, I babysat for an indian couple. They had a very modest income, but the wife always looked like a princess. When she saw me admiring her saris, she gave me a couple that she didn’t wear often. I never wore them because I couldn’t figure out the wrapping technique.
I bought a sari a few months ago because I’d always thought they were gorgeous, and I was encouraged by the previous thread that said to go for it, even for extremely white girls like me. I love it, and it looked pretty great, although I never quite got the hang of the across-the-chest part, which looked OK when I wrapped it but seemed to settle wrong after a few minutes of wearing it. I only wore it once or twice because it kept actually falling apart (it wasn’t in my head); the pleating and tucking at the waistband kept coming apart. It was made of a slippery, silky fabric - was that my problem? The cotton ones would probably have been a better bet, I guess, but this one was so pretty! It’s fairly understated, a blue-fading-into-green-fading-into-gold, without embroidery. I was wearing a regular shirt underneath, rather than the midriff-baring one that usually goes with it - would that have made a difference?
You probably didn’t tie the waistband of the underskirt tightly enough. You really have to cinch it so that it digs into your stomach a little bit or your pleats will fall out.
Not if you are a man.
Hi Anu