whiterabbit: Please e-mail me a link to Mama Tiger’s saris! I have a wedding to attend this fall . . .
I’ve always wanted to, because I do think they’re gorgeous, but as I’m a blonde, frecked white chick I’m afraid it would look ridiculous. Maybe in my next life.
I’m male, so no. But I desperately crave a Nehru jacket.
Ditto! I get a lot of saris from eBay – if Mama Tiger sells regularly I prob’ly bought one off her already.
I tell myself this is competitive market research, by the way.
Fretful Porpentine, you will not look ridiculous! Ditto mipiace! You will look fabulous! Saris come in aaaaaall colors and designs imaginable and there are ones out there that will compliment your coloring. I’m thinking maybe navy blue with silver? Or a forest green? I wear a lot of blue, myself.
I once had an extensive email conversation with a sari-wearing redhead who was having trouble getting my pals at Priyanka’s to send her something in her colors. We got her all squared away eventually, in greens and toffee brown. As of today Priyanka’s carries more than 1000 different sari designs, and probably twice that many are available on eBay.
Honest, y’all, you CAN wear a sari. No matter how un-Indian you look. I promise.
At the very least, you can get one to wear around the house – and if it turns out you don’t enjoy wearing it, you can turn it into a wall hanging or curtains or what have you.
Some of my favorite sari, salwar kameez, and Nehru jacket stores:[ul][li]eShakti is an online store based in India that keeps up with current fashion and has good prices. They offer custom tailoring for blouses and suits (but tend to make things pretty tight, according to Indian fashion; tighter than most Americans expect). Already in Use, they carry men’s stuff, including “kurtas” (men’s long shirts) and Nehru jackets.[/li]
[li]Mrignayani is an Indian government-managed outlet (“State Emporium” in the state of Madhya Pradesh) for textiles produced by talented folks that need work. Their prices really can’t be beat, and their items are gorgeous and “authentic” (in the sense that they’re not slaves to fashion but make things that nice traditional ladies would be happy to wear) but their customer service is, uh, lacking. [/li]
[li]A smart American (non-Indian background) website designer with excellent taste runs Sari Safari. She has extremely high-quality, classy stuff at good prices, with great information on the site about everything she sells.[/li]
[li]An Austrailian couple living in India runs Indian Exotica, an eBay store. They offer unbelievably good custom tailoring. No one beats their prices for this quality. They have about 40-60 outfits, including saris and salwar kameezes, available on any given day, but they never duplicate themselves – something different all the time. [/li]
The store I do work for, Priyanka’s , has the biggest selection on earth… but (full disclosure) their customer service is definitely not up to the standards you expect in the US, and they don’t actually have in stock everything they show online.[/ul]
Of course, I wouldn’t wear one, but I’ll tell you – I think more Americans should try it.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending this Indian dance ceremony. Two girls had been studying some traditional Indian dances for ten years; this was their graduation. It was a big deal – 500 in the audience, and two hours of dance (we were invited because my wife had tutored one of the dancers).
Most of the attendees were Indian. The women wore saris. They looked elegant and classy. And colorful. There seems to have been a law passed in the US that all women wear black, and frankly, I’m getting sick of the colorlessness. These were all sorts of beautiful reds and greens and blues and just about every color in the rainbow. It was such a change from the drabness of most gatherings.
So, yes. Wear a sari if you can. You’ll look great.
Until I get my act together, I just noticed that the Sari Safari lady has a great how-to:
http://www.sarisafari.com/howtowear.html
I may be going to Kolkatta (how are we spelling it now?) and Sikkim next year and planned on taking a salwar kameez. But I’m pinning the scarf on-the Indian ladies I see are forever flipping it back over their shoulders. I live near Vancouver so can get a suit here no problem, but will the selection and cost savings be that much better in India? Should I buy there? Can a size 20 gal buy off the rack in Kolkatta? Is pinning the dupatta on just too gauche?
It never occurred to me to look online! Maybe I can own a sari! Somebody find me one in dark blue.
i would wear saris if i could find any! we have a ton of boho/india style clothing stores around here, as i live right near New Hope, PA (they’ve got them out the wazoo, if youll pardon my french). however, no saris…and if there are saris, they’re majorly expensive…i stick to the sari-style skirts for now, im hoping to upgrade. i would love to wear them though, especially in the summer. they’re so beautiful. we have many indian families in my neighborhood and the grandmothers and mothers are always wearing them, i love it if i see one of them on a walk
at one point, when it was fashionably acceptable, i was big on bindis. at first i was cautious because i didn’t want to offend anyone, but several of my indian friends sort of…embraced them, they thought it was really cool…
so yeah, i’d wear a sari in a second. theyre so striking…and they fit with my boho wardrobe
OK, I’ve been reading this thread all evening and now I want a sari BAD. Surfed around a bit and found a site that keeps referring to “complimentary falls, netting, and tassels.” Huh?? “Falls” I’m thinking might refer to pre-stitched skirt pleats (to which I say, CHEATING!), but I don’t recall ever seeing a sari with tassels or netting. emilyforce, help!
emilyforce, I can’t email you; either you need to change your profile, or you can email me and I’ll send it.
There are a fair number of sari sellers on eBay. Online is a great place to look for them.
Annie, for starters, most Indian women don’t buy off the rack no matter what size they are – custom tailoring is cheap. In general (and this IS a generalization) the situation in India is the opposite of the sitch in the US: there, labor is cheap and materials are expensive. However, there are very few size 20 women in India. You might be best off getting at least one good outfit while you’re here. I’d recommend the Indian Exotica eBay store – they specialize in plus-sizes.
genie, more details! dark blue and… silk? Cotton? a nice machine-washable synthetic blend? Fancy with gold threadwork, or easy-care prints? Big designs or tiny little flowers?
Scarlett67: a “stiched fall” is a strip of plain cloth about 3-4" wide and a few feet long, stitched onto the bottom border of the sari at the point that touches the ground in front. It’s designed to save wear and tear on the part that you kick and that might drag, and to help the drape of those pleats hang nicely. It’s equivalent to interfacing on a suit collar or a waistband.
“Netting” is netting cloth loosely stiched to the backside of the fancy end (palu or pallav or anchol) of high-quality, handmade, woven-decoration saris with intricate work. It protects the loose threads on the underside of the cloth.
“Tassels” go on the short dimension of that same end of fancy saris – the idea originally was that you don’t stitch the ends to keep them from ravelling; instead, you braid the end-threads into tassels for a finished look. This has something to do with fashion and something to do with an old Hindu custom of not stitching formal (holy) garments, as a needle was too close to a weapon for comfort in a nonviolent theology. It’s symbolic more than anything. Tassels look really good if they’re done well.
Stitched-down waist pleats are usually called something like an “automatic sari.” It is sort of cheating to have them, but if you love saris but hate draping them they’re great. On a well-done one you really can’t tell it;s been done.
Scarlett67, which site are you looking at? Is it GlobalBharat?
I want to buy some saris. Indian clothing and jewelry is beautiful, and a woman can’t help but feel beautiful wearing these things. For me, it’s a matter of money, I have to wait until I have some spending cash. And comfortable! Oh my goodness, I wish I knew about salwar kameez outfits when I was pregnant!
I wear south asian stuff and I’m white. I have only had one negative comment, and a million gushing compliments from all kinds of people. The only negative thing a (white) woman said to me was, “do you want to be Indian?” (She said it snottily.) (And I’m not including the nurse that made the comment when she saw my henna and bindi about how “those women are subservient to their husbands” because that pitiful statement doesn’t relate to clothing, as seems to be the concern of some of the women here.)
You’re denying yourself pleasure here, ladies! Go out and buy the clothing. You won’t regret it! (Although it may become habit forming!)
Just got home and whiterabbit told me about this thread. Yes, I indulge my love of beautiful Indian fabrics by selling them on eBay. I’m one of the few folks in the U.S. who does it – but what people don’t realize is that they’re paying as much for shipping, it’s just secondhand since I have to pay for them to be shipped from Asia! I have a friend in Singapore who’s a shopaholic who keeps me supplied. It’s great fun! I’ve currently got about 25 stunning saris sitting here that I’ve photographed but not listed…am busy making costumes for another event…sometimes there’s hardly time to have fun!
I second emilyforce’s recommendation of the Indian Exotica store. I’ve bought things from them that are just gorgeous, and the custom tailoring on their blouses is second to none – except for another eBay seller, Koushik, who’s also got her own online store now, too, who is the former director of women’s entrepreneurship for the state of Karnataka so goes directly to the weavers and sells truly lush fabrics at delightful prices. Plus her stuff comes shipped in a wonderful way – sewn into cheesecloth bags! My mailman just shakes his head. Whoever’s looking for a dark blue one, check her stuff; she sells a lot of darker colors. And she’s 100% percent reliable.
My prize possession is the deep green silk sari my mom got in India in the '50s (along with a cashmere shawl from Kashmir with chain stitch embroidery so fine you can barely see it with the naked eye – I don’t think that quality of work is even done any more, some poor peasant lady probably went blind doing it!). I’ve worn it for nearly every formal occasion I’ve gone to since I was in high school. People are always amazed that I know how to wrap a sari and am comfortable enough in it not to pin it – but you can’t pin that fine silk, the pinholes stay forever!
Wrapping a sari is not difficult; you can find great how-to guides online. They’re not scary at all, and they are SO comfortable and make you feel SO feminine.
emilyforce, you do work for Priyanka’s? I am SO jealous – I’ve drooled myself silly over their things! Are they really as nice as they look online???
Oh, I forgot to add that if anybody is looking for any particular type of sari and doesn’t know who’s a trustworthy eBay seller, drop me an email – I’ve dealt with most of them myself and can make suggestions, or even send you to my supplier if need be. I’m not shilling for more business, I do as much as I want and am always happy to help people find what they want wherever it may be.
And saris are SO unique – I’ve even got one sari here that, I kid you not, has Mt. Fuji on the pallu, with cranes flying in front of it! Talk about one-of-a-kind – I’m not sure I’ll be able to bring myself to sell it!
Hey, there are some amazing deals on eBay. My favorite is “lacmeena” jewelry, from Rajasthan; you can get a gorgeous set for under $25 if you’re patient. It’s often even reversible (one color scheme on one side and another on the other) for extra utility. These folks have some good stuff most of the time.
“May,” nuthin’. It is definitely habit-forming.
I’d love a sari.
I would wear it to dressy occasion, a red or pink sari, I think…
I wouldn’t wear one but I do use them to “Dress” my windows:)
My sister’s married to an Indian so I wore a sari to her wedding. I would definitely have felt too self-conscious to wear it anywhere else, though.