Sunny is a designer in Los Angeles. He loves the fluidity and fluency of a saree and believes that when a woman wears a saree, she not only adorns her body but she also adorns her soul. His design ethos is that “simplicity never goes out of style.”
Indrani is a video journalist in Kuala Lumpur. She seamlessly blends east and west by doing the Bharat Natyam steps and Tango, without missing a beat. She has an infectious smile, a youthful sense of the fashion and a timeless sense of the style.
Rupa Gupta: A writer, editor and journalist, Rupa has been in the media for more than two decades. She has worked as Editor with major publications, both in India and abroad. a keen eye for fashion and current trends. Her sense of aesthetics transcends the hype and always finds the true beauty.
Liza Varma is a former Femina Miss India and well known model in Delhi. Today, she is a leading Fashion Choreographer with over 1000 shows to her credit in India and abroad. She is also a member of the Fashion Design Council of India and a Consultant with Shoot Talent Management. Her client list is the who’s who of Indian fashion industry.
Misty is a student in London and has her fingers on the pulse of London fashion industry.
Abhi is a student in San Francisco and showcases sensuous saree pictures.
Kamini is a model in Los Angeles and loves to accentuate the best a saree has to offer.
Contact us at sareedreams at gmail dot com
I tend to agree with the designer.
I cannot imagine a saree, or any saree-esque design, becoming common at an international level, no matter how gorgeous they are, even if they did became more user-friendly.
I suppose it’s because I tend to view a saree as being is so very regionally, as well as culturally, specific. It is an iconic symbol of the sub-continent. And I cannot quite imagine large swath of firangi suddenly dropping their off-the-rack Old Navy and wash-n-wear ways to embrace those 6 to 9 yards of fabric.
And Sabyaschi is correct: Non-Desi simply would find it hard to move in a saree–heck even just standing and looking comfy in one seems an ordeal for many.
Of course, I’ve been wrong about just about every other corner of my life, so….
And I, on the other hand, totally disagree. There are a lot of white women where I live (a residential school in Uttarakhand) who wear sarees; we wear them on Wednesdays as a “thing”, and for formal events (Independence Day, our staff banquets, when HH the Dalai Lama visited, religious occasions, etc). Western women can, and do, learn to move in sarees, how to wear them, etc. I’m one of them – I have a collection of nearly a dozen, and wear almost all of them regularly (a couple of the Banares silks are only formal-wear).
Interesting question! You could argue that it has already gone international as there is a small but steady stream of firangis who wear saris from time to time. With the Desi diaspora there is also a bit of blurring of the lines between Desi and firangi.
That said, I am not sure that there will ever be a time when a significant proportion of firangi women have at least one sari in their wardrobe. Still, fashion takes many strange twists and turns, so I wouldn’t want to lay too much money on my prediction.
As a firangi woman who has made it her mission in life to bring sarees to a international level, I sometimes feel that I am banging my head against a brick wall.
Where I live sarees are only worn in public by the elderly population therefore sarees are seen by other firangis to be a bit old fashioned beige and bland.
Most the population do not know of modern designs, and even how a vintage saree can look very glamorous. There is not a huge population of firangis giving up there jeggings and ugg boots for 9 yards of pure beauty, if sarees were featured more in non Asian fashion mags it might bring awareness of the saree forward a bit more. However one does not wish ever to see the combination of ugg boots and a saree
The head turning sarees do remain behind closed doors only to be seen at weddings, festivals and ebay. Which is a total shame and a huge loss.
Yes they are hard work, yes they take some time to get used to, but you have to start somewhere. I can most comfortably put a saree on and wear it with out any difficulties. All it takes is some practice and determination. No DNA technology or transplants required.
I don my saree at any occasion I can, and of course this is very limited. If I was to them to the supermarket every time I did my shopping, would my saree be seen and would they think:
“Wow, look at that, its awesome!”
Or would they think
“what’s that nutter doing wearing a saree in the pasta isle”
One day I might get the courage to find out.
Most are worried about wearing a saree, not so much how, where, what and when, but more about will they offend anyone if they did.
If your wondering, no, I do not own a pair of ugg boots.
For Shwetika: I think you’re right about the age issue, Western women may tend to associate the sari with older women, which is a pity.
If you do find yourself at the supermarket in a sari, think of those photo-essays called, “People of K-Mart” and you know you don’t have anything to worry about!
People of K-mart such a cringe festival. My confidence would be high after seeing a few of those!
Only Firangi’s figure ?? I”am African -American living in Pune last 3 yrs. Married to a Indian for 27yrs. I wear saris almost daily. People are speechless at how well I wear them. It’s just second nature now. I love coimbatore handlooms and kalamkari’s handlooms .I belong to a Blindian Facebook group and all the ladies own and wear sari’s. I”am 53 yrs old and way past giving a hoot about what others think.
Heck ,one of the best Sari sites on the web is run by a Firangi.Lastly here in Pune plenty Indian women don’t wear sari’s. My Didi and Bhabi both wear Salwaar Kameezes.
Sabyasachi Sari Snobbery in full effect. In theory I suppose he’d refuse to sell a sari to a non Indian woman.Save her the humiliation of making a fool of herself.
So we can safely say Sabyasachi would not sell a 1 lakh sari to a Non- Indian woman .He wouldn’t want her looking foolish ,would he??
I’m really diggjng all the responses to this post!
Clearly the passion amongst Saree Dreams fans is deep and profound. And how can it not be, considering the profound depth and beauty found in the simple concept of 6 to 9 yards of draped fabric.
No wonder I’m such a fan-boy. Keep ‘em coming!
Proud sari-wearing African- American resident of Pune India. Sari’s are the only way to roll.Whenever I return to U.S.A I”ll wear them proudly there also !!
I think, because saris are a forced thing for many women after marriage, that if it were to become international, this view will have to change. It seems that saris are fussy, because people don’t understand, it seems hard, because people don’t practice, it seems annoying and anti feminist because they don’t know that there are some awesome designs out there… Or the strong women go wear them!
I wear them daily, though like swetika, I wonder if cultural sensitivity would play a roll in my wearing the sari back home… I have very little fear of being the nutter in the pasta aisle, but I do have a fear of someone being offended, believing that I am appropriating the culture that doesn’t belong to me, and a fear that because my fat midrif is bared, that i am the point of ridicule, fatphobia and cruelty. In my present reality, I love fabric, would start my own sari company in a heartbeat (white girl sari co!), and am in love with it because I learned how to move in a garment that inspires feelings if grace and elegance without requiring fancy dress that are all but absent from western fashion items ( we feel, cute, sexy, stylish, trendy, and more — all these can be felt in a sari in addition to graceful and elegant)
So these barriers, that women must be super thin to share the midriff, that the garment is somehow an anti feminist prison, and that grace is not valued in the modern woman, and then likely the availability of affordable blouses, since in the west, tailoring is not the norm ( and it’s a shame) — these hurdles are possible to overcome, and so hope that sabyasatchi is totally erroneous in his claim.
Hello Sarah
I think it’s fantastic that you wear them daily x
When I was growing up images of Indira Gandhi were common and so I tended to associate the sari with power. At that time, if you saw an Indian in Australia, chances were s/he was a university-educated professional. In the 60s it was also the case that women in Australia were less likely to have attended university than men and so this reinforced the sari-university educated-liberated link.
While I now know that there is more to liberation than education, although it’s an essential start, I still see the sari as a liberating garment, in that it is, to my mind, one of the very few outfits that is both feminine and dignified.
I wear my sarie everyday i love my sarie the best dress in the entire world.
I go to the office everday in my beautiful saries
I”am a Black American woman who loves her sari’s. Living in Pune India 3yrs and wearing saris like they”re going outta style,lol
I love your blog Sunny, I’ve been a faithful viewer for a long time now. I love sari’s and wear them all the time. I’am a former Texan now relocated to Pune India. I’ve recieve compliments from Indian women ,which boosts my confidence greatly.
Hey! This is my first post on here, I love this site! I just literally found a trunk full of dozens of Sarees, lahengas, and super ornate blouses. I learned how to wear them from a YouTube video by http://www.goodindiangirl.com . Now sooooo many people stop me and compliment me on them. Also for people being offended by western women wearing them, as long as you wear it correctly and respectfully I think it’s showing off a beautiful part of the Indian Culture.
Thaks for visiting the site. Glad you like it.
What takes you to Pune
Patience and special DNA? Phew.
I am from a rather less cosmopolitan corner of Europe so I don’t wear saris that often – I can stand only so much raising eyebrows without having my day ruined. When I get to some more urbanized area, I wear saris a lot. Not to promote Indian culture with great respect or for some such bullsh*t but because saris are comfortable… and look much better than jeans and tee I’d normally wear for walking around and doing things.
I’m a white woman in Texas. I have 30 plus sarees in my closet, and consistently wear them. For one thing, I think the fussiness is the absolute attraction that western and east Asian women see in the saree. Saree is the epitome of taking your time to dress up and feel beautiful. Spending time pleating properly and pinning nicely then finally accessorizing is such a very feminine thing to do, that it does have international appeal. I think that there is the definite possibility that every Western and East Asian woman might eventually have at least on in their closet. After all, 20 years ago, not very many other white women I knew even knew what a saree was. and now everyone does.