Love this Kanchivaram cut work saree

Luxurious Kanchivaram silk with detailed cut work! This is beautiful.

Cutwork is a form of fine needlework that complements any hour. In this form of embroidery, portions of the background fabric are cut away and the edges worked over in buttonhole stitches.

Here is a detailed look at the pallu of this saree

Saree is from Sakhi Fashion, about $250

Not sure if this really belongs in the traditional Tuesday section or not, may be I’ll keep it out because it is beautiful because it is not traditional.

Saree weaving – inside look

The video is interesting but the best part is a part where they show a bunch of old timer saree clad women, chewing paan and looking classy at 7.50 min mark

Some of them look SO SO happy and full of joy in their new sarees!

Nandana Sen in traditional chilli-red saree

Sexy goddess in red saree…

Godh Bharaai.- new TV show from Sony : Gujarati Saree

Godh Bharaai. With Godh Bharaai starting March 8, Monday to Thursday, at 7.30 pm, on Sony Entertainment Television, the ace team touches upon an issue-based topic — of what a woman goes through when she is childless and consequently the blunt that she faces from the society.

Beti, patni, bahu aur maa… these are the roles that a woman is required to play in her life. While most of these roles come naturally to her — beti when she is born, patni and bahu when she is married, motherhood is something that all women are not fortunate to experience. And it is not their fault. Then why does the society ridicule them? Godh Bharaai is about the angst of a young woman who has all that life has to offer except a child.

I love this picture – except for those two water bottles in the background looking very incongruent.

May be risqué according to contemporary tastes, but the saree drapes are authentic

I miss Chantal Boulanger at this time. She could have commented on these drapes.

I like both of the drapes – I have seen the top one more often than the one depicted in the lower picture.

They might look a little bit risqué with modern sensibilities but the drapes are authentic for sure.

These are from a Tamil movie Devaleelai.

Bengali Sarees

A few of the Bengali sarees for the reference.

From BanglaPedia

Love this saree picture from 1940′s

Beautiful chickankari work.

Here is some contemporary chickan work

Exactly the same!

The art is said to be introduced by Noorjahan the beautiful queen of Emperor Jahangir. She is said to be an expert in embroidery and inspired by the Turkish embroidery.

Another story is that the chikan originated in East Bengal. There is a mention of chikan, the florals on fine muslins in 3rd century BC. The craftsmen believe that the origin goes back to the time of Prophet. It is believed that while he was passing through a village in Uttar Pradesh, he requested a villager for water. On being offered that, he gave the art of Chikankari to the poor villager as an art that will never let him go hungry.

As old as time itself. And that is what I love about sarees – it is a bridge between You and your heritage, all rolled up in six yards.

Calcutta and Sarees from 1945

I love this picture for two reasons; it shows sarees from 1945 and it shows Calcutta from 1945.

As some of you know, I am an avid antique map collector and have one of the better private collections of antique Indian maps. Hopefully I’ll share that with you at some point.

The origin of these pictures is as follows:

The South Asia Section of the Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania recently acquired from a bookdealer a photograph album consisting of 60 photographs of Calcutta taken most likely between 1945-1946. The photographer, Mr. Claude Waddell, also provided the interesting glosses accompanying each photograph.

Indian women, dressed in the native Saree, return from prayer at Jain Temple. Little girls wear European
dress usually until the marriage age, although some mothers like to dress the little girls in Sarees.

Check out more of them at UPenn site.