A Brief History of Saree

As the yearly event, the mother of all OWC parties – India Night - is coming close, its bringing excitement along with anxiety! As it is out now, according to some study somewhere, Women start preparing their Saturday night outfits at 1.35pm on a WEDNESDAY afternoon! Well, this is no ordinary Saturday night for sure. Not only do we have to dress up and look good, but we have to dress up in Indian attire! That sure needs more effort and planning than usual. One can take up a task only when one finds value in it, value worth all that effort and time it is going to take for the challenge. Looking at the “Saree-ed” up ladies in their super sexy avatars is inspiring enough, knowing the cultural depth and history of this amazingly simple yet complex attire will certainly help. So we invited the noted designer Anjali Sharma,  to tell us more about Saree, and what shall we do when we get one. Anjali has been trained at the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology and has established her own Bangalore based Fashion Studio called The French Curve.

Through a series of beautiful drawings illustrating the costume and fashion details noted in ancient sculptures, murals, paintings, from periods as early as Indus Valley Civilization, she showed us how the present day Saree has evolved. I find it amazing that it has actually changed so little over thousands of years. The word “Saree” is derived from Sanskrit word “Shati” which means “Strip of Cloth”. The length of this unstitched cloth can range from four to nine yards and is simply draped around the body. Here lies the devil. This draping creates a wrap, gathering, drape, cover - all by the same length of cloth. And there are more than a dozen prominent styles of draping, different subcultures from various states having their own different style. I personally take solace in this, I translate this fact to that there is no fixed rule, there’s a lot of flexibility and one can have one’s own style.  :)

Historical and archaeological evidence suggest that women all over the Indian subcontinent wore Saree in some form from the very early times. Saree drapes can be seen in the figurines excavated from Indus Valley Civilization, dating roughly 3000-2000 BC. There have been mentions of Saree in the ancient Sanskrit and Tamil literary writings. Sculptures from Gandhara and Mathura schools, dating 1st-4th Century AD show women draping Saree but only below the navel. During that time there is no sign of any garment on upper half of the body although there was an elaborate system of jewelry worn on the upper body, arms and hair. Observations made from the sculptures from Gupta period, around 6th Century AD, and frescos from Ajantha-Ellora, dating 5th to 7th Century AD, show amazingly detailed fashion and sartorial details. The Saree looks very similar to how to is wore even today, mainly a drape around lower body. By this time early versions of Blouse started making appearance at places. The great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa(6th Century), in his works, mentions 'Kurpasika' a form of tight fitting breast band that simply covered the breasts. This was also sometimes referred to as “Stanapatta” which can be closely translated to “Boob Tube”. The earlier forms of blouse or choli were only front covering; the back was mostly strings to tie the blouse, was always bare but covered with end of saris pallu. Bodices of this type are still common in the state of Rajasthan.

After 10th Century there wasn’t much evolution in dressing as culture in general was taking back seat due to constant attacks and invasions from west. The next big change came with Moghul influence, from around 15th Century, that chiefly brought in “Purdah” (veil) practice. A lot of couture details can be read from the very elaborate and fine works of Moghul and Rajasthan schools of paintings of this era. The garments by this time period became very heavy, elaborate and detailed in their workmanship as well as bulk. The outfits by this time, both for men and women, were covering most of the body. There was a variety of styles in fashion for women including pants, sheer skirts, chogas that had stylish details like slits, ties, heavy embroidery and brocade work, layering of fabric for varying textures and so on.

The next big influence was the British Raj that brought western aesthetics in the mix. That brought tighter sleeves, interesting new cuts for neckline, different fabrics, slimmer outfit profiles, to emphasize on waistline etc. It is interesting that for western women it was desirable to show the beauty of their décolletage but their dresses would never show the midriff, whereas Indian women would never show their décolletage but considered the midriff showing between the Saree’s drape below the waist and the Choli, to be a desirable element of feminine beauty.

Finally she showed us how the blouse cuts and Saree draping saw some more slight modifications as an influence of Hollywood fashion during the 20th century.

After this, she gave us a quick demo on how to drape a Saree in the most common current style. She used a beautiful green silk Saree she got from her studio, and draped on an enthusiastic volunteer from amongst us. It was wonderful to see a jeans clad person turn into a very feminine lady in couple of minutes. We saw another demo of slightly different style on another volunteer who was very comfortable with Saree already.

Demo followed questions we had in mind to prepare ourselves for the upcoming India Night.She suggested that we choose fabric keeping in mind how easy it will be to manage them. She thinks it may not be a good idea to choose cotton based fabrics as they tend to wrinkle and puff. Silks may be more suited for the weather, occasion and easy wearability. Lighter silks may be better than very heavy silks. Lighter fabrics with fall and drape like chiffons, georgettes will be good too. She suggests to be more experimental with color, but also getting something that you feel comfortable, eventually it should be enjoyable to wear and should suit who you are.

Its best to get the Sarees dry cleaned professionally. Look for references when trying a new dry cleaner. You should also check the cleaners or when you purchase the Saree if and how often should it be “Polished”.

And then the discussion came to the trickiest part of getting a Saree ensembled – the blouse or the Choli. It is acknowledged that getting a choli stitched and getting it stitched right is by far the most effort and time consuming part of getting a Saree ready. You again can only go by reference, whether you are going to one of the tailors at Commercial Street or to a high end designer. The issues can be similar – not getting the blouse ready on time, not getting the right size or right cut, or any unforeseen issue. The two most important things you can do to have a better chance at success are, one, start finding the tailor, and drop the cloth to be stitched well in advance, Anjali suggests we should keep at least couple of months if possible, especially if you do not have a trustable established tailor or boutique. Second, its always better, for a tailor you haven’t tried before, to give a cheap cotton or muslin cloth for a sample stitch first before giving the actual blouse piece that comes with the Saree or that you especially purchased otherwise.

With this and a little more chit chat our session with Anjali ended leaving all of us looking forward to the next trip - for actual Saree shopping and some more helpful tips on this beautiful classic outfit.