Hi Everyone,

  Here’s part 2 of how to wrap a sari.  I know you’ve all just been holding your breath to see what I looked like.  I’m finding that I’m becoming interested in the cultural differences in women’s clothing.  Fashion, depending on your perspective might be fun or frivilous: but it’s also a way to interpret social history.  I was a history major once upon a time, back when I thought the world was Massachusetts, New York, Maine, New Hampshire, and eastern Canada.  All places where I lived, had relatives or went on summer vacations when we were growing up. When I went to Chicago in 1970 I told friends I was going “out West.”   It was hard to fit world history into that framework.  And for much of the time the study of history was the study or men and war.  It’s much easier now to think about how the world got to where it is when I have seen more of it.  Much more fun now that the only test is to see if you can wrap your sari and not write a 10 page paper with footnotes in correct bibliographic fashion. 

Ru

Go Sox!

How to Wrap a Sari Part 2

The rest of the story…..

I don’t know if anyone will ever actually wear their material as a sari, but it was a fun morning and a way to learn about another culture through its clothing. The material comes in lengths of 6 or 9 yards depending on whether the piece of blouse material is attached. Mine has the blouse material attached so I was dealing with 9 yards of material which is more than half the length of our boat!

http://goindia.about.com/od/shopping/a/sarishopping.htm seems to do a good job of explaining the material and what the specific name for each part of the sari. It also mentions the special petticoat that is worn under the sari. Hadeep had told us about it: I forgot. Good thing there was no test on what we had learned. Also if you do all of the wrapping correctly there are no buttons or pins needed and it still stays up.

Helping hands because it seemed to take at least 4 of our unskilled hands to do what Hadeep could do so easily by herself.

Can’t imagine what Che’ Guevara must be thinking as Joy covers his face with her sari.

You can see the variety and colors of the different material.

How to gather the material into pleats……..

After a first wrap, you have to make pleats in the remaining cloth to gather it all in. Then, “Neatly tuck the pleats into the petticoat, at the waist, slightly to the left of the navel, in such a manner that they open to your left.” http://hinduism.about.com/od/artculture/ss/wearasari.htm

Hadeep wraps Margaret who actually did look lovely in the green material with her red hair. I wish I’d gotten a photo. I must have been trying to deal with my own sari at that point.

We look like we’re dressed for the theater….the ancient Roman Theater. Something is definitely lost in translation. Indian women always look so lovely proving that a sari is more than just a piece of cloth. It’s a cultural icon and you need to understand it to be able to wear it comfortably. Some of the women have learned to wear the sarong as a skirt and they look great. I actually wear my huge pink one as a pool cover-up and that feels fine. You can decide if anyone looked OK in their sari.

If you wrap it correctly you can see the different patterns on the material. Hat, big black glasses, black wrist watch, white blouse, …… definitely not traditional sari accessories. Low heeled open-toe sandals and lots of gold bangles would be more appropriate.

The material is lovely and I’d like to have a simple sleeveless shift made and maybe a blouse or two since there is so much material. We’ll see.