About sarees

ABOUT SAREE
A sari or saree is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles.It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, and Malaysia. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.
The sari is usually worn over a petticoat ( lahaṅgā or "lehenga" in the north, langa/pavada/pavadai in the south, chaniyo, parkar in the west, and shaya in eastern India), with a blouse known as a choli or ravika forming the upper garment. The choli has short sleeves and a low neck and is usually cropped, and as such is particularly well-suited for wear in the sultry South Asian summers. Cholis may be backless or of a halter neck style.


DIFFERENT STYLE OF DRAPING
The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with the loose end of the drape to be worn over the shoulder, baring the stomach. However, the sari can be draped in several different styles, though some styles do require a sari of a particular length or form. The French cultural anthropologist and sari researcher Chantal Boulanger categorized sari drapes in the following families:

Nivi – styles originally worn in Andhra Pradesh; besides the modern nivi, there is also the kaccha nivi, where the pleats are passed through the legs and tucked into the waist at the back. This allows free movement while covering the legs.

Bengali and Oriya style.

Gujarati – this style differs from the nivi only in the manner that the loose end is handled: in this style, the loose end is draped over the right shoulder rather than the left, and is also draped back-to-front rather than the other way around.

Maharashtrian/Konkani/Kashta; this drape is very similar to that of the male Maharashtrian dhoti. The center of the sari (held lengthwise) is placed at the center back, the ends are brought forward and tied securely, then the two ends are wrapped around the legs. When worn as a sari, an extra-long cloth is used and the ends are then passed up over the shoulders and the upper body. They are primarily worn by Brahmin women of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

Dravidian – sari drapes worn in Tamil Nadu; many feature a pinkosu, or pleated rosette, at the waist.

Madisaara style – this drape is typical of Iyengar/Iyer Brahmin ladies from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala

Kodagu style – this drape is confined to ladies hailing from the Kodagu district of Karnataka. In this style, the pleats are created in the rear, instead of the front. The loose end of the sari is draped back-to-front over the right shoulder, and is pinned to the rest of the sari.

Gobbe Seere - This style is worn by women in the Malnad or Sahyadri and central region of Karnataka. It is worn with 18 molas saree with three four rounds at the waist and a knot after crisscrossing over shoulders.

Gond – sari styles found in many parts of Central India. The cloth is first draped over the left shoulder, then arranged to cover the body.

Malayali style - the two-piece sari, or Mundum Neryathum, worn in Kerala. Usually made of unbleached cotton and decorated with gold or colored stripes and/or borders. Also the Set-saree, a sort of mundum neryathum.

Tribal styles – often secured by tying them firmly across the chest, covering the breasts.

The nivi style is today's most popular sari style.
The nivi drape starts with one end of the sari tucked into the waistband of the petticoat, usually a plain skirt. The cloth is wrapped around the lower body once, then hand-gathered into even pleats just below the navel. The pleats are also tucked into the waistband of the petticoat. They create a graceful, decorative effect which poets have likened to the petals of a flower. After one more turn around the waist, the loose end is draped over the shoulder . The loose end is called the pallu or pallav or seragu or paita depending on the language. It is draped diagonally in front of the torso. It is worn across the right hip to over the left shoulder, partly baring the midriff.The navel can be revealed or concealed by the wearer by adjusting the pallu, depending on the social setting in which the sari is being worn. The long end of the pallu hanging from the back of the shoulder is often intricately decorated. The pallau may either be left hanging freely,tucked in at the waist, used to cover the head, or just used to cover the neck, by draping it across the right shoulder as well. Some nivi styles are worn with the pallu draped from the back towards the front,coming from the back over the right shoulder with one corner of the pallu tucked by the left hip, covering the torso/waist.
 

1. Panipat produces 75% of all blankets produced in India
2. Tirupur contributes 80% of the country's hosiery exports.
3. Indian rank in raw material production: Jute--> 1st, Silk--> second, cotton--> third, synthetics--> fifth and wool--> eleventh.
4. Costliest saree ever: Chennai Silks, a textile house in Tamil Nadu, give a princely welcome for an outfit that's fit for a queen – a sari studded with gold, diamonds, emeralds and other precious stones that costs Rs 40 lakh and weighs around eight kilogram.
5. The oldest business of Surat JARI has made Surat the world embroidery capital. There are approximately 80,000 units in Surat which makes Surat the embroidery capital too.
6. In ancient India the clothes were not stitched together at all.This was because most of the clothing was ready-to-wear, as soon as they left the loom. Examples of these would be the dhoti, the sari, the turban and the scarf.

How to tie a saree

Here's an illustrated step-by-step guide that teaches you how to wear a Sari - India's national dress for females - one of the most elegant attires a woman can adorn...
Two essential parts of attire, that go along with the Sari, need to be chosen carefully to compliment the Sari. These are:
A petticoat which is a waist-to-floor garment, tied tightly at the waist by a drawstring. The petticoat color should match the base sari color as closely as possible. No part of the petticoat, of course, is visible outside the Sari, after having worn it.
A blouse which needs to be tight-fitting and whose color needs to be chosen keeping the look of the sari in mind, can be short sleeved or sleeveless, with a variety of necklines. The blouse ends just below the bust. 

Start wearing the sari by tucking its plain/upper end into the petticoat, at a position which is a little bit to the right of the navel. Make sure that the lower end of the sari should be touching the floor, and that the whole length of the sari comes on the left-hand side. Now wrap the sari around yourself once, with the sari now coming back in the front, on your right side. 

Make about 5 to 7 pleats of equal width of 5 inches, starting at the tucked-in end. Gather the pleats together, neatly, ensuring that the lower edge of the pleats are even and just off the ground and that the pleats fall straight and evenly. A safety pin may be used to stop the pleats from scattering. 

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.  

Drape the remaining fabric around yourself once more left to right, and bring it round your hips to the front, holding the top edge of the sari.  

Slightly raise the remaining portion of the Sari on your back, bringing it up under the right arm and over the left shoulder so that the end of the Sari falls to about the level of your knees. The end portion thus draped, from the left shoulder onwards, is called the Pallav or the Pallu, and can be prevented from slipping off teh shoulder, by fastening it at the shoulder to the blouse with a small safety pin.