”A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it, it just blooms.”
Saree, being my most favourite desi wear, I unveiled this column draping with the label SareeSutra sometime in last year. I’ll wear them for any and every desi festival, if its my way; be it weddings of a colleague or friends, cousins, dogs or at religious festivals (I don’t follow one but take part in each one of them just to make the most of every opportunity to dress up and EAT;) or even at work. So, sharing this saree look I sported last sunday for no rhyme or reason or may be there is one? Continue to scroll down to find out.
Braving the gaze of curious onlookers, I even landed up in a Croatian wedding in a saree here last summer. How I wish fashion bloggers of Indian ethnicity had incorporated more ‘desi‘ looks in their blogs and in their everyday outfits and not just during weddings and festivals. I, too, am guilty as charged. Yes, it is not only difficult to wear for many but also bothersome to manage and not the most comfortable attire to be running around in. Most of the English-educated women from urban Indian Sub-continent highly depend on their mothers, aunts, and beauty salon staff when it comes to draping a saree. I had mastered the art of wearing a saree the basic way when I was in school. Now I can drape a saree in as many creative ways as its possibly can be worn. No matter how great your saree draping skills are, those of us living on our own in this part of the world often miss the presence of a helping (female) hand sitting down to hold those neatly arranged pleats or tuck the safety pin in those areas of your body (Damn, you shoulder blade!) where the hands can’t practically reach. When I look back, I laugh at my ability to wrangle with my beautorapher not for once but several times for irrationally thinking that he SHOULD KNOW how to put the side hook of my blouse into its eye. Woman!
I watched an Indian film titled ‘Piku‘ a couple weeks ago. It was undoubtedly one of the best Bengali films in Hindi. The dysfunctional characters of the film will take you to the living room of every middle class Hindu Bengali family. I loved everything about Piku including the styling on its female protagonist played by Deepika Padukone. The film was an adrenaline, plus if I may say so, intestine rush but a saree, kajal, a black bindi and a pair of chandbali earring worn by Ms. Padukone drew my attention, ‘oh! I have a lookalike saree and a pair of Chandbali and I used to love wearing kajal back in school and college days.’ I don’t remember when was the last time I wore a traditional Bengali-ish handloom saree styled with kajal and bindi, so, reliving Bengali roots and this sartorial love for saree, I thought to recreate the look seen on Piku aka Deepika Padukone. The lookalike saree I have in my closet, is a collection from Queen of Hearts(QoH). As branded, QoH IS about LOVE. It is for Indian handloom cloth, for colour, for Sarees. Motifs created for QoH design that you identify with; I identified it with my Bengali roots.
There is some magic about the weaves and crafts that spell elegance in fashion. In a country like India that has rich cultural colours spread across each state, handloom as a craft has diversified versions. Each state in India is known for its handloom history and tradition. The stories relating to birth of handloom craft is both interesting and involving. The handloom destinations such as QoH have an amazing variety of classic sarees, which women love to adorn on all occasions. What I like most about the saree collection of QoH is that they are into an urban and modern outlook, but some nuggets from the past still inspires them.
Recreating Piku’s look in my own way was rather easy. All I had to do is, to bring more drama in the eyes with wing drawn sharp to the inner corner in a bird-mouth shape. The saree didn’t come with a blouse, so, I paired it with this copper-ish golden halter-neck-backless blouse found in my closet. Wearing a pair of traditional Chandbali that is quite similar to what Deepika wore in this look was another key element to get closer to this face-off. Although the referred scene in the film in which Piku is seen to be wearing this lookalike saree, it had her with hair open, however, this photo I collected from Google image has them tied up with a clutcher, at the back. I, on the other hand, left my hair open, no blow dry or curls or straightener (my natural hair is more straight than what a straightener can produce). A pair of gold bangles worn with a frosted mocha lips has completed this easy-going look in a QoH saree.
Disclosure: I was very kindly presented this saree on last Durga Puja by my sister-from-another-mother Deepa Mehta (birthdaygänger too), however all opinions are my own and I’d still rave about it even if i’d paid for it!
What Was I Wearing?
Queen of Hearts by Deepa Mehta Saree
Amrapali Jewels Chandbali
Amrapali Jewels Bangle
Images Gold Embroidered Potli
Filed under: SareeSutra, Vogue
