FASHION HISTORY OF SARI

Sari

In every modern society fashion is directly associated with modern trends. But mostly these trends have a close concern with the cultural heritage of the society. In modern FASHION an Asian dress of women has its too much deep roots in ancient civilizations of sub-continent. That dress is famous as Sari or saree or Shari. It is a female garment in the Subcontinent. It is equally popular in India, Pakistan, Sire-Lanka, Bhutan and other countries of the region. A sari is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine meters in length that is draped over the body in various style s.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 wrapped over a petticoat, and an upper garment known as a blouse or 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. Challis may be "backless" or of a halter neck style. These are usually more dressy with a lot of embellishments such as mirrors or embroidery and may be worn on special occasions. Women in the armed forces, when wearing a sari uniform, don a half-sleeve shirt tucked in at the waist. The saree was born in both South and North India and is now a symbol for all of India.

The history of Indian clothing trace the sari back to the Indus Valley Civilization , which flourished during 2800-1800 BCE around the western part of the Subcontinent. The earliest known depiction of the saree in the Subcontinent is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape.

Ancient Tamil poetry describes women in exquisite drapery or sari. In ancient Indian tradition and the Natya Shastra and other remains of whole regional societies presented in Sculptures of the Gandhara, Mathura and Gupta schools show goddesses and dancers wearing what appears to be a sari and a dhoti wrap, in the "fishtail" version which covers the legs loosely and then flows into a long, decorative drape in front of the legs. We also observe everyday costume consisted of a dhoti or lungi combined with a breast band and a veil or wrap that could be used to cover the upper body and head. These two-piece are survived ancient clothing styles of subcontinent, the modern sari is a development and innovation by combining the two pieces of the costume. The other wrapped sari-like garments, shawls, veils and other similar clothes are in use of Indian women since ancient times, and that they have been worn in their current form for hundreds of years. The choli or upper blouse is a latter addition in relation with stitching industry. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, we have documented that women from many communities wore only the sari and exposed the upper part of the body till the 20th century. Ancient poetic sculpture references indicate that during that period in ancient Tamil Nadu, a single piece of sari served as both lower garment and head covering, leaving the midriff completely uncovered. In Kerala and Tamil even today, women in some rural areas do not wear cholis and upper.

The most common style in sari is to be wrapped around the waist, with the loose end of the drape to be worn over the shoulder, baring the stomach; the sari can be draped in several different styles,

• Gujarati– this style differs from the other only in the manner that 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/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, and 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..
• Dravidian– sari drapes worn in Tamil Nadu; many feature of pleated rosette, at the waist.
• Karmataka .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.
• 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.
• The two-piece sari, is usually worn made of unbleached cotton and decorated with gold or colored stripes and/or borders.
• Tribal styles – often secured by tying them firmly across the chest, covering the breasts.

The nivi style is today's most popular sari style.

In Bangladesh

Silk Sari Weaving is famous fashion throughout Bangladesh. There are many regional variations of Saris in both silk and cotton. But the

Tanta/Taant Cotton, Dhakai Benarosi, Rajshahi silk, Tangail Tanter Sari, tashar silk and Katan Sari as the most popular in Bangladesh.

In Pakistan

In Pakistan, the wearing of saris is less common than the more traditional shalwar kameez which is worn throughout the country. The sari does however remain a popular dress for formal functions such as weddings. The sari is sometimes worn as daily-wear, mostly in Karachi, by those elderly women who were used to wearing it in pre-partition and by some of the new generation who have re-introduced the interest in saris. The reason why the sari lost popularity in Pakistan, was due to it being viewed as a Hindu dress. Although she was seen wearing them,Fatima Jinnah, the "Mother of the Nation", called the sari "unpatriotic"

In Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan women wear saris in many styles. However, two ways of draping the sari are popular and tend to dominate; the Indian style (classic nivi drape) and the Kandyan style (or 'osaria' in Sinhalese). The Kandyan style is generally more popular in the hill country region of Kandy from which the style gets its name. Though local preferences play a role, most women decide on style depending on personal preference or what is perceived to be most flattering for their figure.

The traditional Kandyan (Osaria) style consists of a full blouse which covers the midriff completely, and is partially tucked in at the front as is seen in this 19th century portrait. However, modern intermingling of styles has led to most wearers baring the midriff. The final tail of the sari is neatly pleated rather than free-flowing. This is rather similar to the pleated rosette used in the 'Dravidian' style noted earlier in the article.

Kandyan style is considered as the national dress of Sinhalese women. It is the Uniform of air hostesses of Sri Lankan Airlines.

In Nepal

In Nepal, a special style of draping is used in a sari called Haku patasi. The sari is draped around the waist and a shawl is worn covering upper half of sari which is used in place of "pallu".