Tag: New Saree Design

Sarees – Yeh dil maange more | Madhu Sakam

Posted on by Sareeing Official

My love saga for ethnic saree wear started in AP south India and continues here in the US. I feel nothing makes a Desi woman more beautiful than carrying a saree in a dignified and elegant manner. As I received a lot of compliments if I adorn in saree compared to any other western wear. Though I may sound a little biased with my obsession with saree, I truly feel that south Asian facial lady features can magnify well in ethnic saree wear. Last year when I participated in a beauty contest I proudly wore a multi-color saree embellished with small sequins. Accessorized my saree with a metallic belt across my waist while doing a fashion ramp walk as part of the contest’s selection round.

I am proud to say I am a shopaholic :), as I like pampering myself with stuff I adore. Especially during Covid’s gloomy lockdown phase-I couldn’t travel to India for a few years. My mother and sister tried to ship a few sarees for me in between, still, I was passionate to browse online to buy more sarees to treat myself. No matter what people may judge reading this, personally, this is something that always makes me happy. After all, it’s a form of self-love that’s cheerful. A typical Asian women’s mentality is to please her family by stretching her runtime schedule around the clock. In this whole marathon run, they forget to please themselves within their financial liberties. I strongly advocate that every woman dedicate some time to self-love, whether it can be learning a new hobby or little shopping that we can afford, we shouldn’t hesitate in treating ourselves with small pleasantries.

Coming to my personal choices in picking saree I have few preferences to categorize. Anything in bright color shades or pastel palette colors attracts me first, secondary aspect if it’s of any beautiful embellished embroidery or mirror work then it will definitely steal all my attention.

Of course, in recent years I learned better sense in picking the right fabrics and became wise in choosing the right colors that I can explore or opt for. I also gift sarees to my friends and relatives on special occasions. Gifts hand picking is something I cherish, it’s even more gratifying if they wear my gifted saree and send me back those pictures. I cherish and save them as memories for a lifetime. I am heading to India in a few days after four years of long gap. I am excited to shop for the latest trendy sarees in person, Kyunki yeh dil maange more 🙂

Madhu Sakam
Mrs South Asia world Elite beauty contest runner up




The Saree – Between Objectification and Professionalism – Nivi Jaswal

Posted on by Sareeing Official

“Own, Embrace, and Claim”

An Indian woman’s personal narrative of reclaiming her cultural and professional identity…!!!

Women are everywhere, from professions and schools to homes and communities. Women’s empowerment is described as fostering women’s self-esteem, ability to make their own decisions, and right to affect societal change for themselves and others. Be it through their choice of career, decisions for their personal life, or their attire. When women have power over themselves in any aspect of their life that is when we can finally say we have achieved the goal of empowering women.

People and groups are empowered when they have a high level of autonomy and self-determination. This allows individuals to act on their own authority and represent their own interests in a responsible and self-determined manner. Everyone deserves the freedom to wear whatever attire they feel comfortable and empowered in, but we still face backlash and have restrictions even on clothing. In my case, I have always been an admirer of Saree. From the very beginning, it has fascinated me to my core and I always wanted to showcase its beauty to others as well.

When I lived in Europe, a manager once forced me to remove my nail paint at work because he thought the hue was too Indian. “This is Europe, we don’t celebrate Diwali here, your nails are much too gaudy, this isn’t India,” he said in the middle of a meeting. In order to put things in perspective, I had my nails done in a salon in Moscow. They were a delicate pink with lotus blossoms painstakingly painted by one of Russia’s top nail artists.

On another occasion, while on a regional assignment in Asia, I was reminded that wearing a Saree is not corporate and that I should avoid Henna (also known as Mehandi) on my hands during a family function since my hands will not convey enough professionalism when I return to work.

I’m wearing a black Phulkari saree in the photo above, which was taken on the occasion of Karwachauth. Rural Punjabi artisan ladies sewed this exquisite Phulkari saree. On the other hand, on the occasion of Diwali, I am dressed in a blue Maheshwari silk saree.
The elegance of these flowing sarees enchanted me.
Above is my picture with henna on my hands while I’m wearing a lovely blue Maheshwari handcrafted design sari with traditional Kundan jewelry. I want to show this to all those who think showcasing and embracing one’s culture is not professional enough.
I want to convey this to all those who are holding back from embracing what they love just because they fear others are going to judge.
None of this has anything to do with my capacity to work to do independent research, hold professional conversations, work in or outside of the corporate sector, attend business school, participate in panel debates, or create a business.

I hope to inspire women from all walks of life, regions, and cultures to find within themselves the courage to wear symbols of their own inheritance and identity. Whether it’s a piece of clothing, jewelry, an heirloom that your ancestors left you or even the right to wear your hair in a way that’s culturally significant for you. When women step into their own, they give an opportunity for their inner Shakti to shine, and when even one of us shows courage, breaks a ceiling or walks our own tall talk – it offers much needed role models for others to follow suit.

– Nivi Jaswal

Founder and President – The Virsa Foundation Inc.
Visit : YouTube & Spotify




Saree: My first love – Jyotsna Rajiv

Posted on by Sareeing Official

Saree: My first love

My earliest memory of saree is my mom wearing a bright red kota saree with yellow flowers and adorned with jasmine flowers.  I was mesmerized by the sheer elegance of the way the saree draped her, the pleats falling beautifully and grazing the floor and from there grew my never-ending saga of love for sarees.

I still remember how exhilarated I used to feel whenever I used to open my mom’s wardrobe and scanned through her sarees, The thrills of scanning through my chikamma’s sarees(aunty) are still etched green in my memory. These lovely ladies had an amazing collection of sungudi cotton, Pochampalli, madurai cotton, Kanchivaram and Dharmavaram silk sarees in myriad colors.

First crush, first love and first saree have a special place in one’s heart, I was thirteen, when I was first given a saree, it was a green chiffon with big white flowers, and I beamed with pride whenever I looked at it on my shelf as a child. My grandma got it for me. I still have this saree in my wardrobe, and whenever I take it out to drape, I can still feel the smile on my granny’s face when she held out the saree for me.

When I had the opportunity to attend family function, I used to observe all my aunts wearing different material of saree, one of my aunties always wore chiffon single pleated in pastel colour and her pallu used to fly like in typical Bollywood movie, another aunty always made it a point to wear Kanchivaram saree and knotted her hair at the nape of the neck and adorned jasmine flower, and another aunt used to always tuck her pallu on her waist and display those grand pallu designs.  These ladies were my style icons and my inspiration.

Personally, I wear saree for any occasion, be it for lunch with friends, birthday parties or office.  In fact, I am known in my friends and relatives circle for my saree draping and they would be expecting me to wear saree and make a grand entry.

Sarees can be draped in several styles, I love the Nivi drape, I feel comfortable in this drape, and I can spend a whole day in the office or anywhere in a saree without any discomfort.  When I need to attend business meetings, I style a sober or dark colored saree with simple block-colored blouses and pair with shoes and here I go, looking like a boss lady and making strong statements. When I feel adventurous, like while going on saree marathon runs or riding a bike, I love the kacche or the dhoti style of drape.

Saree is the most versatile attire; this piece of clothing can be draped modestly or conservatively for a religious function or make a bold statement for office meetings and can be draped naughtily or seductively too. Saree is the only multi facet piece of clothing where a poor woman can pick up for just Rupees hundred and an elite can pick for tens of lacs of rupees. That is the acceptance that saree has across various socio-economic segments.  This wonderful piece of cloth has found its acceptance in the various religions too across the length and breadth of this country.

Most of south Indian celebrations are not complete without sarees be it Gowri pooja, Deepavali or sumangali prarthane.  In every south Indian wedding, saree plays the prominent part, In Kannadiga and telugu speaking family weddings, the bride wears white saree which symbolizes purity, in the Tamil brahmin weddings, the bride wears dark brown saree called koora podavai.  In the entire south India, whenever a young bride visits any house be it relatives or friends, she is blessed with a new saree. For a long time, it has been prestigious to own sarees, every woman had their own unique collection of sarees, which was their signature style, the collection of sarees empowered them, it was their world, their fort, and their treasure.

Sarees have been mentioned in various historical documents like Rig Veda, a Hindu book of hymns dating to 3,000 B.C. Poetic references were made to saree in Silapadikaram indicate that during the sangam period, women were wearing this exquisite drapery. Even in Gandhi’s anecdote, he mentions that while journeying across this country saw from his train window a woman washing half her saree while half draping it. This wonderful garment has made sure to have caught its place in many such epics and biographies.

Saree had stood the test of time. Westernization has been seeing a downfall in the saree draping. It is often considered wearing saree is akin to a humongous task, but ask the earlier generation of women who wore saree day in and day out, they would  rally that it is as simple as walking in the garden.  Sashi Tharoor has correctly pointed out in his article “Save the sari from a sorry fate” that today’s younger women associate saree with a more traditional time when women did not compete with men on equal terms and that saree restricts them.

For a long time business dress for women never included saree and we the women of this generation should take responsibility to change it. Modern women need to embrace this 6-yard drape and it’s time for the saree to get off that cupboard and claim its place in board room meetings, to the times square, on top of Burj and I am here to make that happen. 

It’s time we pay our dues and respect the saree that it truly deserves.

 

 – Jyotsna Rajiv

https://instagram.com/silver_sarista_jyotsna

https://sareeing.com/shiva-jyothi-savitri-half-saree-sankranti/