irmar ∙ Aug 16, 2010

How is this a sari?
 
A sari is a continuous length of cloth (usually 9 yards or 5,5 metres), wrapped.
First you drape the length around your waist, to make a sort of skirt. But this is just the beginning. When you come again to the front, you make many pleats there, so that your legs have space to move, otherwise the "skirt" is too tight.
After the fisarmonica pleats in the middle of the front, the fabric continues to the left, goes around your back, comes again to the front (from right to left, usually), is pleated to cover the breasts and then, pleated as it is, goes over the left shoulder, and its end is left trailing to show off the usually more decorated end design. This means that the part coming to cover the breasts and going down the shoulder to
hang on the back doesn't come out of nowhere, it's the same fabric as
the "skirt", a continuation of it. Please have a look at the following links, they might help. Aishwarya Rai in a sari here. http://bollywoodaishwaryarai.com/pictures/details.php?image_id=2&sessionid=bc2ae3957665ccd02d420e6a766bde13and here, where she has taken the back piece and brought it to the front (this is a common variation in South India):http://www.aishwarya-spice.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=30749&fullsize=1On the following page (full of really gorgeous saris and lehenga cholis, that is skirt + top sets), look at the first two pictures, where she has completed the front pleats but hasn't yet draped the material around her. So it's not left like that, in India it would be deemed undecent. The woman is an actress/model, so it's ok for a photoshoot. http://www.bollybite.com/2010/01/neha-dalvi-pretty-in-traditional-saree.htmlIn the following, you will see how draping makes some loose pleats on the behind in order to come up. (Don't be confused by the fact that it's done on the right side. In different parts of India, such as the Bengal, they do it like this, on the right). http://sareedreams.com/2010/07/this-is-not-your-parents-kanchivaram-saree/Finally, here is a black and white pen illustration of how a sari is wrapped. It might shed light on the whole process. http://webspace.webring.com/people/rn/naredlaramachandra/HowToWearSaree.gif

mkentf ∙ Nov 20, 2008

Very nice creation. Looks great in the game. Thanks for sharing. Kent