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Bengal cotton sarees provider by Silkpetalss: What started as India’s first seamless garment, went on to become the symbol of Indian femininity. A sari consists of an unstitched drape varying from 4.5 to 9 metres (15 to 30 feet) in length and 600 to 1,200 millimetres (24 to 47 inches) in breadth that is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, partly baring the midriff. It is traditionally worn in the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. There are various styles of sari manufacture and draping, the most common being the Nivi style, which originated in the Deccan region. The sari is worn with a fitted bodice commonly called a choli and a petticoat called ghagra, parkar, or ul-pavadai. In the modern Indian subcontinent, the sari is considered a cultural icon. Discover more info at https://silkpetalss.com/product-category/sarees/bengal-cotton/.

Kanjeevaram silk saris originate from Kanchipuram, a temple town in Tamil Nadu, and use a special weaving technique that makes the sari last for generations. The saris have contrasting bright colours with designs of the border and the pallu being different from the body of the sari. The sari has golden weaves and bold, colourful motifs like flowers, peacocks and elephants, says 71-year-old Deepa Sharma from Delhi, who owns Arankri, a 30-year-old establishment that curates handcrafted saris. The Baluchari saris from West Bengal incorporate designs based on mythological stories from the great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

The word “sari” means “strip of cloth” in Sanskrit. But for the Indian women—and a few men—who have been wrapping themselves in silk, cotton, or linen for millennia, these swaths of fabric are more than just simple garments. They’re symbols of national pride, ambassadors for traditional (and cutting-edge) design and craftsmanship, and a prime example of the rich differences in India’s 29 states. “The sari both as symbol and reality has filled the imagination of the subcontinent, with its appeal and its ability to conceal and reveal the personality of the person wearing it,” says Delhi-based textile historian Rta Kapur Chishti, author of Saris of India: Tradition and Beyond and co-founder of Taanbaan, a fabric company devoted to reviving and preserving traditional Indian spinning and weaving methods.

Hegemony and its many deleterious aspects include the shackling of thought processes. Thought processes are so sacred that they deny the colony the right to free thinking. Colonization has taken away our right to think in the context so innate and sacred to individuals—the right to express ourselves through the art of wearing. Therefore, there remains an urgent need to reverse this thinking through decolonization. Decolonization entails removing oppressive behaviors while assisting Indigenous peoples in reclaiming land, culture, language, community, family, history, and traditions that were taken away through the colonial process.

Silk Petalss was born from a career Investment Professional’s love for the rich heritage of Indian handcrafted textiles and artefacts. Her admiration for the beautiful heritage weaves and products saw her travelling widely through interior villages and towns of India, interacting with the weaving community and understanding their perspective and concerns. Awareness about their issues, specifically post Covid19, the need to protect the community and our rich heritage led to Silk Petalss being created. Discover even more information on https://silkpetalss.com/.

We wanted to reintroduce regional ways of draping saris into contemporary Indian fashion and make the garment more accessible to the urban Indian woman. Traditionally saris were worn without blouses and most of the drapes do not have a petticoat [a long underskirt worn under the sari], Verma says. The modern urban style of wearing the sari has the garment draped around the waist a few times, pleated and tucked into the waistband of a petticoat with the loose end of the fabric, called the pallu, going across the torso and draped elegantly over the left shoulder. It is worn with a matched, fitted blouse that traces its roots to the Parsee community of India.