Designers say that a woman who would choose to experiment with a saree is a neofeminist, driven by a sense of fun. Indeed, India’s most traditional garment has proven time and again that it need not go out of fashion as we move ahead with the times. Younger women today are loving it, experimenting with drapes, making Reels about it and fully embracing the versatility that it offers.Greco-Indian Gandhara sculptures give us the first evidence of elaborate drapes resembling a saree. It may have been a forerunner of the saree since, in ancient Indian sculptures, women’s clothing was restricted to a cloth wrapped around the waist, more like a sarong with an occasional shoulder cloth.
There is a word palla, from ancient Roman women’s costumes that consisted of tunics, stola, and a palla; some believe that the modern saree resulted from this Roman influence. The indigenous antarya and uttariya were combined with the palla to give rise to the saree as we see it today.
We can all agree though, that draping the saree traditionally with neat pleats tucked in at the front is now old-school. Here are seven new ways to tie it, bordering from the prim and practical to the purely aesthetic.