Weekly Saree Bulletin #1

A few weeks back I was on a video call and someone commented “Nice Outfit”. It took me by surprise ! This was a call with Indian folks and I was wearing a Saree 🙄. When did the saree become an “outfit” for Indians ? Then I realised its probably because we have started aping the West for our work wear too …

This is not a recent change. I left full time corporate work in 2015 and in the 22+ years that I worked in different organisations, I have seen fewer and fewer women wearing a saree to work. Except for the short stint in Pizza Corner where I wore the uniform to work, I have never worn anything else except a saree as my work wear. Even today I wear a saree everyday.

I have nothing against a skirt or a pant-shirt combo or a suit. I just feel extremely comfortable in a saree and in my opinion its the most versatile garment that a woman can wear. A saree can go from formal to informal with a small change in the way its worn !! And the best part is it never goes out of fashion. Especially the hand woven sarees will remain works of art forever. Its the most inexpensive art that can be worn and enjoyed.

The Weekly Saree Bulletin

I plan to post a weekly bulletin with pictures of me in a saree, seven days of the week. Will highlight one saree in every bulletin. Sometimes the weave and sometimes just a personal incident related to it.

The first couple of bulletins will be a bit of a catchup as I haven’t taken pictures everyday. Hopefully by the third or fourth bulletin, I will become better at this.

Bulletin #1

Highlighted Saree

This saree was bought at RmKV Bangalore in 2014. Its got a modern variation of the temple border. Its a Kanchi silk saree in fuchsia pink, a favourite colour of mine. I wore this for the first time on Dec 1, 2015. The reason I remember the date is because it was the day we did the “devasam” (annual ceremony) for my father-in-law in Chennai. And yes, it was raining heavily.

The same night, the 2015 Chennai floods happened. This saree is such a lucky saree ! I wore it that day and we managed to survive the floods with minimal damage. Read more about this saree on My concert saris – 2 🙂.

It feels like a hand woven saree but am no expert and in 2014 I was not aware of the differences between handloom and power loom sarees. I foolishly thought cotton sarees were handloom sarees 😄.

A saree everyday keeps the blues away for me. Happy to start the weekly bulletin on the day that Kashi Vishwanath Dham is being inaugurated by Modiji. I am wearing a Benarasi saree that we bought in Benaras to celebrate the occasion. More on that in the next bulletin.

#ILoveHandloom #SareeAddict