West Influences Indian Saris

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31771, 30 August 1968, Page 2

West Influences Indian Saris

A Western influence is beginning to appear in the sari, the glamorous Indian dress which had remained the same for many centuries. The line has become more streamlined. Easy-care synthetics in geometric and op-art designs are taking the place of silks for day wear.

The sari is still made up from six yards of 45-inch fabric, deftly wound round the body to give the same graceful effect But subtle differences can now be seen in the position of the end piece (the pallav) and in the underblouse.

Mrs Shalima Vuibau, public relations officer for Air India in Auckland, said in Christchurch yesterday that the pallav was traditionally left hanging freely over the left arm. Now it is thrown over the left shoulder.

Air hostesses adopted this style because it was more convenient when working and walking up and down aircraft, she said. Now it has become the popular way with most of the younger women of India. Briefer Blouses

The blouse worn under the sari is becoming even briefer —sometimes sleeveless and backless, she said. In the past certain colours in fabrics and embroidery designs were indigenous to certain provinces. Here again tradition is being submitted to change.

“You see northern women wearing something that comes from the south simply because it intrigues them,” she said. “It is now difficult to tell by their dress what part of India women come from when you

see them in the streets of New Delhi, for instance. They wear the style that appeals to them most” The vivid colours in handwoven silks, synonymous with saris in the minds of Westerners, are now reserved for evenings. Gold embroidery and bands of gold thread woven into fabrics are now reserved for the most elaborate occasions.

Embroidered pure silks are seen mainly in the late afternoon.

Day Saris

On the streets during the day the majority of saris are white, pale grey or in browntoned cottons or in patterned synthetics. Indian women now keep their elaborate gold jewellery for evening wear. A singlestrand of pearls is more likely to accompany a simple sari in the daytime. All the provinces of India have their own traditional styles of dress, which the women wear very proudly, Mrs Vuibau said.

“In the Maharashtra province the women use nine yards of material in their saris and drape it through their legs for a trouser effect.” In the north women wear a knee-length tunic or kameez over full trousers, gathered in at the ankle. This style has become very popular with teen-age girls throughout India. The kameez is also worn over very tight trousers, known as chridars. •The cut-outs in kameezes

you see in India now and the tent-line of some of the tunics also reflect a Western influence,” she said.

Veils Remain

With their tunic-trouser suits the women still wear their dupattas (veils). Fashion changes Mrs Vuibau has noticed are not all “mod. Western.” Age-old batik—a special art in dyeing patterns on fabrics—has recently become the rage among smart women for the sari and the kameez.

The photograph shows Mrs Vuibau (right) in the batik sari she wore at the Exhibition of Indian Batik Art in Christchurch yesterday. It was in burgundy silk, patterned in cyclamen and green and was made in Bombay, India’s sari fashion centre. Miss Diana Balemi (left), founder of the Door of Hope Society in Bombay who brought the exhibition to New Zealand, chose a black silk sari with a gold and turquoise woven design of Kashmiri origin.