Cottoning On: How To Ensure Your Saree Looks Its Best

 

Image Credits: RubyGoes

If there’s anything quintessentially Indian, it’s the saree.

In the film ‘English Vinglish’, Sridevi takes on the role of a housewife in New York beautifully. Naturally, she wears perfectly starched cotton sarees throughout the movie, and looks like the epitome of grace and poise.

Your love affair with sarees probably started with your mother’s closet, and was fed by Bollywood’s obsession with the desi girl. Who doesn’t want to look like Priyanka Chopra in a dance sequence?

Since life isn’t an item number, your mum’s simple, elegant, cotton sarees are better suited to everyday life

Cotton sarees are a staple in every woman’s wardrobe, but they also need a lot of upkeep. You want them to look as good as new after every wash, and maintain them for a long time to come.

So, here are a couple of tips that’ll help you care for your gorgeous sarees:

A Dry Run

Is your saree brand new?

Don’t wash it with water.

For the first few times, get your saree dry cleaned, to help the colour set and keep the fibres safe.

You’ll probably find this as part of the vendor instructions when you buy your cotton sarees from Rediff.Com.

But even if you don’t, remember that the best way to ensure that your cottons will last is by being gentle with them right from the start.

A Grain Of Salt

Apart from dry cleaning, another thing that helps lock in the dye on cotton clothes is rock salt.

After handing your saree over to the cleaners the first few times, you can wash your cotton saree at home. But before you add detergent to the mix, soak your saree in lukewarm water with rock salt.

This ensures that the colours featured on your saree won’t fade even in the later washes.

Nuts To You

Ritha, or soap nut, is commonly known as the laundry tree. Since your cotton saree won’t survive the usage of harsh chemicals, you could use ritha as a fabric conditioner.

The nut is extremely gentle on fabric, and is a boon to anyone with sensitive skin.

Just add a few to a bucket of water and soak your saree in it. It will come out clean, fresh-smelling, and remain in perfect condition for a long time.

Starched Stiff

You don’t actually need to starch your cottons till they’re as stiff as a board.  However, cotton does get softer with every wash, so if you want to keep it as crisp as ever, you’ll have to starch it. Besides, starch protects your saree from most stains, so you should definitely starch your cotton sarees each time they are washed.

All you have to do is mix approximately a tablespoon of cornstarch for every two cups of cold water. Let it dissolve completely and store it in a spray bottle for easy usage.

Shady Business

Cotton sarees will fade with direct exposure to sunlight. Now, you can’t avoid direct sunlight, but you can avoid drying them in the sun.

Find a shaded area to hang them up and you’ll be able to maintain the colour better.

With the proper maintenance, your brand new cotton saree from Rediff.Com will last you for years, and will look the same as the day you first bought it.

So, buy a lovely handloom cotton saree today, and make sure you treat it well.

Saree Clad

{Outfit/Clutch - Ridhi Bansal, Earrings - Vinita Michael, Ring - Indiatrend}

The traditional avatar kicks in as soon as the October month hits. There is something about the latter months of the year that just spells festivities. Diwali, dussehra, bhai dooj, etc and a huge pileup of wedding invitations compels us to gravitate towards and experiment more with our ethnic alter ego. I have been doing the same and this month, I have shot mostly indianwear and honestly, it's been a lot of fun! Even though I have no idea how to wrap a saree and drape it gracefully, I sure as hell can twirl around in them! Sarees are a fun way of exploring my roots and my heritage. Once you don this 5 meter long fabric, an automated grace can be noticed in your posture, the way you walk and conduct yourself. It is a nice feeling to get in touch with my feminine side which is usually not so prominent :P

This gorgeous tie-dye saree is by Ridhi Bansal and originally comes with a black blouse but I wanted it to have some color so I decided to style it with a different blouse. The red color looks much more festive, bright and paints a happy picture. Perfect attire to flaunt on the Diwali night, don't you think so?

Location Courtesy: The Perfect Location

Photography: Aman Bhatia

Styling/Content/Post-Production: Srish

How to style a a saree in 3 different ways

Let's face it, whenever a friend gets engaged and sets a date for their marriage, apart from being happy for them you can't help but wonder what to wear for the million different ceremonies that's soon gonna be happening. You can't keep buying new indianwear clothes for every occasion as they don't really come at Zara prices! I have been going through the same dilemma for a while now as many of my friends are getting engaged or getting married. So, I devised this little trick to wear one outfit in a couple of different ways. So, for example I am going to be styling this one saree in 3 different ways and will tell you few more ways how you can wear it and carry it off like a diva without anyone gossiping behind your back that you repeated an outfit! People will actually be asking for tips, trust me!

Look 1



This pre-draped saree is like a boon for me as I am not really accustomed to the intricacy of 5 mtrs of fabric. This look will be perfect for a day occasion. It keeps your hands free of the pallu and looks modern and chic. You can also swap the blouse with a solid color crop top and make the look even more indo-western. I have kept the accessories minimal keeping in mind that the look is more day appropriate. You can however experiment with heavy chandelier earrings if you are big on accessorising.

Look 2



For a more night time event, pile on your favorite kundan set, wrap the pallu around your wrist and swipe on some sexy red on your lips. This style of draping the saree looks very sophisticated and adds elegance to your overall personality. I have accessorised this look somewhat heavily and went with a gold structured bag and kept my hair open for an easy and young look. If you accessorise way to much and also put your hair in a bun, it can look a tad old-school but hey, whatever works for you!

Look 3



For the girls who don't really bother too much about styling and accessorizing, just go the usual way of wearing a saree and add a maangtikka and a cocktail ring, and you are good to go! The easy breezy feel of the whole outfit actually can look very sexy.



And whenever you repeat an outfit, be sure to style it differently. That's where your creativity can play a role. Change up the accessories and bag and have fun mixing and matching different colors, textures and patterns.



Love,
Srish