Here in the Gulf we’re right next door to India (I’m looking at you, Wendy), so there are not only a lot of Indian workers here, but also opportunities to explore Indian fashion. For dressy events some of the expat women get saris made for a fun twist on formalwear.
I’m not one to go for costumes, but for this upcoming Marine Corps ball I decided to take the plunge. Josh is going to be traveling, so I’m taking Calvin as my date to the ball and we might as well stand out. (Several other friends are wearing saris as well so it’s not like I’m a trendsetter or anything).
The thing about saris is they are just one ridiculously long piece of fabric that gets wrapped around the lower part of your body twice, then the next section gets folded into pleats at the waist (see the draping of the white one in the above photo) then the last length is wrapped around the body and across the front and over the shoulder and it’s all held together with pins (or the tailor can presew parts of it and then you create the folds and draping using tiny hooks that the tailor has added). Either way it can be a production to put on and often one of the Indian housemaids is called into help people into them. Does that sound like me? Walking around with yards of fabric hanging over my shoulder? Nope. Fortunately there is a “minimalist” version for those people who want Indian style without all the work. It’s called a “choli” and there’s an example of one in the above photo. (Sari on the left, choli on the right. I don’t know if that’s the actual name for it, but that’s what they call it here). The choli is a skirt with a zipper and a top and the drapey scarf/sash can be wrapped across the chest and over the shoulder, loosely draped over your arms, or left on the back of a chair (I forsee option 3 in my future).
The thing I love about the choli skirts is the dressy ones are heavily ornamented with beads, rhinestones, and embroidery. This is a close-up of the skirt from the above photo.
My choli (autocorrect keeps wanting to change this to “my chili.”)
When shopping for both saris and cholis the salesman pulls the packets of fabric off the shelves and unfolds them. They all come in sets. The sari comes with matching fabric for the small shirt that is worn under the wrapped fabric and the choli comes with fabric for the top and the matching wrap. He pulled this pink and brown one off the shelf and I decided it had to be mine.
I also really liked this one — the millions of rhinestones sparkled like crazy under the shop lights.
Close up of the sparklies
The next step is to take the fabric to the tailor and he will sew the skirt for me (It comes completely open on one side and then is sewn to fit), and create a top. The traditional Indian tops are cropped so the stomach is exposed, but I’m not going for that look. I’m going to have it made so the top hopefully meets the top of the skirt or I am going to want to have the wrap draped around my middle all night.
This would be considered a long top. I’m going for even longer than that, but I do like the shape of her skirt. Pretty, huh?