Continuing in the series of Indian fashions, welcome to lesson 2. I’ve promised to help you get stylized for DNA’s Euphoria this Christmas as they’ve tossed us an unusual Indian Bollywood Fantasy theme and party-goers are in a frenzy trying to get their perfect Indian look together. The anticipation is building and I am quite pleased that Jamaican patrons are getting into the spirit more and more of donning costumes for themed parties. Last lesson I featured various Indian outfits, since I knew most of us were only familiar with sarees. In this lesson I will point you to some good websites that will teach you the art of wrapping/draping a Saree, show you updated Indian fashions and some good places to shop online for them and introduce you to the wonderful world of Indian jewelry.

Sari Safari has a great pictorial of several different traditional styles of wearing a sari and a breakdown of how to do each style. It really isn’t as simple as it looks, I wouldn’t even begin to try and break it down here, I’ll leave that to the experts.

Sarees come in a variety of designs and material, however for a one-time wear such as for this event I would recommend copping a simple piece of silk or chiffon in a bright colour/pattern for use in making a costume. An original sari may run you quite a few pennies which you may not want to shell out if you have no plans on wearing it ever again or at least any time soon. Gorgeous silk materials like the ones pictured can be purchased in any of our many fabric stores, just get a length of at least 6 ft so that you can play around with it how you’d like and find a wrap for you. Remember you’ll be partying all night so you’ll want to make sure that things are secure.  

Season India has some tips on buying sarees here, like buying sarees for your body type et al, and they also have some gorgeous but very pricey indian outfits. If you really want an authentic Indian outfit then this is the website to pick up your indian wear as they are exquisite and the prices do include any custom alterations you may have and worldwide fed ex shipping. Here is a just a snippet of what they have. (click to view larger)

Men can pick up there authentic gear from Diwan Saheb who features fine couture like these silk sherwanis pictured. The prices are just as high, but the quality and detailing are superb and they come highly recommended.

Of course, when in doubt, Ebay is your friend. Mehndi booths will be available at the party, so Euphoria has that covered. You remember from the last lesson what mehndi is right? So onto the jewelry that you’ll need to adorn yourself with. Indians are known for adorning themselves in such a wide and colourful variety of jewelry with even meanings attached to some. Like the bindi which is a sign of marriage and the maang tika (jewelry that lines the middle parting of hair) used in the most formal of events. Of course, even in India tradition has been commercialised somewhat and everyone can be seen sporting bindis from the virginal to the married and beyond. Bindis, bangles (go heavy on the numbers) chokers and anklets are all commonplace in Indian fashion from the beaded variety to stickers to gorgeous gems.

Bindis

 

 Maang Tika

Beaded Jewelry

 

Traditional Jewelry

Kundan Jewelry (A type of traditional gold setting method)

Bangles

Jewelry pictures courtesy of Desi Vastra. You are now fully equipped with all you need to know regarding Indian fashions and have plenty of inspiration should you decide to make something of your own or look for something close enough at the mall. Still to come in the series is a breakdown of the Indian dishes that will be offered at Euphoria and of course where to shop for Indian clothing and accessories in Jamaica. Yes, you can have a few of these authentic items from shops right here so make sure you stay updated to FOS!

Live and love fabulously,

 

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