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Innovative styles with the sari
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The sari gets a new look in the hands of Shaina N.C. who has coutured different silhouettes to make a chic statement .
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The sari can be worn over trousers too.
SIX YARDS of sheer grace and elegance is what the sari is all about. However, lately it has been relegated to the background . With the inroads of Western and Indo-Western wear which spell comfort, the sari is often found to be cumbersome - difficult to manage, particularly by young girls. This is the raison d'etre for Shaina N.C. to take up the cause of saris. "I feel sad that such a beautiful garment is pushed back," says Shaina who is passionate about saris. "I have seen my mother wear the sari ulta all my life," which motivated her to convince people to drape it in different ways. Sure she did with her umpteen drapes exhibited at a workshop at the Taj Krishna recently. She has been taking this workshop to different cities and people in more cities will be given opportunities to see this workshop conducted in collaboration with the Taj Group of Hotels (which contributes and supports fund-raising events by allowing the use of its premises). One more interesting facet of Shaina - part of the proceeds of the sales from her creations which follows the workshop are always given to Cancer Patients Aid Association - a cause close to her heart.
Shaina does not indulge in conventional draping. Her forte is innovative styles - hence, it is a new silhouette. Armed with a degree from FIT, New York, this daughter of Nana Chudasama and Munira Chudasama decided to help her mother who runs `Golden Thimble', one of the oldest boutiques in the Kala Ghoda area of Mumbai. With the help of karigars and tailors, Shaina started to give the sari a new look. Through trial and error, she visualised new styling methods on different materials - crepes, tissues and others. The saris, ornate and heavily embellished with embroidery, sequins or kundans (Shaina does not use Svarovski) matched with different kinds of blouses (ranging from halter necks to spaghetti straps, cholis and long cholis) are tastefully done and certainly beckon the discerning buyer. "Since the karigars have been with us for generations, we don't have difficulty in getting things done. A sari can be made within four days or four months." Shaina loves traditional Indian hand embroidery and this is amply reflected in the saris and salwar suits.
Beauties showing off their drapes. <167,0m>— — Photos: P.V. Sivakumar
Two valuable suggestions given by her are - wear a petticoat (which should not be loose but stitched to size) with slits at the sides to allow free movement - and wear the front pleats on the reverse like a Gujarati sari. This way the sari is neat. Also she advises not to stitch a fall on a heavily-embroidered sari.
You would never dream of wearing a double sari or a sari over trousers, but Shaina's creativity shows how it can be done. Her deft fingers effortlessly show various styles on four girls who were Femina Miss India contestants. The audience watched in amazement the way her fingers kept draping one style after another - pleating and twisting the sari. The pallu was handled in different ways - over the left shoulder, over the right, twisted on the hand, left long on the left shoulder and pinned, twisted around the neck like a scarf and many more ways. Through this Shaina demonstrated how best to show off the embellished pallu. The pleats were at the sides and even at the back. The innovative saris were the double sari (two contrast saris - one worn like a regular sari but with the pallu on the left side in front and the other pleated at the side with the pallu in front and another style where it is draped on one side in the conventional way and the other pleated on the left and the pallu pleated on the right shoulder), the ghaghra sari (pleats spaced out towards the end of one hip and the pallu is worn like a dupatta - this way it can be worn on the head too) with trousers (the sari is worn like a khada dupatta and also where it is pleated and the pallu around the neck) and a pre-pleated sari. Some of these saris are advocated for brides. For instance, Shaina feels that the double sari is ideal for brides as they can wear it as two different saris too. "Instead of spending money on ghaghras, (which is normally put back safely in the cupboard) investing in two saris will be worthwhile as the saris can be worn on other occasions too," says Shaina.
Shaina's deft fingers at work.
Shaina's experiments with the sari are bound to enthuse more young girls to wear the sari, as most of these innovative drapes are ideally suitable for them. In most instances, flowing fabrics are perfect for these kinds of drapes. So get ready to wear a sari and infuse life into it the Shaina way.
Radhika Rajamani
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