The term chiffon has the French origin which means rag, is generally used to notify the lightweight or soft draping fabric. This fabric is plainly woven with cotton, silk or any other synthetic fiber, which is highly twisted and fine. The fabric is generally lightweight, transparent and delicate in appearance.
The chiffon makes itself an ideal medium for the manufacture of the sarees because of the above mentioned qualities. The weather conditions prevailing in the southern part of the Asia in the summer season restricts the use of heavy and thick clothes. There are many techniques used to produce the chiffon sarees. Some of the popular are hand printing, hand painting, chikan embroidery and other forms of embroideries, tie and dye, batik prints etc. The ease of working on it makes the fabric popular with the artisans.
The designers have created variety of designs using this fabric giving the traditional saree a modern l
ook. Hence this fabric finds an important place in the shelves of most of the fashion designers due to the versatility offered by the fabric and the choice it provides in the finishes (whether soft or stiff), popularity of the fabric among the users is due to the airiness and ease of the maintenance and elegant, glamorous and sensuous look it offers.
Although the origin of the fabric is western but it amalgamated with the Indian culture so well that presently it doesn’t seem like any foreign entity. The fabric is also used to create comfortable and elegant blouses. The sarees created with the use of chiffon can be worn with matching or contrast blouses and petticoat to give the ever elegant look. It provides a definitive grace and style to you when you drape yourself in chiffon sarees. The chiffon sarees offer a style with simplicity and sobriety to the personality.
The delicate nature of the fabric is the only hurdle in its way as it tears easily when washed in a washing machine and easy tearability of the fabric does not permits rough and tuff use.
It san be safely said about chiffon sarees that it has arrived here to last for long- long time to come.
Steven wrote,
I am a 43 year old Englishman and I often wear sarees, salwar kameez and lenghas at home. I have a large collection of sarees, blouses and petticoats.
I find sarees very comfortable to wear, no matter how warm or cold it is and no matter the type of cloth it is made of, chiffon, silk etc. I normally have the pallu pinned to my left shoulder, I love the way the pleats are kicked out in front of me when I walk and the way it covers my whole body, very sensual to wear. I do not wear bra under blouse and also no undergarments are worn under petticoat. I have been wearing sarees now for number of years, do not understand why I read that Indian women find them uncomfortable to wear even on a daily basis, I certainly don’t feel that way when I am wearing a saree.
One thing I would like to experience is to be in the company of an Indian woman while she is also in saree, any suggestions?
I do all daily chores in saree, cooking, cleaning and spend nearly all my time when not in work in saree. When cleaning, I normally wrap the pallu around my waist and tie it in so the pallu does not get in the way. I have mastered draping a saree now to about 10 minutes, which I think is good. Would love to experience also a wedding saree, to see how heavy it is, though these are very expensive. I am quite happy going into saree shops to buy more sarees, never get questioned who they are for. I am in one of my favourite sarees writing this, a blue satin bandhej saree with resham, sequins and kundan work with heavy border along with matching blouse.
I do not want to wear western dresses, even though I am western and not Indian, only sarees and lenghas and occasionally salwar kameez suits, these are the dresses I feel most comfortable in.I have got used to picking up the pleats when going upstairs, as I did step on the pleats when first wearing saree, pulling saree apart. I have often slept in my sarees too, though when I wake up the pleats are normally wrapped around my body. I like the lenghas too, the way they cover my body is very nice, again, nothing worn under the lengha. When in salwar kameez, usually wear these when washing sarees or sarees are being dry cleaned.
I normally also wear bangles on my wrists, I have a good selection for my sarees and wear shoes if going out, otherwise, bare feet. I would like to try different draping styles for the sarees, so I will be open for advice on that too.
I would like to hear from you if you have any thoughts about this, and if you can give me any tips about wearing a saree on a daily basis. sjo7mailcom
Thank you.
Link | April 28th, 2007 at 12:04 am