Sari shopping!

Sorry for the lack of updates; the dial-up connection hasn't been cooperative with me today. : /

Anyway, we're gong to a wedding later on this month and since I don't know when else I'll get to wear a sari in this life, I told Swathi that I wanted to wear one to the wedding. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted a nice cotton sari with a slight shimmer, of a silk one since silk would require dry-cleaning and I'm lazy when it comes to that stuff. But, when Swathi told me that silk is typically worn at weddings, it definitely made my fiber dilemma much easier!

Swathi rolls her eyes when I say it, but I would like to think that I didn't find my sari; my sari found me! We (as in Swathi, her aunt and I) went to a nice silk place on Friday and at first, it was a little intimidating to have salespeople bringing out piles of saris to me as we sat at a marble counter since my shopping experiences usually don't involve salespeoples waiting on me while I try to make decisions. Once I got over the initial nervousness, it was really amazing to see the infinite combinations of shimmers, colors, patterns, beading and embroidery. The colors were so vibrant and whether they were one color or iridescent, they had a nice, subtle shimmer from the silk. It's mind-boggling to see countless stacks of folded silk saris lining the walls, neatly stacked on shelves, one after another, after another. I at least know that I wanted a green, blue or purple sari, so that narrowed things down slightly.

I felt self-conscious 'trying on' saris in the store since I initially felt silly when the salesman tossed the large, folded piece of silk on one of my small shoulders from across the counter as I awkwardly stared at myself in the mirror and part of my awkwardness also stemmed from the fact that wearing a sari suddenly became more real to me. I also just felt a little self-conscious as i couldn't help but wonder if the salesmen and the other customers in the store could sense how awkward i felt and looked since I have no experience with saris.

It was tempting to go with a traditional combination of a deep green with a crimson border since it not only looked good on me, but somewhere in my optimistic mind I thought that wearing such a sari would make me blend in a little more and not look like such an obvious, grinning foreigner. I ended up going with a bright aqua one with a mellow, mustard border. Well, I called it yellow, but Swathi's aunt corrected me and said it was mustard. She would know more than me about that:



When I first saw it, I was really attracted to how the two colors contrasted each other but I thought that with my complexion, the mustard would just wash me out, as yellows usually do. I almost passed on this sari completely, but I kept coming back to it because I really liked how the colors popped. When I actually had the sari on my shoulder in the mirror, I was surprised that the blue and the yellow brightened my skin. We all thought that the yellow wouldn't be flattering, so I think we were all pleasantly surprised. I feel like this sari was made for me since Swathi's aunt said that this shade of yellow typically doesn't flatter Indian complexions, but it looked good on me. Swathi's grandmother commented that my sari looked a little old-fashioned with the minimal patterns, but I think that as well as my special yellow make it unique and reflect my personality. With it being different, I think this sari will make me stand out, but in a good way: highlighting and flattering what makes me look different from everyone else.

The other day we dropped off my sari at a tailor to have the blouse made. Since I'm new to the whole sari experience, I didn't know that a sari usually comes with matching fabric so the blouse can be custom-made for the wearer and that you can have the tailor tie the ends of the woven silk into fringe. A blouse usually takes 2-3 weeks to be made, so with the wedding we're going to being on the 26th, Swathi was sneaky and told the tailors the wedding was on the 24th. Since the blouse is silk, it will require a lining and the total cost is typically 100 rupees, or approximately 2.50 USD. We still need to buy a petticoat for the sari, but other than that, I'll be ready to take on my first Indian wedding!