Oh boy, this is a fun one! I’ve been saving it for a special occasion. Indian women looking fabulous in saris.
I’ll start with the youngsters! Who don’t look quite right in a sari somehow. Like Deepika. Lovely sari, looks great on her, but somehow it doesn’t feel like she is holding it correctly.
Ooo, this one might be worse. Not the sari, it looks great, but it feels like it is falling off her shoulder somehow instead of looking on purpose.
The pattern on this one may be my favorite, and the pleats are perfect, but somehow the shoulder drape still just looks messy, and the way she is standing isn’t helping.
Possibly the best in terms of how she is wearing it, but not the most interesting in terms of style or design.
Moving on, Sonam! Our fashionista! And I think the problem might be that she is just trying to hard. I love the folds around the back here, and the interesting design on the blouse, and the little flowers are cute too. But put it all together and it just isn’t right.
Same problem! It’s just too much! But I love the pink color.
This is so close! If only it had a different blouse.
Okay, this is absolutely gorgeous. You don’t have to be crazy inventive, just have a perfectly white sari with a little border and a perfect drape.
Let’s go a little bit older, see how a mature woman handles it. Kajol! Definitely got the “keep it simple” memo, this black and gold is perfect.
Another simple one, although maybe a little too long? I can’t tell, it could just be the way she is walking here.
Okay, a little inventive with the blouse here. But I will allow it.
Kareena always plays it safe. This is a nice basic see through sari and matching blouse. Nothing wrong with it, but also nothing stunningly right.
Same thing again, see through with a border, nice and safe. A little sexier with the blouse, must be an evening event.
Okay, you ready to move in to the big guns? The real sari queens? Madhuri time!!!! This look is so close to perfect, but that scarfy bowy thing is just stupid. Yes, I said, it, Madhuri is wearing something stupid!
This is an awkward angle in the photo and she clearly isn’t really posing, and yet the sari still looks pretty darn good!
Madhuri bonanza! Oh yeah, that’s the stuff. Notice in the 3rd one how she shows her mastery of the drape and fold. Although I think I might like the first one best.
Another batch! The black one has a very dramatic style to it, the green one has the best drape, I don’t know if there is anything right about the last one.
Madhuri’s good, but let’s keep on moving up. Hema Malini! Been wearing saris for decades and looks it. Look how casually she is moving around in this.
I love the design on this one.
Another classical subtle eye catching fabric.
Ooo, I don’t know if she can handle the young see-through look. And I think her face is saying that she is regretting it.
Let’s check out young Hema, handling a simple cotton like a Boss!
Hema may be good, but we all know who the late middle-aged queen of saris is-Rekha!
I also love how she always matches her bag and earrings to the sari.
Kind of makes you realize that Rekha wears a bunch of identical outfits. And yet they are all gorgeous!
Let’s check out young Rekha! She was way more lowkey back then, but the sari is still gorgeous.
Hema is good, Rekha is good, but it takes a seriously old and seriously classy lady to really wear a sari. Let’s take a look at Waheeda Rahman!
I don’t understand how there are two separate drapes and that one bit of the skirt is the same color as the other drape, but I’m not going to worry about it.
A nice appropriate lessor event look.
And back in the day. With two guys giving her the eye (deservedly)
And finally, the surprise winner from the younger contingent, Vidya Balan! It took her a while to find her look, but my goodness she is gorgeous in a sari!
Even an everyday cotton kind of sari, just wonderful looking, so comfortable with herself.
Also a little bit sexy.
And dignified and impressive and worthy of our respect.
Final bonus image, greatest sari in Hindi film history:
And now your two very difficult questions:
Which of these saris would you most like to wear?
Gotta go with that gorgeous Sonam sari. It took her a few tries, but she finally got it perfect.
And if you wanted to look exactly like one of these women, not just the sari but the attitude and hair and everything else, which one?
Definitely Mumtaz. Not even close
dontcallitbollywood 
Did you post early for me? Either way–yay! I’ll answer the questions in a little while, but Madhuri just posted this on Twitter. Kismet!
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I did post early for you! And also because I felt bad that I wasn’t putting up a new post for so long between the morning and afternoon.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 12:34 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yaaay, this was fun indeed!
As we can clearly see, it takes hips and a waist to REALLY kill in a sari, and poor Deepika has neither. That’s why she looks surprinsly unspectacular in it. She should stick to salwar kameez or anarkalis. they look far more becoming on her body type. (There’s no wrong body, just wrong clothing!)
And now to answer your questions:
What I’d like to wear: the black and white Madhuri one, or the green and blue Hema one!Kareena’s red blouse outfit is also great…(No, I won’t be satisfied with just ONE 😀 )
How I’d love to look like? Well, I’d love to look like Waheeda when I’m eighty :))
Pros: my smoll size, my love for nice food which won’t let me be haggard, and the fact that my hair falls like hers.
Cons: women in my family don’t get gorgeous white hair. They just loose it’s natural colour… So I will have to dye it and will probably end up as a short and round old lady with an improbable hair colour.
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My grandmother on my mother’s side looked a good bit like Waheeda at 80. But she didn’t at all at 60! She shrunk a lot as she aged and her hair went from greyish blah to stunning white. Although I think she used bluing to make the white look whiter. Pro tip! Better to dye your hair so that it is brighter white than something else. And also, you can never predict how aging will work, you could turn into Waheeda in the end after all.
You are right about Dips, and of course the reverse is true of Vidya. She struggled and struggled to look good in modern clothes, and then finally switched to saris and looks amazing in them all the time.
Excellent sari choices, the only one I might dispute is the red blouse Kareena one. Somehow it just looks boring to me, maybe because it looks like every other Manish Malhotra sari.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 12:49 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Lovely–what a fun TGIF post. Amazingly, neither Rekha nor Madhuri are really doing it for me today, based on the selected photos/saris. I mean, they look stunning as always, but I feel like the saris don’t add anything in particular.
I’m finding it hard to separate out the 2 questions. And, I can’t pick just one to answer either. So–for which sari I’d most like to wear I’m going with Vidya’s gold/black/red everyday look or Hema’s simple cotton. Both so pretty, and totally different color families, but both would look ok with my body type and coloring.
For the women whose looks I’d like to rock, it would be Vidya’s “dignified” coral (?) and plum, Waheeda’s “lessor event” orange–I love that color but I’d look like a pumpkin in it. I even love her pearls. And finally, for something really dressy–Kajol’s black and gold look. The hair, the makeup, the attitude, and the sari–all gorgeous!
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I almost always find myself more drawn to the cotton saris too! The colors and designs are just so much more interesting. Or at least, photograph better. I suspect the classic heritage style silk saris, with the design woven right in to the fabric, are stunning in real life but it is too subtle to come through fully in photographs. However, the chiffon sari, that is just always kind of dull to me. Unless it is done perfectly like Sonam’s white one.
I am so happy with Kajol’s recent embrace of the sari. It looks great on her, and lets her mix the casual attitude of her younger style with the more finished look of her older style.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 1:27 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I’m a jeans and t-shirt gal by choice–comfy ones, not tight ones. I think that cotton salwar kameez are the perfect clothes and would wear them every day if it wouldn’t make me look like an appropriative jerk. So, I guess it makes sense that I’m drawn to cotton saris too! One problem is that even if cottons are beautifully ironed, I seem to have a magical touch for turning them wrinkled the moment I put them on. And I’ve been told it is very bad form to wear wrinkled clothes in South Asia. Ah well.
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I have the same “appropriative jerk” issue! Especially tricky when dressing for a live desi concert. Because I don’t want to dress wrong and be insulting, but I also don’t want to look like I am playing dress up. So I have to find an outfit that is the equivelant of something desi, but not actually desi.
And I know I have been told all the time by individual people that it is fine and I shouldn’t worry about it. So if I am going to someone’s wedding, or party, or any other situation where the host/hostess has specifically said it is okay, then fine. But just walking down the street or going to the movies or anything semi-public in America, and it doesn’t feel right. In India, absolutely! But in America, it’s weird.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 1:47 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Exactly. This conversation reminded me of a site I found when trying to find the right outfit to wear to IIFA last Summer. I ended up going with a simple long dress from Macy’s, lol. I LOVE the cotton kurtas (kurti?) on this site. Anushka’s garden outfit from JHMS reminded me of things I’ve seen here. So pretty and subtle. http://www.elanstore.in/international/index.php/
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The last 4 concerts I’ve been to, I’ve worn the same thing, what I call my “va-va-voom funeral dress” (the little black dress I bought for my grandmother’s funeral). which always makes me feel a little guilty, because what if Karan Johar and Shahrukh and Vishal-Shekhar and Arijit Singh are all hanging out and compare notes and realize I wore the same thing to see all of them? But on the other hand, it is the only thing I own that is neither super formal, nor blue jeans, nor desi-style.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 2:28 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Just when I thought I couldn’t like you more, I find that you have a “va-va-voom funeral dress”. Love it! Well, if you switch up the hair and make up a little, I’m sure none of them will mind. 😉
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That funeral was so funny, because all the granddaughters went sexy. Grandma always wanted us to get married and look pretty, so we all turned out in short skirts and low necks. My aunt said after that she looked at the front row and it was just “legs legs legs”.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 2:46 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Awesome!
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A good compromise is wearing a kurta with jeans. It just looks stylish, not appropriative.
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I bought kurtas my first trip to India and wore them down to nothing just on everyday use. And now I have none and I am sad.
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We don’t really care about the cultural appropriation BS. Please go ahead and wear as many Indian styles as you please. We take it as a compliment. Seriously mean that.
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See, it feels different in America. In India, totally, it’s the only way, and I know it’s fine. But in America, I feel like I am using my white privilege to “pretend” to be desi. Like white rappers. That is, within certain settings. If it is a wedding or other formal private event, absolutely I would wear desi clothes because it is kind of the uniform. But if I am just walking down the street, or even at a concert in a public place, it just feels wrong. everyone else around me is wearing their clothes because they are their clothes, and I am playing dress up.
I don’t know if I can even fully explain it, but I know it feels really icky.
On Sat, Mar 10, 2018 at 9:26 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I know enough about this to sort of understand it. But think about it this way- you’re doing more to uphold Indian cultural values than most brown second generation Indians do in that county if we’re being really honest.
As an Indian, I can assure you both that Indian culture isn’t that insecure to feel threatened by a white person wanting to feel our traditional fabrics on their bodies. If anything, we love non Indians trying their hands at our culture. Case in point- our love for the Beatles increased when they discovered India and the same with Bob Marley who did one song about shiva and now he’s a major part of the modern day, urbane shaiv sect.
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Thanks, Asmita! 🤗
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Sorry, I have to disagree severely with you. Deepika is one of the younger lot who always wears her sari perfectly, unlike some others. So does Anushka (how come absolutely no photos of her). The trouble with Sonam is that, while she still looks gorgeous, I really dislike all the experimentation she does with the wrapping style, even though she pulls it off. I just don’t like messing with a classic. 🙂
I am shocked that you found so many pics of Vidya wearing a sari half decently. I’ve literally never seen these, as her usual appearance is sloppy to the max. It actually pained me to see her in a sari, as she never draped it properly.
How did you miss Aishwarya? And Katrina? Aishwarya almost always goes with the traditional style, and looks great. Katrina, when she hasn’t been talked into experimental styles, also looks fabulous in a traditional draping style.
Manish Malhotra ruined the appearance of saris by introducing his “net” and other “designer” saris — the fabrics he uses just don’t pleat correctly, and his combining heavier (sewn on) borders with these ultra lightweight sari materials exacerbates the problem. Nobody (including Hema and Madhuri) can wear them properly. Only Sridevi could manage to make them look good, but I guess you only wanted living women. Anyway, for that reason I wouldn’t choose any of these saris (I generally like Rekha’s Kanjeevaram saris, but I don’t like the colors on offer here),
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Oops, I may have meant Sabyasachi saris, not Manish Malhotra, but basically, I dislike all “designer” saris.
Another one you missed — Karishma.
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In my opinion Sonakshi Sinha looks good in sari too.
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Oh, that’s a good one! I didn’t even think of her. Here is the best image I just found:
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 3:26 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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And I was looking at this photo now (gorgeous choli)
And Sonakshi looks so beautiful in Lootera. Her style and saris made me finish this movie.
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Hard questions this week 🙂
Being honest I don’t pay much attention to saris, I’m more obsessed with cholis. My newest love are long sleeve, high neck , but my all time favourite is something like this:
I’m a cotton saris lover too. The rich silk saris are not my style at all. Too much, too shiny.
As you say Margaret, it must look great in real life, but on the photos they all look the same.
And now answers:
1. Very tough, but I think second Deepika’s photo
2. Young Rekha LOL
Oh and today I watched Quarib Quarib Singlle, and Parvathy has beautiful, beautiful clothes almost all the time, so when she finally was about to wear her sari I was expecting something spectacular, and was soooo disappointed. I’m thinking now, how she could look so bad in a sari.
Here’s the photo, but in the movie it looks worse.
https://cdn.pinkvilla.com/files/styles/contentpreview/public/jaane-de-qarib-qarib-singlle-song.png?itok=1HAKFiZH
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Oh wow, you are right about Parvathy’s sari! It’s not ugly in general, the colors and fabric look nice, but she is wearing it all wrong and the blouse clearly doesn’t fit right.
I think there are many times in my life I would like to look like young Rekha.
On Fri, Mar 9, 2018 at 3:03 PM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Yes, the blouse is too large and sari too heavy. She looks pregnant. And what makes this look even worse is that first we only see Parvathy pulling the sari out of the suitcase, and we think: wow pink sari, she will be stunning, and then the next scene is like: what, is this the best thing she has?
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I’m actually going sari shopping tomorrow so this was kind of helpful!
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Always glad to provide a useful service! I think the general consensus so far is that cotton colorful saris are more fun, and get neat cholis to go with them.
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Lucky you 🙂 Now I’ll be curious what you will buy.
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Shruti Haasan! NO! EVIL!
I think I like Anushka Shetty best, except for the pink one where it looks like she lost a pin or something and it isn’t hanging right any more.
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why does shruti hassan look like kylie jenner in a saree lol
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Lol
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👿
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As usual, our girls from the south get no love even on a sari post!!!
😂
Ok I don’t know where my comment with the pictures went but did you know deepika’s badtameez dil sari was an actual trend for a while??!
Also, Aishwarya looks like she knows what to do with a sari. She can’t act but she can sure wear a sari.
Anushka shetty is a dream in one ans so are shriya and shruti.
Jacqueline, her sari with a t shirt idea is what I’m planning to do after I get married because my MIL to be is insisting I must wear saris at home for a while after the wedding. (i’ve always worn t shirt/tank, pajamas/shorts at home since forever so if it must be a sari, it would probably be over pajama trousers/shorts and a t shirt! Hah!)
Also, sonam looks like a wannabe in a sari. Sonakshi and her curves deserved the spot you gave sonam on this list!!
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Anushka Shetty (esp in Arundathi) just kills it in a saree. I also like Rani wearing sarees. You need curves to pull it off, the only person who despite having curves doesnt pull it off I feel is Vidya balan. Her hair and styling is just sooo unkempt sometimes.
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A curvy girl who does pull off the unkempt look vidya doesn’t quite get right is Huma Qureshi!
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Too many links! I had to approve the last comment before it could be posted.
If you want south love, make sure you check out Thursday’s post, I added in the southern boys last minute there.
You just blew my mind with the sari over shorts idea! So much easier to move around in, so much less worry about modesty, still a waistband to tuck it into. This is brilliant! Like when I was a little girl and my Mom had us wear shorts under skirts and dresses all the time so we could run and play.
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Yup!! We wore cycling shorts under skirts in school because it were the hills and finding yourself atop stairs wasn’t too difficult to have your modesty be on public display!
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I still stand by what I said earlier.Anybody can look beautiful in a sari.I think Deepika’s problem is with the drape going all over the place,sleeveless blouse and the material rather than her body type.Look at all those skinny stewardesses from Air India.They rock the sari.I love Madhuri’s cream and gold sari,the first one in the batch of four.And Waheeda Rahman looks the most confident with Vidya coming next.After a certain age you can’t pull off the see-through saris or wearing it Mumtaz style (or rather as my Mom and aunts called it back in the day %).I agree with Angie that it’s a pity that you didn’t include Sonakshi’s gorgeous saris from Lootera.Those saris were to die for.My personal favorite from the first time I ever wore a sari has been back open blouses.
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I think maybe Deepika would look better if she did pleats in her drape? Putting this post together, it feels like an aggressive pleat in the skirt and the drape really add to the shapeliness of the figure. The way Deepika is wearing it, it makes her whole body look straight up and down, and also makes it harder to appreciate the flow of the fabric.
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My list:
Sai Pallavi:
https://goo.gl/images/uYd6PE
Nayanthara:
https://goo.gl/images/evTLzt
Jyothika:
https://goo.gl/images/PR59Tw
Anushka Shetty:
https://goo.gl/images/rpV2ie
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Posting a better sari pic for Sai Pallavi:
https://goo.gl/images/wF9Njj
All these women have sari as their preferred official/event outfit & wear it well consistently. Hardly see any net or designer ones.
Have to mention Gayatri Joshi in Swadesh for wearing cotton sarees beautifully & carrying it.
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Yes, Gayatri Joshi in Swades! It wasn’t just that the saris were beautiful (which they were), but also the way her character moved in them, she was an active hard working woman and the sari let her do everything she needed to do without losing her dignity.
On Sat, Mar 10, 2018 at 8:30 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I like Nayanthara look. Cotton, simple sari, but she looks very good in it.
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I must say I just adore any woman who drapes her pallu over the bust. The one boob hanging out look is such a turn off!! It makes the wearer look shorter and hunched over.
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Seriously! It is s-u-c-h a turn off!
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I think out of all of those, I like Anushka best. Turns out, I feel very strongly about a pleated drape!
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I liked Deepika in this when she was kinda new:
https://goo.gl/images/m8ZVNx
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Yes! The pleated drape! Makes the most of her long torso.
On Sat, Mar 10, 2018 at 8:38 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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I could look at a sari post any day of the week. Konkona isn’t really known for her standout sari wearing, but she’s often photographed in a sari with a simple print, or a neutral color, and very light makeup and no jewelry. I really love that look, and I love Sonam’s white sari here. That would be my choice for sari to own if I didn’t look sick in white. So I’ll go with Waheeda’s bright orange one, or the last one on Vidya for a less formal look. If I could have a whole look I’d go with the first on of Rekha. She really looks like she means business.
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Yay, another love of Sonam’s white! It’s just such a simple and such a perfect look.
On Sun, Mar 11, 2018 at 3:17 AM, dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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