Sari

branchazel

I'm going to be going to India in July for my honeymoon and I'll be landing in Mumbai. We'll probably take a train to Varanasi as soon as we land (we land at midnight and the first train will be at 6am).
I've read that wearing local clothing is good because it helps you blend in - which is great coz I love all the saris and stuff. But do Indian women actually wear saris normally? would I be looking like I'm too dressed up/rich or whatever if I wear one? or do they wear things more like this: (coz I like the sari much more!!)

The other thing is, I heard that Delhi is the cheapest for clothes shopping and when I looked at the page for Varanasi on wikitravel, they didn't really mention any shopping spots. Will I be able to find some cheap saris in Varanasi? If so, where? And how much am I looking at?

Also, I'm asian so I probably will blend in relatively well but the thing is, my husband is white so would that attract a lot of attention? How bad is it? I'm just a little worried coz I've read travel guides that actually suggest blond girls dying their hair darker to avoid trouble!

Paresh

Aah! Lots of questions in one shot. Lets see how many I can take.

1. Sari is common dress for India women. So you won't look too dressed up. The pics show 'Salwar Suit'. They are also common. The only issue with sari is, one needs to have inner cloths also. Getting them stitched with proper fitting can take some time. Salwar Suits on the other side are ready made. If you want to get the inner cloths stitched for Sari, the shopkeeper can help you out.

2. I do not think that cost is associated with City. In fact, you need to find those areas/shops in any city to get a good deal. Varanasi is famous for 'Banarasi Sari'. The city has a huge population which in involved in manufacturing. But to have a good deal, you need to find the good guy.

3. Search the forum threads if you can find the address of the sellers whom you can trust. If you go to the main market near the temple, big possibility is that you won't get the real stuff and at reasonable cost.

4. Yes, any white person at Varanasi will attract attention. But the city is so used to of white people that it is not a problem. Dying hair is a huge discussion in it self. There is another thread going on that. Personally, I do not feel that it is needed.

Haylo

Nor does anyone else on that thread, I've no idea where such a ludicrous idea came from.

There is a whole wealth of paranoid advice, I've heard people advising that you always travel with monks, never be alone, always wear sunglasses so if you accidentally look at a man they don't realise!

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SitaParityaga

Saris are the most beautiful, and if you like them, you should get yourself some. Downside is the time wrapping yourself and/or getting just the right blouse fit.

Many women in Mumbai seem to wear jeans with tunic tops. Bring your own jeans and buy yourself just the right top in Mumbai, and in Varanasi, there are many small shops with very cool women's clothes at reasonable prices along Bengali Tola road in old Varanasi. An as an aside, there were many couples of different racial backgrounds there, I thought it was quite a little cosmopolitan spot. You won't be looked at any more than anywhere else, its part of being there. Everyone looks at everyone.

I'd get the sari and fancy wear in Mumbai and the day to day stuff in Varanasi, (great Nepali jewelry as well)

namaste_cat

No need to dye your hair. Crazy idea, that one. Some non-resident Indians like me have a hard enough time blending in, non-Indians aren't going to, period. So wear saris only for your own pleasure not in the hopes of blending in.

Also, saris are not easy to deal with in many ways - need a petticoat and blouse both of which can require a special fit esp blouse. Then there's the sari itself - have to know how to wrap a sari, deal w/ the palla (part of sari that is not wrapped around the waist but is worn around the top of the body and over one shoulder), etc. And last but not least, getting around in it is not that easy for people who are unused to it.

Benaresi saris are typically quite heavy w/ gold zari/embroidery, think brocade. Indians wear them on formal occassions. Course you can also get saris for casual wear, so not limited to the beautiful silk ones. Prices run the gamut from a few 100 rupees to several 1000 so it's very hard to tell someone how much a sari will cost.

For clothing - I suggest you bring along linen pants (though they too are available aplenty there) and jeans and buy cotton tunics/kurtis in Varanasi. Once you are on the ground, you might feel up to wearing saris and that's cool if you're up to it.

The main shopping areas in Varanasi are Chowk, Vishwanath Gali, Gadoulia and Dashwamedh Gali. All sorts of neat stuff to get there from silk clothing, furnishing, brass, etc. and also jewelry as Sita said.

I found clothing to be very reasonable there, pretty much same prices as parts of Delhi. My kids love the T-shirts with Hindu gods and goddesses on them; if memory serves, they were around US$1-3. Ditto silk scarves which I bought as gifts; they were around Rs 50 - 500 depending on thickness, quality, etc. I also got lots of kurtas there esp great silk kurtas for my American husband who unlike me wears indian clothing most of the time.

Varanasi gets a lot of foreign tourists, so I wouldn't worry about attracting a lot of attention. Some attention, yes, no getting around that but that's par for the course in most of India. My husband is white and I'm very fair-skinned so people think I'm a foreigner too. Our kids look white. We had no problems in Varanasi at all.

branchazel

Thanks so much for all the answers guys!

Just wondering - is it just the top and the petticoat that needs to be tailored right?

Any good places in Mumbai for "sari/fancy wear"? And are the Nepali jewelry in Varanasi or Mumbai? Where are these jewelry stores exactly? (like any names or districts? thanks so much!)

How long will this take? a day or two?

Yes, I actually just mainly want the more casual saris because I don't want to look super flash and I don't really see what the big deal is with real silk anyway. Where do you think I can get that? Just in the normal shops or do I have to find a place where local people go?

I can't find any addresses online so will it be ok if I just show people the english names when I get there?

Indizen

Many western women look quite ridiculous in ethnic Indian wear, and DO NOT blend in. A sari is a most difficult dress to carry off unless you've learnt how to drape it well. A salwar kameez dress is what is generally preferred by tourists as well as Indian women dressing for comfort and ease.

namaste_cat

If you go to the UP Tourism website, you can get a better idea about shopping incl their govt emporium (fixed prices, which aren't terribly higher than what a really good bargainer could negotiate on their own outside):
http://www.up-tourism.com/destinatio...bank_hospi.htm

Yes, you can get regular e.g. synthetic chiffon-type saris at local shopping areas such as Chowk. They're pretty reasonably priced. Reason people look for silk in Benares is b/c it used to be part of the old Silk Route, and the zari work is really exquisite. I have several stoles/shawls from there in my house I use as wall hangings. They're just beautiful.

I didn't get anything stitched there, so hopefully someone else can give you an idea about where to get a blouse made. Some of my American friends (who love saris way more than I ever could!) wear their saris here w/ really short tank tops that have shelf bras included. hey whatever works. Just wouldn't advise walking around the crowded streets of Varanasi in that :wink:

Petticoats one can buy ready-made though if you're really tall (we're talking by Indian standards), it can be a problem b.c the petticoat is too short the base of the sari sort of flails about if the material is too flimsy. If you're w/in the 5' to 5'5" range, you should be fine as there is a drawstring around waist and length will be somewhat adjustable (can wear it a bit higher/lower)

I'm 5'8" and around 120lbs, and have had Indian shopkeepers tell me I'm "too fat". My son almost punched a guy out first time that happened :laughs: Have to get used to Indians being um shall we say..lacking certain filters.

Here's something I posted in the Mumbai forum I'll include here. It goes double for if you're getting tailoring done b/c I've had my fair share of tailors feeling me up on the pretext of taking measurements. Yuck! Really ticks me off, so now I have my 6' tall son stand right beside me, and no more such incidents. Whew!

- General note to all shoppers not used to Indian ways <grin> - know your chest, waist, hip measurements and length of tops and pants b/c many places esp stalls have one size e.g. for kurtis. Some stores will have a tape measure which they call "inchie tape" and happily check for you if you ask.

However, it's not a bad idea to bring your own tape measure even a paper one like they have at Ikea will work. Just hate for anyone to be disappointed if looking to wear something on the trip only to find it doesn't fit. Oh and allow for shrinkage in cotton clothing when considering size.

branchazel

Where is Chowk? Would I be able to find it just by asking somebody? Coz it's not mentioned in my guide

so what did you wear underneath? Or did you not just wear a sari over there?

well I'm asian and I'm tiny. About 5'2 so I think I'll be fine! hehehehe Thanks for the tp!

OMGGGG I'd been worried about this and then I told myself maybe the tailors will be women!
It's so bad isn't it - I mean I'm going with my husband - some tall(for indian standards at least haha) white guy so that might save me from all this but who knows? When I was 14, I went to Thailand with my dad and we rode on an elephant and you know you normally sit on the seat and the rider guy sits on the elephant's head? well, he said I could sit with him while my dad should stay on the seat and I was like WOOHOO! but when we started going, he started lifting up my top and feeling my belly and swirling his figure in my belly button! How creepy! I mean I didn't get my boobs felt up or anything but it's still such a bad experience and I was so young so I didn't even tell my dad coz I was so scared. So I dunno - even if you have a big man around it might happen and once it has, it has, and there is nothing you can do about bit. Even if you complain, it still doesn't change the fact that it has happened.

god i hate men sometimes. ARRRGGGGHHH talking bout this makes me so angry

but hey thanks so much for the tip! really appreciate it. will be able to at least try and avoid this now :-) [/quote]

branchazel

i'm asian but yeah i get your point about how difficult it is to drape. Maybe i'll get one of each (sari and salwar kameez) to see how it goes to start off with

wonderwomanusa

Start with inexpensive cotton sarees; they are easiest to keep on. Take a couple of big diaper pins with you to pin the pleats together, and a few smallish pins to keep that palla on your shoulder.

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brishti

miao




:brishti
is there any reason i couldnt upload the pic on the posted link ?
i am trying and trying but not happen

Haylo

Most Indian women I've talked to about clothes have western clothes, salwar kameez and saris, and wear them interchangeably depending on what they're doing that day (visiting family, working &c)

I think it's a great idea to get both sari and sk and see how you get on; if you want to try wearing a sari, without having to wait days for a sari blouse to be tailored to fit you, just get a ready made sari blouse in a matching contrasting colour. They are very cheap and come in either stretch fabric or plain cottons, and I found they fit well.

dexteronweb

[/quote]

Chowk = mostly a 4way intersection of roads
so there are lots of chowks in india

dont worry too much...
considering alot of women in india wear sarees, you will have no trouble finding cheap sarees. ask the woman attendant at the shop to help you wear one.

just so you know...there are like more than 100 different types of sarees in india...so you can take your pick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sari#Types_of_saris

branchazel

yeah, cotton sounds much better! :-)
am never too eager to wear anything too good esp. when i'm traveling
and the safety pins idea = great! haha thanks!

yeah actually i live in an area where there are quite a bit of Nepalese people and i see the ladies with their little stretchy sari blouse all the time too so i was wondering why i kept reading about how you have to get one tailored..
so these stretchy tops would be available in the sari tops as well yeah?

thanks so much for your answers guys!