Remember Vidhya Balan and her dangerously low cut blouses in the film The Dirty Picture? Or her all covered up high neck blouse with an elegant and classy looking sari at the Cannes? Or for that matter, Aishwarya Rai’s famous jacket blouse and sari on the Cannes red carpet?
Sari blouses have undergone extensive transformation from what we used to know. It is no longer that simple something that lies hidden behind your sari. But on the other hand in recent times a sari blouse has become more important than the sari itself.
“In fact a lot of detailing goes into the making and style of a sari blouse these days,” says fashion designer, Hari Anand.
So many styles of the bygone era are making a come back with panache. If short sleeves used to be the fashion statement before, it is three-fourth sleeves to full sleeves that are doing the rounds now.
But if you thought that the short sleeves are out and buried under, then you are mistaken because they too are very much in and so are the short puffs that used to be a craze among women many years back.
We are in a time when almost all sorts of styles in sari blouses are in, from high necks to low necks to peter pan collars to Chinese collars, to jacket types, you name it you have it.
The concept of matching blouse and sari is out. It is the age of mix and match says fashion designer Shalini James. The style quotient is not to have the blouse in the same fabric as the sari.
“Say if it is a plain kanchi cotton sari you can go with a printed kalamkari blouse or something in a different fabric or texture other than the usual running blouses that come along with the saris. Sometimes two or three fabrics are mixed together to make a single piece. All these give an interesting twist to the whole look,” Shalini says.
“And this is the case not just with casual saris, even with kancheepuram, silk, or party wear saris, it is the same running theme. You can have a sequenced or mirror work blouse with a chiffon sari. Or a brocade blouse with your kancheepuram sari and the like. The blouse is treated with a lot more attention.”
Very often when people mix and match they overdo it. The most important thing to keep in mind when you mix and match is to achieve harmony in whatever you try to do.
About the long sleeved blouses that are very much in, Shalini feels that no particular sleeve length is in right now as the length of the blouse or the sleeve all depends on the body type you are.
“With blouses, I personally feel that one has to go with the body type more than any trend. The first thing before considering any style is to check if it will suit your body type. Really short choli blouses that are in will only suit someone with a very thin midriff and a long torso. If you are someone who have tyres, it is best to bring the length of blouse a little below so that you can camouflage the tyres. Similarly same goes for high neck blouses as well. On women with heavy arms high necks could make them look a bit stalkier. So always pay attention to your body.”
College going Sara Thomas says, “Nowadays I never wear matching blouse with my saris. Either I hunt for blouses that go with the sari or have it custom-made at a boutique. I prefer the long sleeves and high neck ones with lot of detailing in front. And since there is lot of work on the blouse I make sure that I don’t overdo it on the sari.”
Says Reshma Binu partner of Label’M boutique, “Now the trend is to wear a simple sari along with elegant blouses. So that the same blouse can be worn with many saris. Customers, who come to us, ask for peter pan necks, high necks and collared necks. Though jacket blouses are made, it is the younger college going crowd who prefer that.”
The other trends that are in now is the mirror work blouses, transparent neck blouses, low backs and the like.
“In Kerala trends come in very late and there are only a handful of fashionistas in our state who are really up-to-date. There are very few who dare to try out new styles and fashion. But when they see other people wearing it and if they like it they might go after it. Only very few customers ask for new designs,” says Hari Anand.