Dressed like a princess
7th August 2010
'Just look at those women, they are dressed like princesses!' Meredith gushed in admiration as some ladies passed by us in the street wearing beautiful, brightly coloured, glittering saris. I nodded enthusiastically in agreement, 'Why would you every wear plain old jeans and t-shirt if you had the option to wear that?' In turkey I thought that women had the worse end of the deal, having to cover up so heavily in the heat, however in India I admired the women who appeared to display much more beauty and culture than the men, who mostly wore closer to western dress. It also struck me that some women seemed to be wearing elaborate saris just to wear around town, they didn't look as if they were on their way to some major event like a wedding.
Meredith was so taken with Indian dress that she had already brought five saris when we met her. She wanted to practise tying them on, so after much difficulty with the translation she negotiated for the female cleaner at our hotel to help her dress. When Meredith appeared in her pretty red and white floral sari I think she could see the envy in my eyes. She kindly offered another of her saris and dressed me in some gorgeous deep red fabric. As we walked out of our hotel in Amritsar we got even more attention than before, a couple of women smiled and complimented us. We went out for a delicious curry, just a short way from the hotel. Meredith had done a great job, tying her first sari on her own, but I was relieved we didn't have to go far as the sari was tied a little too tightly around my ankles and I had to waddle like a penguin!
I was also inspired to get a sari, so the next day Meredith and I went shopping, however we found that in Amritsar punjabis populate the shops more than saris. It was so much fun to go shopping with Meredith, she is like an artist when she works to determine which colours will
best suit you. We found some punjabi fabric in just the right colours and a lovely floral pattern, so I purchased it. I later adapted to make it a dress and wore it to my friends Kat and Gareth's wedding in Sri Lanka, but more about that later. Meredith also suggested that I get a peacock green and sparkling gold sari, which sounds wonderful but I am still on the lookout for the perfect fabric.
'Just look at those women, they are dressed like princesses!' Meredith gushed in admiration as some ladies passed by us in the street wearing beautiful, brightly coloured, glittering saris. I nodded enthusiastically in agreement, 'Why would you every wear plain old jeans and t-shirt if you had the option to wear that?' In turkey I thought that women had the worse end of the deal, having to cover up so heavily in the heat, however in India I admired the women who appeared to display much more beauty and culture than the men, who mostly wore closer to western dress. It also struck me that some women seemed to be wearing elaborate saris just to wear around town, they didn't look as if they were on their way to some major event like a wedding.
Meredith was so taken with Indian dress that she had already brought five saris when we met her. She wanted to practise tying them on, so after much difficulty with the translation she negotiated for the female cleaner at our hotel to help her dress. When Meredith appeared in her pretty red and white floral sari I think she could see the envy in my eyes. She kindly offered another of her saris and dressed me in some gorgeous deep red fabric. As we walked out of our hotel in Amritsar we got even more attention than before, a couple of women smiled and complimented us. We went out for a delicious curry, just a short way from the hotel. Meredith had done a great job, tying her first sari on her own, but I was relieved we didn't have to go far as the sari was tied a little too tightly around my ankles and I had to waddle like a penguin!
I was also inspired to get a sari, so the next day Meredith and I went shopping, however we found that in Amritsar punjabis populate the shops more than saris. It was so much fun to go shopping with Meredith, she is like an artist when she works to determine which colours will
best suit you. We found some punjabi fabric in just the right colours and a lovely floral pattern, so I purchased it. I later adapted to make it a dress and wore it to my friends Kat and Gareth's wedding in Sri Lanka, but more about that later. Meredith also suggested that I get a peacock green and sparkling gold sari, which sounds wonderful but I am still on the lookout for the perfect fabric.
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