It’s elegant, it’s very subcontinental, it can jazz up your wardrobe and make your dinner outfit look very classy. The best part about wearing it is that a sari itself never goes out of style.

Pakistani women usually drape a sari the way it’s done in northern India: straight vertical pleats in front and a pallu over the left shoulder. Things to watch out for or do when draping a sari: the frontal pleats must be straightened by hand and the pleats pinned together to keep them from falling apart. They must face the same direction as your pallu and must touch the floor gently — not higher or lower. Always wear heels when draping a sari, not after you’re done.

Once you start draping and have tucked in the first fold around your body, take the other end of the sari and measuring the length of the pallu you want to fall over your shoulder pin it on your shoulder. The section of the sari that you’re left with in the middle is what you’ll

There are more ways to drape a sari than just the way your mother taught you

be using to make the front vertical pleats; make about five- to six-inch pleats with this and pin them together. Once you’re done with that, unpin from the shoulder and adjust the pallu) and you’re good to go.

Conventional wisdom dictates that you always wear a petticoat underneath a sari. In most cases conventional wisdom works but nowadays more and more women are choosing to simply drape their saris over a pair of tights. And it actually works.

The lengha style: This style became very popular during the 90s at weddings and on school farewells. You got your tailor to make you a sari-styled lengha by fixing the three vertical frontal drapes and attaching a hook by which you could wrap this lehnga around you. There is no pallu, instead you take a dupatta with this and have the option of draping it like a pallu around your shoulder or not, whatever suits you. Usually with this style, a full-sized blouse covering your belly and back completely is worn.

The Gujarati style: This essentially follows the north Indian way of draping a sari with the only difference being that you bring the pallu from the back to the front from the right side and tuck one end at the front on the left to display the borders at the end.

The Mumtaz style: This one is quite interesting. Popularised by yesteryear Bollywood actress Mumtaz, this style requires you to drape each round of the sari higher than the previous one. You make five- to six-inch pleats after the first drape but you don’t pleat after that. When the end of the sari reaches your waist while draping, collect what’s left of the sari and make a narrow pallu over your shoulder.

The Bengali style: Popularised in Indian cinema, this style — most notably worn by Ashwariya Rai and Madhuri Dixit in the song Dola Re in the film Devdas — is relatively simple. After the first drape from right to left around your body and tucking it in, you take the sari to the left side and tuck it in and then twist it to your right and tuck in. There are no pleats in the middle. You then take the end of your sari (the pallu) and make as many pleats as you can, pin them to keep them from falling out. You then take that end over your left shoulder and pin it there with a small part of the pallu falling towards the front. Undo the pin at the end of the pallu. You can even tie a knot at the end. The rest of the sari would be hanging in a long beautiful curve at the back of your sari.

The dhoti-styled sari: This method is a little complicated. You wear this over a pair of tights. Make the first drape around your body and tuck in at the middle of your stomach. Take the other end of the sari, pleat it, pin it, leave as much as you need for the pallu and pin it on your shoulder.

Follow the pallu, not the side left hanging but the side that drapes over your blouse, tighten it neatly over your blouse and pin to keep it from coming off. Take the rest of this side, drape it over your hips and bring it to the front from the right side and tuck in the middle.By now you should have two sides tucked in front, the side of the sari that came from the pallu and the side that is tucked in from the initial drape around your body.

Take the fabric that is tucked in from the side of the pallu, make as many pleats as you can, pin the end and take it between your legs and pin neatly at the back while making sure that the pleats are in place. Take the other side of the sari tucked in front, make vertical drapes, pin them and tuck them in. Voila, you have successfully draped a dhoti-styled sari.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, April 26th, 2015

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