Apparel November 2019 Apparel November 2019 issue | Page 40

FEATURE
IN THE EMBROIDERY REALM,
PHULKARI IS AN INTEGRAL
PART OF THE QUINTESSENTIAL
ODHNI TRADITION OF THE
PUNJABI BRIDE.
Dupattas can be fashioned out of a host of
materials—from the sheerest of fabrics to thicker
cottons; from organza, chiffon, and georgette to
cotton, muslin, silk, and tussar; from traditional
handwoven, hand-embroidered wonders to
machine-made ones, the sky is the limit! It
has endless room for innovation, creativity,
and customisation.
The handwoven extravaganza includes the eye-
catching Banarasi fabric—Benaras handlooms
used to only weave yardage for saris but today,
the city has made available a range of designs
and fabrics exclusively for dupattas. The width
of the dupatta is the same as the sari, with the
length brought down to around 2.5 metres. It has
different weight specifications and is adorned with
a variety of borders. Motifs such as paisleys and
buttis (imitating the gara border) in eye-catching
colours make these must-haves for aficionados
of textiles and ethnic fashion. Another handwoven
splendour is the chanderi weave. Chanderi
dupattas with meenakari—wherein the design has
fine patterning akin to enamel—and gota-patti
work are quite popular.
Jamdani-weaving, too, finds its manifestation
in excellent dupattas. These dupattas also draw
on mekhela chador, a traditional dress of Assam.
The motifs are intricate and derive inspiration from
the culture and tradition of Assam.
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I APPAREL I
November 2019
The weavers of Kotpad specialise in weaving
cotton dyed with natural colours, making it into
fabrics, saris, stoles, and odhnis. Known by
different names including pura bandha, it is the
finely woven motifs—so fine that they almost look
like paintings—of the fabrics that truly stand out.
From embroidery and embellishments to hand-
painting, hand-block-printing, and much more,
dupattas can be home to myriad craft techniques
and traditions.
In the embroidery realm, phulkari is an integral
part of the quintessential odhni tradition of the
Punjabi bride. Handmade in its entirety, it comes
alive with the richness of floral motifs and colours.
Today, however, machine-made phulkaris vie for
attention with handmade ones. The odhnis of
Kutch use traditional embroidery techniques such
as soof, kharek, and Rabari. Kantha embroidery
of West Bengal, too, finds its place on cotton and