Saree Tales by Pretty Over 50

This is Ragini Balan’s story.

The Saree Symphony…

The Saree delineates elegance, grace and respect to every lady fortuitous of the fabulous drape.
It could be Indira Gandhi communicating nationalism and seriousness through her aristocratic Khadi, it could be Lady Gaga going gaga in a Tarun Tahiliani creation, it could be the white wave at a funeral, it could be the bride Aishwarya in the stunning red and gold zari embellished wedding saree, it could be the over fraught, when promoted to motherhood, the woman's extemporised refuge, or it could be just me, Ragini, in my printed silk or cotton fabric, playing it safe at an uncertain dress code occasion, the Saree never fails…

The flamboyantly versatile, six yard plethora of beauty has been the canvass of the artist called, 'The Indian civilization'. Perhaps it is the oldest reigning garment of the sartorial world.

The Saree never ceases to impress.The saree, as an ethnic wear is my all time forte and I feel pervaded by a sense of well being.

Welcome to revisit the world of Sarees, to feel beautiful from both outside and inside.

This is our first saree on sale. Whatsapp for more details.
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We are launching our sale at “SareeTales by Pretty Over 50”.

The first one on sale is this linen saree that you see in the pictures, with black, grey and cream colour checks, accentuated with navy blue in certain squares in the pallu and thin silver threads to give a feel of grandeur, only under the night light.

This extremely lightweight linen saree adds an elegance of a special kind.

The matching choli can vary anything from off white or black to yellow or turquoise blue or even red.

One would very well stand out dignified in any crowd, it be formal or casual. Oxidised silver jewellery will make the best match of ornaments to it.
For details, please connect through whatsapp.

Sarees are like Indian women – so versatile.
From business meetings to first nights,
From political speeches to red carpets,
From college farewells to Indian kitchens,
They truly have many avatars.

Tan leather jutti goes with everything, whether the blouse is pink or yellow with grey saree.

SareeTales : #2
May be because I am an ardent lover of art in general and paintings in particular, I have closely watched Shri Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings and have also seen a couple of the original works at the Government Museum, Chennai. Most of Ravi Varma paintings are of women in sarees and quite many of them are maharashtrian women. My favourites are ‘Savitri’ and ‘Hamsa Damayanti’. The red colour used for the sarees in both these pictures are very intense and attractive. Every painting is lifelike and in beautiful bright colours. I love colours - of nature, of clothes and of life.

Now, let me come to my ‘SareeTale’.

When you decide to purchase a saree, what are the factors that control your choice?
What are the features that you look for in a saree?
There can be many aspects like colour, material, texture, the print and work done on it, the weave, the thread count, the cost etc.
I personally go for the touch and feel of the material. Only in a material that’s friendly to my skin can I clad myself with. Then it is the colour of the fabric.
I have also noticed that, to some people, the cost factor is the most important one - I mean, they look ONLY for the big budget sarees.

Coming to think of the cost factor, it reminds me of an interesting news that caught my attention a few years ago. A Saree had entered the Guinness Book of World Records. A saree made a record for the price at which it was sold - “The most expensive saree that is ever woven”.
Interesting, isn’t it?
Yes. So this is how the story goes.

In 2007, in a bid to become the manufacturer of the most innovative saree in the world, the Director of The Chennai Silks, Mr. Sivalingam came forward with the most innovative idea. He knew it was a challenge, but decided to take up. He conceptualised the design and worked with their weaving team.

In 2008, after an astonishing 4760 man-hours and 36 skilled weavers working on it, the product, the “Vivah-Pattu” was launched. It featured 11 paintings by the great artist, Raja Ravi Varma. The main image on the Palau was a reproduction of the ‘Galaxy of (Lady) Musicians’, by Ravi Varma. The stunning red colour that Raja Ravi Varma used for his Savitri and Damayanti was used for this saree too.

The saree was studded with navratna stones - diamond, emerald, ruby, yellow sapphire, sapphire, topaz, pearl, cat's eye and coral. The brocade features 10 different designs conceived from 64 combinations of colors. The border is flanked by precious nagasu ornaments.

For the embroidery, the threads used were of gold (almost 8 sovereigns), platinum and silver. The saree weighed around 8 kgs but they claim that once draped, one could hardly feel the weight.

Now, the highlight is its price.
This “Vivaah Pattu saree was sold for a grand 40Lakhs Indian rupees , 3,931,627.00 to be precise, to a Kuwait based businessman on 5th January, 2008.

And thus, the timeless Indian traditional women’s attire, ‘saree’, has bagged a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, not just because of its encrusted precious stones, but also for the celebrated paintings by Ravi Varma featured on its bodice and pallu.

How does it sound?

Does it appeal to you to have one?

Saree Tales by Pretty Over 50 updated their phone number.

SareeTales: 1
My humble tribute to former Prime Minister of India & one of the greatest women of the century, Smt.Indira Gandhi, on her birth anniversary.

I grew up in the times of the print, not the visual media and hence, as a young teenager, I had always adored this Lady, the style in which she clad herself in beautiful handloom sarees and the bold confident expressions on her face. I wish TVs were popular during that time, so that I would have been able to learn it all in action and colour.

She was definitely one of the torchbearers of this beautiful style of dressing - wearing saree with all its elegance, grace and beauty. Saree was her formal attire. I remember having read somewhere that she could even identify the origin, weave and style of a saree that she saw. Indira Gandhi was a connoisseur of sarees.

Living in the north and having to deal with the cold winter, it isn't easy for one to stay warm and in style at the same time, but in one of the pictures on Google we can see Indira Gandhi in a printed silk saree in dark purple colour, combined with a grey Tee shirt sweater. What style! It seemed to have prevailed in the old days, as I have seen even my mother-in-law wear similar style.

Indira Gandhi’s saree swag was always an inspiration for many. The rage of saree styles on social media today, have mostly taken off from where Mrs.Gandhi had left off. The saree, the 6-9 yards piece of cloth makes every woman look so gorgeous, graceful, beautiful, elegant … you may use any adjective on the thesaurus.

Saree in general doesn’t require any jewels to make a lady look beautiful and Mrs. Gandhi, too didn’t seem to have worn many. Rudraksh was the best combination she matched. For Mrs.Gandhi, the hand woven sarees, in all its varieties and colours, was not just a personal statement of style. Instead it is a symbol of India’s history and aesthetic flourish. Madame popularised the modern handloom-wearing look of the short-haired woman, with the elegant hairstyle, usually no jewellery or accessories, and the occasional pair of high-heeled shoes.

For this Prime Minister, Saree was more of a statement than just an attire. The hand-spun sari, in particular, represents the nationalistic fervour of our struggle for independence. The last saree that Indira Gandhi wore, the saffron colour with black border, stained with blood is displayed at the Indira Gandhi Memorial in Delhi. The bloodstains on it are dull brown smudges; the holes in it are silent markers of the bullets that hit her. It tells of Indira Gandhi’s turbulent politics.

With all this, what I intend to say is that, apart from all political reasons, I see Madame Gandhi’s style to be a very special one and also, in my understanding, saree is one dress that can be worn in any and every situation. All you need to do is, customise the colour and nature according to the situation. Saree suits a party occasion as much as for office.
One interesting fact I heard somewhere about sarees is that there are one hundred and eight styles of wearing it. Is there any other dress that can beat this fact?
Amusing, isn’t it?