How to drape a saree
44 ways of wearing six to nine yards of cloth, from the Nivi to the nauvari, each drawn step by step, with the sarees usually worn that way.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for wearers, makers and the curious.
Regional drapes
The way a state or region wraps the saree, step by step.
🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Nivi drapeThe most widely worn way to drape a saree: pleats at the navel, the free end over the left shoulder.🇮🇳 6 yardsThe Tamil NiviThe six yard Nivi as worn in Tamil Nadu, usually in silk or cotton with a wide contrast border.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Telugu NiviThe Nivi as worn in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, often with a pleated pallu pinned neatly at the shoulder.🇮🇳 🇧🇩 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Bengali atpoureThe Bengali way of draping a saree, with a wide pallu worn over the left shoulder, often tied with a bunch of keys.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Odia drapeThe Odisha way of wearing a saree, with the pallu over the left shoulder and a border that is meant to show.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Gujarati seedha palluThe pallu is brought from the back over the right shoulder to the front, spread across the chest to show its design.🇮🇳 9 yardsThe NauvariMaharashtra's nine yard saree, passed between the legs and tucked at the back, giving a free and trouser-like drape.🇮🇳 About 3 yards of skirt and 2.5 yards of veil clothThe Rajasthani lehenga and odhniIn Rajasthan many women wear a full skirt, a short blouse and a long veil cloth, the odhni, drawn over the head.🇮🇳 🇳🇵 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Bihari and Maithili drapeBihar's saree, often worn with the pallu over the head, with Bhagalpur tussar and painted Madhubani sarees as local cloths.🇮🇳 A mekhela of about 2 yards and a chador of 2.5 to 3 yardsThe Assamese mekhela chadorAssam's two-piece dress: a wraparound skirt, the mekhela, and a long cloth, the chador, with a blouse.🇮🇳 A mundu of about 2.5 yards and a neriyathu of about 2 yardsThe Kerala mundum neriyathumKerala's two-piece cream and gold dress: a wrapped lower cloth, the mundu, and a shoulder cloth, the neriyathu.🇮🇳 a skirt plus a cloth of about 2 to 2.5 metresThe half saree (langa voni)A three-piece South Indian outfit of skirt, blouse and a draped half-length cloth, worn by girls and young women before they take up the full saree.
Community drapes
Drapes that belong to one community, caste or family tradition.
🇮🇳 9 yardsThe MadisarA nine yard saree worn with the pleats passed between the legs, by Tamil Brahmin women for rituals and weddings.🇮🇳 6 yardsThe Kodava drapeThe saree of the Kodava women of Kodagu, with pleats gathered at the back and the pallu pinned at the shoulder.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Brahmika drapeA nineteenth century Bengali drape, with blouse and pallu over the left shoulder, linked to Jnanadanandini Devi of the Tagore family.🇮🇳 9 yardsThe Brahmin kashtaThe nine yard saree as worn by Marathi Brahmin women, with back pleats and a plain, formal arrangement of the pallu.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe Parsi drapeThe Parsi way of wearing a saree, with the pallu from the back over the right shoulder, often in the embroidered gara.🇮🇳 About 2 yards of wrap and 2 yards of shawlThe Meitei phanekThe Meitei woman's wraparound cloth, the phanek, with a shawl called the inaphi.🇮🇳 🇧🇩 A rignai of about 2 yards and a risa of 1 to 2 yardsThe Tripuri rignai and risaThe dress of Tripuri women: a wrapped lower cloth, the rignai, with a chest cloth, the risa.🇮🇳 🇧🇩 About 4 to 5 yards in allThe Santhal parhan and panchiThe Santhal woman's dress: a white cotton cloth with a red border, wrapped in two parts, the parhan and the panchi.
Ready-to-wear and stitched
Pre-pleated and pre-stitched sarees that skip the wrapping.
🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards of cloth, cut and sewn into one garmentThe pre-stitched sareeA saree with the pleats and often the pallu sewn in place, so it is stepped into and fastened like a skirt instead of being wrapped.🇮🇳 a sewn gown with an attached pallu panelThe gown sareeA ready-to-wear gown cut to look like a draped saree, with the pallu sewn on, closed by a zip and put on like a dress.
Modern styles
Fashion drapes: the butterfly, the lehenga saree, the dhoti and more.
🇮🇳 about 5.5 yards for the saree, or a sewn flared skirt with a pallu panelThe lehenga sareeA saree worn over, or made as, a flared lehenga skirt, with the pallu draped over the shoulder: a fashion style that mixes two garments.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards, or a stitched dhoti-style setThe dhoti sareeA fashion style that gives the saree the shape of a dhoti, with the pleats passed between the legs to make a trouser-like drape.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards, worn over trousersThe pant style sareeA fashion style in which the saree is draped over fitted trousers or palazzo pants instead of a petticoat.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yardsThe butterfly drapeA fashion drape in which the pallu is pleated and spread across both shoulders like wings, over an otherwise Nivi lower half.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards, with a separate beltThe belted sareeA fashion style in which a belt or waist chain is worn over the draped Nivi to hold the pleats and pallu and sharpen the waist.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards, or a sewn fishtail setThe mermaid sareeA fashion style in which the saree fits closely from waist to knee and flares at the hem, like a fishtail skirt.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards, with a cape pieceThe cape sareeA fashion style in which a cape, sewn or separate, replaces the usual pallu across the shoulders.🇮🇳 5.5 to 6 yards, with a jacketThe jacket sareeA fashion style in which a short or long jacket is worn over the blouse and under the pallu of a Nivi drape.
Other lands
The sari of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, the diaspora, and sari-like garments elsewhere.
🇱🇰 5.5 to 6 yardsThe sari in Sri LankaThe everyday and formal sari of Sri Lanka, worn mostly in the Indian way by Sinhalese and Tamil women, with its own Kandyan form beside it.🇱🇰 about 5.5 yardsThe Kandyan osariyaThe traditional dress of Sinhalese women from the Kandyan highlands, a sari-like garment with a frilled blouse, used today as a bridal and formal dress.🇧🇩 5.5 to 6 yardsThe sari in BangladeshThe sari of Bangladesh, worn daily and for festivals, with famed Jamdani and Tangail weaves and red and white at the Bengali New Year.🇳🇵 a plain black cloth with a red borderThe haku patasi of the NewarA black cloth with a red border worn by Newar women of the Kathmandu Valley, with a waist sash, for festivals and rites.🇵🇰 5.5 to 6 yardsThe sari in PakistanIn Pakistan the shalwar kameez is the everyday dress, and the sari is worn mainly at weddings and formal events, especially in Karachi.🇲🇲 about 2 metres of cloth, sewn into a tubeThe Burmese htameinThe woman's tube skirt of Myanmar, a sewn cylinder of cloth folded and tucked at the waist without a knot, worn with a fitted blouse.🇮🇩 🇲🇾 🇸🇬 a length of about 2.5 metres of batik clothKain and kebaya of IndonesiaA wrapped batik skirt with pleats at the front, a fitted kebaya blouse and often a shoulder scarf, the sari-like formal dress of Java and nearby lands.🇮🇩 a wrapped cloth of about 2 metres, with a sashThe Balinese kambenThe wrapped cloth of Bali, worn with a sash and a fitted kebaya to the temple, one of the clearest everyday wraps of Southeast Asia.🇹🇭 a rectangle of cloth, about 2 to 3 metresThe Thai chong krabenA rectangular cloth wrapped round the hips with the ends pulled between the legs and tucked at the back, giving a trouser shape, worn with a chest cloth.🇰🇭 about 2 to 3 metres of silkThe Cambodian sampotThe wrapped silk skirt of Cambodia, folded at the front and tucked at the waist, often woven in ikat patterns called hol.🇱🇦 a sewn tube skirt with a woven hem bandThe Lao sinhThe tube skirt of Laos, with a woven border at the hem and a shoulder cloth, worn by women for work, school and ceremony.🇧🇹 a woven cloth wrapped once round the bodyThe Bhutanese kiraThe ankle-length wrapped dress of Bhutanese women, fastened at the shoulders with clasps and tied at the waist with a belt, worn with a blouse and jacket.🇫🇯 5.5 to 6 yardsThe sari of Indo-FijiansThe sari as worn in Fiji by the descendants of Indian indentured labourers, for weddings, Diwali and prayers.🇬🇾 🇹🇹 🇸🇷 5.5 to 6 yardsThe sari in the Indo-CaribbeanThe sari and head cloth of the Indian-descended communities of Guyana, Trinidad and Suriname, worn for weddings, prayers and festivals.