Even more
vivid is the vision of women dancing, their shim-mering,
colourful skirts swirling about them. Yes, it’s chaniya
choli season. More than at any other time, the Navratri
festival sees chaniya-choli sales hit a peak. With
their colourful designs and grace-ful flowing skirts, they are
ideal for this festival.
As fashion
designer Kunal Chandra explains, "The beauty of the
chaniya-choli lies in the three separate parts of the
garment. While the chaniya or skirt is flowing and
flares around the wearer, the choli or blouse is snugly
fitted and accentuates the female form. The odhni acts
as a scarf or covering for the head and body and is a sign of
mo-desty of the wearer."
In the
sartorial history of the chaniya choli, the original
wearers of this exotic dress were from Kutch, Gujarat and
Rajasthan. With modern fashion taking on many ideas from the
past, the chaniya-choli gives greatest flexibility for
the wearer to look both modern and ethnic at the same time.
In most of
India’s major cities, the sari has lost its appeal as a
festival costume, and the salwar kameez simply cannot
match the dressiness of the chaniya-choli. Most
designers now juxtapose the old styles of draping and cut with
daring flashes of their own creativity to create the modern
day chaniya-choli.
Any type of
fabric – cotton, silk, khadi, chiffon, organza or satin – can
be used for chaniya- cholis, and brocade
chaniya-cholis are very popular with new brides.
"For Navratri,
ethnic mirror-work embroidery is popular with a bit of
patchwork," says designer Prashant Mehta. "The flare of
the chaniya should be about nine metres wide. For
formal wear and weddings, the embroidery is heavier, with
pearls, silk, sequins and zari. Here, the chaniya is
umbrella shaped."
The choli
can be short, stopp- ing above the waist; or long, extending
below the waist, like a loose kurti. It can be plain,
or em-broidered and can be stitched as backless tie-ups as
well. The odhni, a piece of cloth like a dupatta,
can be printed, plain, or embroidered. Some odhnis can
cost as much as Rs. 8000 (about $200).
According to
one newspaper report, nearly 15,000 artisans, tail-ors,
embroiderers and mirrorwork specialists worked to meet the
demand for chaniya-cholis for last year’s Navratri
celebrations, 60 per cent of which were exported.
So order
yours soon, and get ready to dance the night away!
– Dhanwanti Keshavrao
The
colours
of Gujrat
With the
Indian diaspora visible in all major cities of the world, one
finds chaniya-cholis, which swirl with every movement,
from Toronto to Sydney.
But, what has escaped public
attention is the contribution of Gujarati designers to the
world of fashion. Ruchira Asnani says Gujarati
designers are influenced by the dry and dusty climate of the
region. Thus the designs are generally "non-fussy" and the
preferred fabrics are georgette, linen, chiffon and cotton and
colours range from fruity pastels and lemons to light pink,
grey, white and cream. "Gujarat is not only located
geographically to the west, it is also the most westernized
state in India," says Sandeep Shah, a textile designer.
