Journal

Tussar silk jacket placket with a nested gold mehrab arch motif embroidered down it, raking light across the slubbed silk against near-black
Mehrab Jackets: Where the Arch Motif Comes From
The mehrab is the pointed arch from Indo-Islamic architecture. Where the motif comes from, the three weights it arrives in, and how to wear one without over-formalising it. Read more...
Black Bengal handloom cotton saree with a vermillion red woven border and loose warp fringe, the selvedge edge lit by a raking light against near-black
Handloom, Powerloom, Khadi, Mill: The Four Words on a Saree Label
Handloom, powerloom, khadi and mill each mean something precise, and three of the four are routinely misused. The three checks that settle it in thirty seconds. Read more...
Deep red handloom silk Banarasi saree with a broad antique gold zari border and knotted fringe, caught mid-air against a near-black background
The Bridal Trousseau Checklist: How Many Sarees, and Which
A working trousseau is seven to nine sarees, not twenty. How to divide them across the ceremonies, which two matter most, and the tier everyone skips. Read more...
Beige jamdani handloom cotton-silk saree with hand-inlaid motifs and knotted tassels, caught mid-air against a near-black background
From Microbiology to the Loom: How Namrata Weaves Started
Namrata Mukherjee taught microbiology for eight years before moving to cloth full time. How the label began, what a fabric artist actually does, and why every piece exists only once. Read more...
Folded silk sarees stacked on cream cotton with plain muslin between each layer, wine satin at the bottom and fine white organza resting on top under no weight
Storing Silk Sarees So They Don't Yellow, Crease or Tear
Wrap each silk saree in plain cotton or unbleached muslin, lay it flat, and refold it along different lines two or three times a year. Never store silk in plastic,... Read more...
Macro view of hand Kantha running stitch on ivory cotton, showing uneven dash-and-gap stitches, slight puckering of the cloth and loose knotted thread ends
Kantha: How to Tell a Hand Stitch From a Machine Run
Look at the back. Hand Kantha is a running stitch, so the reverse shows the same dashes as the front — shifted along by half a stitch, and slightly uneven.... Read more...
An emerald green silk saree with a gold border, a rose pink silk with woven gold motifs and an ivory silk with rose embroidery, hanging side by side against black
What to Wear to a Bengali Wedding: A Guest's Guide
Two rules cover most of it. Do not wear bridal red to the wedding itself, and do not wear unbroken white. Everything else is open, and Bengali weddings are more... Read more...
A plain cream panjabi, a ruby and charcoal embroidered long jacket, and an ivory embroidered jacket over a mustard kurta, hanging in a row against black
What Men Should Wear to a Bengali Wedding, by Ceremony
The short version: a panjabi for the daytime events, a dhuti-panjabi if you are close family or in the wedding party, and a jacket over a kurta for the reception.... Read more...
The reverse side of a red Banarasi silk saree showing long continuous gold zari floats running unbroken across the ground between the woven motifs
Is Your Banarasi Real? Read the Reverse Side
Turn it over. A handwoven Banarasi carries its extra gold thread continuously across the loom, so the back of the cloth shows long floats of zari running between the motifs... Read more...
A black handloom saree with a wide woven gold border and knotted tassels, lit by a row of clay diyas burning at a safe distance to the left
Diwali Dressing: Five Nights, Five Looks
Diwali is five nights, not one, and they are not the same occasion. Dhanteras is daytime and busy, Choti Diwali is at home, Lakshmi Puja is the night everything is... Read more...
An old charcoal and silver brocade saree folded beside a finished sleeveless long jacket cut from the same cloth, showing the same woven motif on both
Virasat: Turning an Heirloom Saree Into a Kaftan or a Jacket
Most families have them. Two or three heavy silk sarees in a trunk, wrapped in an old cotton one, belonging to a grandmother — too precious to give away and... Read more...
A handloom cotton saree with a red woven border lying in cold water in a dark basin, with loose red dye dispersing away from the border
Washing a Handloom Cotton Saree at Home Without Ruining It
Wash it by hand, in cold water, on its own for the first three washes, and dry it in shade. That is the whole method. The two things that actually... Read more...
Six folded handloom sarees stacked against black, each with a different woven border, forming a six-piece Durga Puja capsule wardrobe
Mahalaya to Dashami: A Six-Saree Puja Capsule
Six sarees will cover the entire run comfortably, and you do not need six new ones. The working split is three cottons for the daytime, two dressier pieces for the... Read more...
An ivory handloom cotton saree with a wide red woven border and knotted tassels, with vermillion sindoor powder scattering across it and settling into the red border
Sindoor Khela and Dashami: Styling the Red-Border Saree
Wear a saree you are willing to have marked. Sindoor khela ends with vermillion on your face, your hands and your anchal, and it does not fully wash out of... Read more...
A crimson sleeveless Nehru jacket with a mandarin collar, a black full-sleeved bandhgala with a closed collar, and a black sleeveless waistcoat with a notched lapel, hanging side by side against black
Nehru Jacket, Bandhgala or Waistcoat: Which One for Which Event
The quickest way to keep these straight is by sleeves and by what goes underneath. A Nehru jacket is sleeveless and goes over a kurta. A bandhgala has full sleeves... Read more...
The reverse side of a handwoven jamdani saree on beige cotton, showing cut gold supplementary weft thread ends around each motif and bare ground between them
How to Spot a Real Jamdani, and What Machine Copies Get Wrong
Turn it over. In a real jamdani every motif is made from its own short length of thread, worked in by hand and cut, so the reverse of the cloth... Read more...
Black Bengal handloom cotton saree with a red woven border beside a deep wine satin silk saree, lit to show the difference between an open breathable weave and a dense lustrous one
Cotton or Silk for Puja? Let the Weather Decide
Wear cotton for anything that happens in daylight or outdoors, and keep silk for the evening, for indoors, or for a sit-down event with a fan over your head. The... Read more...
Ivory Bengal handloom cotton saree with a narrow red woven border, hanging alone against black with hand-knotted warp tassels at the fringed end
Why Every Piece Here Exists Only Once
Almost everything in this shop is stocked in one or two pieces. That is not a scarcity tactic — it is what a handloom produces. A weaver sets up a... Read more...
Deep brown Bengal handloom cotton saree with a magenta woven border caught mid-stride, pleats fanning and anchal tassels swinging against a dark background
Pandal Hopping in a Saree: What Survives Twelve Hours on Your Feet
Wear pure handloom cotton, pin it in five places, and pick a ground dark or busy enough to hide what the day is going to do to it. The saree... Read more...
Three lengths of Bengal handloom cotton falling through a dark frame — plain tant with a red woven border, beige jamdani with gold bootis and woven birds, and black khadi with a wide contrast border
Jamdani, Tant and Begumpuri: Bengal's Three Handloom Weaves, Side by Side
These three words get used as though they name three kinds of saree. They do not. Jamdani is a technique, Tant is a category of cloth, and Begumpuri is a... Read more...
Off-white Bengal handloom cotton saree with a wide vermillion red lal paar border, floating against a dark background
Lal Paar Sada Saree: What the Red-and-White Bengal Drape Actually Means
Lal paar sada is Bengali for red border, white. What the words mean, when the drape is worn, how to tell a handloom border from a powerloom copy, and how... Read more...
Folded black, off-white and red handloom sarees stacked beside a brass diya, marigolds and a bowl of sindoor
What to Wear for Each Day of Durga Puja: Shashti to Dashami
Shashti and Saptami want handloom cotton. Ashtami is where the silk goes. Dashami is red, white, and sindoor. A day-by-day guide to dressing for Durga Puja, and the three-saree version... Read more...