The six-yard of elegance has been known to be an absolute favourite amongst Indian women. While they look stunning in themselves, there are various styles of draping a saree, ethnic and modern. Examples of ethnic ones include Nivi, Bengali and Maharashtrian while modern ones include dhoti, cape and pant styles. While these trendy draping techniques, one style that can fuse ethnic and contemporary styles is the lehenga style.
As the name suggests, this style merges the beauty of the two very loved ethnic clothes, lehenga and saree. Because of this distinct style, the attire is versatile enough to be worn on any occasion from festivals to weddings. While you may feel overwhelmed about this kind of saree, we are here to help you with the same. Scroll down to learn more about how you can incorporate it into your saree collection.
Factors To Keep in Mind Before Adorning A Lehenga Saree
While you must be excited to try various drapes of a lehenga saree, you must keep the essentials ready. These include the saree that is to be draped and the underskirt that will give you the look you want. Besides this, you would also want to keep the accessories handy to complete the ensemble.
While there are many fabrics available, you can always rely on classic ones such as georgette, silk and chiffon. These can be suitable for day as well as evening occasions. You can be rest assured that they can be pleated in a fuss-free way and give a neat drape too. To spruce up the lehenga saree, embroideries such as bagh, zardozi, chikan, kashida, kantha, sozni and shisha are preferred. The ideal length to get the desired effect would be between six and nine yards. For a coordinated look, you can go for a matching dupatta to pair with your saree while for a striking appearance, you can go for a contrasting dupatta.
For this kind of saree, a lehenga proves to be better instead of a regular petticoat. This is because the lehenga provides the spotlight-stealing flare you covet. Provided the lehenga or the flared skirt you choose is well-made, the saree will drape evenly around the waist well to give you a polished look. To secure the lehenga saree, use safety pins, plain or bejewelled depending on your preference. They would be necessary to tuck pleats and pallu for a neat appearance. To level up the look, you can certainly go for various ornaments such as jewellery sets, bangles and ornate belts.
Amazing Lehenga Sarees Drapes You Need To Try
1. Lehenga Saree Style
For this, wear a blouse and a voluminous skirt. Tuck your saree on your left and start pleating the saree towards the right until you cover one full circle. Ensure you leave a little saree material for adjusting and then pleat the pallu of the saree. Now, take the pallu from the right side and pin it on your left shoulder. Finally, pleat the saree that remains and tuck it neatly in the middle portion at the back. This style can be perfect as your wedding saree as it has the opulence to stand out from the crowd.
2. Half Saree Style
After you wear and tie your lehenga skirt around the waist, drape the saree pallu and pin it on your left shoulder while ensuring a good pallu length. Now, from the pallu, start tracing the pleats till the whole length of the saree. Let the pleats be loose to form a beautiful U-shape at the back. Secure the pleats on the left hip to make sure the U-shape at the back stays secure. This is for everyone who loves the timelessness of the half saree. To get a more defined look, wear a belt.
3. Half Saree Style With Dupatta
Wear your regular lehenga skirt and blouse with the dupatta draped around the skirt like a half saree. Next, take another ornate dupatta if your lehenga is simple or alternatively simple ethnic dupatta is great if your lehenga is heavily embellished. This needs to be in your saree collection as it can be perfect as a last-minute saree.
4. Lehenga Saree Style Like A Dupatta
After you wear your blouse and lehenga skirt, pleat the saree pallu, drape it over the front body and pin it on the left shoulder. Take the pleats of the pallu from the left to right side. Now, tuck the other end of your saree in the front at the centre. Now you would have the body of the saree at the back. Take the upper side of the saree to make even pleats and tuck it at the back in the middle. Adjust the pleats and you will have a broad U-shape at the back and in the front, an inverted V-shape. Optionally, you can add a belt to the final look.
So here are the things that need to be kept in mind before and various kinds of lehenga saree styles that you can experiment with.
