Stoles are the easiest way to incorporate handcrafted textiles into your daily wardrobe if going all-the-way traditional is not your thing. A series of daily outfit details from my internship at Please Touch The Handloom Experience at Artisans’ Kalaghoda.
Day 1 – Fabindia, Shibori on Gajji Silk. Radiant, fluid ripples in Indigo.
Day 2 – Vibrant red and yellow Bandhej on Gajji Silk, from a Paramparik Karigar Exhibition. The more the colours in a bandhini yardage, the more labour intensive its production and the more breathtaking it’s result. Every square is in near perfect symmetry and distance – one can only imagine the patience and precision it took to hand tie each of these knots before dyeing. I love how retaining the crushed peaks of bandhini gives the yardage so much more dimension and texture.
Day 3 – My favourite, a gossamer Ajrak dupatta in Chanderi silk, sourced from Ajrakhpur, Kutch.
Day 4 – An earthy Bagru print wrap front Anarkali from Fabindia. Block printed cottons are dreamy soft owing to the repetitive washing and dyeing processes involved in natural block printing.
Day 5 – Kota Doria Stole, Fabindia. One of my favourite textiles in a dreamy indigo dhabu mud resist pattern. The inherent imperfection of natural, handcrafted labour lends immense character to any outfit.
Wearing handcrafted and handloom textiles is so much more than just Indian-ized styling. It’s promoting and preserving a craft heritage spanning centuries, it’s empowering artisans, weavers and craftsmen from the remotest corners of the country, it’s protecting a glorious culture and being a part of a bigger movement – one that moves towards organic lifestyles, ethical consciousness, a minimised carbon footprint and maximised welfare to society; one #ootd at a time.
