Going Green

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Spotted Ms. Balan looking lovely in a green Sabyasachi sari at the designer’s flagship store in Delhi. Of late, we’ve seen some Sabya creations that we’ve not quite lusted for, but this one, we want. Badly!

vidya-balan-sabyasachi-store-delhi

Vidya Balan at Sabyasachi Flagship Store in Delhi

Hindustantimes, Mid-day

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73 Comments

  1. Only that this makes you 10 years older… naah! Love the colour but there is no freshness. I think i have seen hundreds of these in my grand ma’s collection.

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    • Well..age old adage.. ” old is gold” the curvaceous indian woman looks elegant and ravishing in these kind of attire only..i must say your grandmom got a lovely collection!!!

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  2. WOW!! Now she is living up to her potential!!! First time I am noticing how big of a difference it makes if you are perfectly healthy, at your ideal weight vs. even being slightly over weight..I am not too much into being thin and all..but this is inspiring me to just be healthy and it shows up on your face and overall personality..also she has been looking happy with herself and that also reflects! Great going Vidya!

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  3. she looks lovely! although, i wish they had chosen a different saree – both the pattern and the colour really take away from the beauty of the saree

    i recently bought a very sabya-looking saree in madras (but much easier on the wallet)and i had a long-sleeve blouse made for it after seeing his ramp shows. this picture makes me really excited to wear it!

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  4. HOW GORGEOUS IS THIS?! She looks so exotic in that peacock green, with the natural hair and traditional jewelry. This is an instance where I actually really like the heavy eyeliner. Sarees these days are so white-washed, with the bling and the pastels and the wstern jewelry. WE’RE EXOTIC DAMNIT, we should look it.
    I think this may have single-handedly renewed my love for Indian clothing.

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  5. First of all, I DO like this sari. Bu that’s not to say I find it supremely lust-worthy.

    I know PnP have admitted a bias towards traditional/ ethic designs and I notice a lot of commenters on this site go completely ga-ga over a sari that is draped traditionally and worn with a half-sleeved blouse. I’m not saying that’s wrong or criticizing, but just wondering. I see so many comments on here that say things like “it’s so refreshing to see a proper blouse”. I find that supremely ironic given that a HUGE majority of women in India tend to wear conservative saris on a regular basis. Can somebody explain it to me (please)? I mean I love saris worn the traditional way myself, I’m just not opposed to innovation and I don’t get the big fuss.

    Especially since I’ve lived abroad (like a lot of people on this site) I find myself disappointed by the amount of ‘eve teasing’, leering and unwanted attention a woman on an Indian street is subjected to when she wears decent shorts or strappy tops. So to me, an Indian woman who can rock a plunging neckline or short hemline with confidence and elegance is SO much more inspiring and rare.

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      • ok i’ve never seen anyone comment on short hemlines or plunging necklines unless they looked “indecent”. And especially in western wear.

        Innovation for the sake of innovation does not deserve any appreciation – It works when its pleasnig to the eye, or is functional. So a halter spaghetti blouse with sheer net worn to a charity event or to a kids event would not draw the same reaction as when worn to a cocktail party..

        Just offering a different perspective.

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      • @Belle Desse: I think you need to see the “that’s so refreshing” comments in the context of the site. Featuring as they do celebs looking to grab eyeballs, they naturally go the more “daring” route — that is, NOT what you commonly see on Indian streets. In that background, anything that looks regular or reminiscent of the woman on the street obviously seems different, ergo ‘refreshing’.
        And yes, there’s a huge amount of attention that’ll come your way in strappy tops and shorts on Indian streets. Without wanting to defend any eve-teasing, again, you need to see the cultural context.

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    • Here’s my opinion.

      PnP and many other sites are not looking at everyday, middle-class women–they’re looking at celebrities. In India, many celebrities, like many youngsters, think that modern clothes = western wear. Or, when it comes to saris, spaghetti-strap blouses, sheer fabric, bling, etc.

      To me, this is a very cliched way to look at fashion– it’s a fashion-victim mentality, not something that comes from a deep understanding of, say, fabric and cut and colour.

      Most middle-class women in India are not seen as fashionable but they understand more than many celebs and “fashionistas” how to drape a saree, and how to discern between fabric qualities. For example, none of my aunties in Madras would be caught dead with pleats like Vidya’s above.

      These are considerable talents and I find it depressing when these are dismissed as “behenji” looks.

      So I for one find it *extremely* refreshing when a celeb has the originality to wear sarees designed from a traditional base.

      (getting off soapbox now!!)

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    • you’re very right in your place, but the way i understand it is that when people here complain about saris not worn properly or blouses that are distasteful, we’re merely referring to the particular set of people featured on this website, and they are far from the average indian woman.

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    • Bella deese, while I understand your point of view…I take issue with heralding the starlets of bollywood with liberalisation when they don western attire or wear “new age” sarees. Each to his own but these women are in the upper anals of society and don’t have to expose themselves to the reality of India when they step out in their micro minis.

      I was raised outside of India all my life and to this day when I visit I prefer to wear loose kurtas and jeans or cotton salwars and maybe an occasional sari. Doesn’t make me any less feminist. Feminism is a way of life and thought not an attitude of dressing. Each society has a certain way of dressing and to hold them up to western standards would be an injustice and futher trust me even in NYC if you were to go out in a micro mini you would get cat calls depending on how good you look. I hope I haven’t offended you my response is only a because you requested an explanation and I want to share my POV.

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      • Wow, I see I’ve invoked quite a reaction. Just to clarify things, I was NOT criticizing!!!!! I didn’t mean to offend anyone, I was just genuinely curious.

        @ anita: I’m not praising innovation for the sake of innovation, I DO find a lot of saris on this website crass but I don’t understand why some people elevate that crassness to a moral issue when it’s just an aesthetic one .And about the comments I’ve seen PLENTY of comments on this site that are pretty chauvinistic (ex: how does Maliaka Arora’s husband let her dress that way?)

        @ flower power:I think I’m getting the point. Pardon my ignorance, but as a second generation immigrant I tend to look at Indian society as a homogenous whole instead of separating it into different classes that obviously dress differently. Guess that’s the context I was missing. But I’m sorry, I don’t agree with you on the eve-teasing thing.
        @samantha: Whoa!!!! there’s no need to be so rude, like I said I was NEVER criticizing, just curious.

        @ such : Like I already said I LOVE traditional clothing myself (I’ve defended the traditional Indian aesthetic on a few posts: ex: shilpa’s wedding, queenie @ the LAP launch) I’ve NEVER equated fashionable to western wear alone.

        @ peach bellini: Yes I’m understanding that now.

        @shri : I don’t think that dressing conservatively makes you any less feminist. I have a penchant for tunics/ kurtis and full sleeves myself. I DO however think that restricting a woman’s clothing choices or making her suffer for them is chauvinistic. ‘Eve teasing’ cannot be justified. Period. No offense meant, don’t take this the wrong way.

        Thanks for answering guys, you cleared this up for me, hope I didn’t offend any of you

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        • Whoa so much discussion.

          Not a response to points here but just a point on what is western. It might help to know that the current sari, petticoat and blouse is very much Western/Victorian inspired. In the 19th cent. in a number of parts of India, fashionable women wore them whilst other women did not wear a blouse or undergarments.

          I am covered head to toe all the time – I still wear a proper dupatta for e.g. but I find it depressing that India, a very hot country, still clings to notions of modesty that are Western inspired and claims it as its own.

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          • @AM
            This is 21st century for god’s sake wont two centuries enough for making things part of their society. What are you talking about. I agree with the Petticot /blouse part of it but its been too long girl. Every country has changed its attire inspired by other. Thats why they say the world is getting smaller.
            On moving to US i have often seen a lot of people trying to prove point on how most things indians are not originally indian. Do a reserach on other nations too you will find the same… clothes like food has always evolved and changed with time. if not the britishers would still be crowding the subways with their huge ball gowns!

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          • @KS my point is that things have changed and they keep changing and we shouldn’t be banging on about how nice it is to wear a “traditional” saree as opposed to say a mini. Think you are being a tad touchy here – the saree is Indian, it was influenced by the Victorians and now it is being influenced by the 21st century – ergo the barely there blouse – I think Bella Deese’s point was you should be able to wear it out and about without being eve-teased or having someone call it against our culture.

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          • @AM: “but I find it depressing that India, a very hot country, still clings to notions of modesty that are Western inspired and claims it as its own.”– I responded to this point of your’s not belle’s.
            when traditions become part of society they are cherised as their own, just coz it originated in West doesnot change the fact that the people who practice will attach their views to it.

            I understand what P&P are saying and i get belle too.To each their own.i am not going there.

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    • I don’t know if men are any different anywhere in the world? The other day they were showing old candid camera shots on one of the channels men here were also trying to peek and ogle at one of the scantily clad models instead of the model who was dressed more like the rest of the crowd. That is my point number one…

      The other point is when you are the odd one out, people do turn their heads (and I mean both men and women) . For example if I dress like Rekha and go to my everyday routine here then I am sure people will look at me but if I dress like her and go around in India, not that many would notice me.

      The third point is, making something look sexy(e.g. Amisha Pate,Dolly Parton etc.) also get people’s attention.

      Bottom line is, it is very easy to think that every thing that west does is good but it may not be the reality after all….

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      • I was NOT saying that everything the west does is good!!! I was just saying that women have much more freedom to dress the way they want in other countries (both Asian and western ones) and there is NO denying that.

        I do get your point about about the odd one out though

        Trust me, I love Indian clothes myself, its just that I did not understand the big fuss over proper blouses etc, but I’m getting the point now.

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    • i think P&P (and many of us) went gaga coz vidya balan usually dresses quite poorly …

      nothing to do with preference for indian vs western outfits.

      infact … preity zinta who rarely wears indian outfits regularly gets a thumbs up from most of the bloggers here …

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      • I’m not talking about this sari in particular, just traditional saris in general, like I said I DO like this sari and I DO like traditionaol saris as well!!

        All I was saying was that it was ironic that people found conservatively dressed women on this site so rare and refreshing when a majority of India dresses traditionally. So, to me, a woman who went against those norms and rocked a risque outift was rare.

        I’m not talking about wether people liked it or not, I was just confused as to why they found this rare, but I think I’m understanding now.

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        • @belle desse: just to clarify the eve-teasing point (just to put it on record, i think ‘eve-teasing’ itself is an abhorrent word, we’re talking about sexual harassment) : i don’t believe in the ‘she-asked-for-it’ argument any more than you do, but just as people featured here dress in a certain way to attract attention, a person dressed that way on the streets will also attract attention — and THAT can’t be thwarted by security etc. as we all know, even the most conservative clothes or a saree is not a deterrent for women-abusers.

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  6. Lovely. Read that Sabyasachi designed her clothes for Paa which must be why she is wearing so much of his stuff.

    Bella Deese quite agree with you. Whilst a woman may look good in modest attire no need to extol it. It is possible to rock a revealing dress.

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  7. Lovely is an understatement. She looks beautiful. She’s one of my favourite actresses because she just seems so elegant personally (not that that often translates to what she wears!).
    Her hair looks awesome here; and I’m only saying that cause it looks like mine 🙂

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  8. also, read elsewhere that he’s launched a woven saris line – this must be from that..I think personally, since I am not at my ideal weight, woven saris make me look older right now. I would wait until late 40s to start wearing them, or if I lose weight in the meantime..

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  9. Classic simplicity has one major advantage…We can all look at this picture 10 years later and still think how spectacular Vidya was looking that day.

    AK, Sarita and Shyba if u have bought or want to buy a ”Sabya looking sari”, it means you are buying a copy. And if you are a fan of any designer please save up and buy your designer clothes. If you do the rounds of any designer store you will be surprised to see that most designer originals are just moderately expensive and a little saving up will get you what you want. After all isnt it better to say you own an actual Sabyasachi than saying i own the “look alike”??

    Desiderata….. The Sabyasachi store is at Mehrauli Road, near the Qutub Minar in New Delhi. The store is called Sabyasachi at Carma. You can easily google the name for more details.

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    • @JJ , I don’t agree with your idea of buying insanely expensive designer clothes just so one can say that it is from such and such designer… A classic piece doesn’t have to be from a designer to look classic 10 years down the line. Having said tat I am not promoting piracy here but all @AK did was to get the inspiration of long sleeve blouse from one of Sabya’s fashion shows. I don’t think he holds a patent on long sleeve blouses yet 😉

      Also, the saree Vidya is wearing in this picture is nothing new … I have seen many hand loom sarees like that before so, again he does not have any copy right on the simple green sarees also. It reminds me of old Hindi movie heroins and with the nice make up and everything it looks good on Vidya (which is a pleasant change in Vidya as we have seen her wear those atrocious orange creation from another “Designer Dude” and I am sure she will laugh her head off on that one 2 months from now..)

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      • Just wanted to add that, in US (which is big on copy right infringement) they show a program on Home and garden TV where they decorate a room by getting inspired by some designer’s room from a magazine. The inspired room costs about 5% of the cost of the designer’s room. They interview the designers also in the same program.

        There is another show on E TV where they show off the rack designer inspired gowns after any major hollywood shows like Oscars. So, there is nothing wrong in being a little frugal and getting inspirations from designers ramp shows …

        People get their inspirations from movie stars all the time and I do not see any harm in that.

        Having said all that I agree with your point that designer stores may not be all that expensive …….

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