How to Wear a Saree in a Bengali Drape

Achieving the Bengali drape may take several tries and lots of practice.

The traditional Bengali saree drape dates back hundreds of years, and is now worn most often by older women in Calcutta and women in outlying villages. This style has pleats in the front and is worn most often with a large key hanging from the cascading piece of fabric, known as the pallu, down the back. It works best with a light cotton sari or a specially woven Bengali-style sari, which is highly textured and lighter than some of heavier silk saris.

Instructions

1. Adjust the sari so the border prints are on the top and bottom are parallel to the ground and hold the fabric in front of you and slightly to your right.

2. Starting at your right hip, wrap the sari around your waist from right to left so that the bottom border just touches the tops of your toes. Keep the bottom border even all the way around your body, making a few pleats near the small of your back if necessary to keep the border even.

3. Bring the fabric to your right side make a large 4 to 5 inch fold in the fabric to make a pleat. Repeat to make another pleat underneath your belly button. Adjust your pleats so they are straight and fall evenly with the bottom border print. Tuck the upper border fabric firmly into your waist to secure the pleats.

4. Bring the upper border fabric from your left side waist up across your chest to your left shoulder. Grasp the right side of the sari that rests on your chest with your right hand and pull it away from your body until the fabric touches the middle of your lower back. Tie the end of the fabric in a knot and neatly tuck the knot into the small of your back waist.

5. Pull the fabric hanging down your left shoulder around your back, around the right side of your waist to the front of your body and up and across your chest to your left shoulder again. At this point, you can tie a heavy key to the very end of the sari. Place this end over your left shoulder.

References

• Sari Safari: The Bengali Drape
• Sareez: Draping a Saree in Bengali Style