Opal-Green Long Kurta Top / Kameez from Lucknow with Chikan Hand-Embroidery
Machine or hand-wash cold, inside out. Air-dry in shade. Iron on medium heat. Wash with similar colours the first time.
Description
Pure Cotton. Shoulders 16.0 in. Bust 42.0 in. Length 43.0 in. Sleeve Length 21.0 in
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Behind this piece
Chikankari is Lucknow's quietest argument for permanence. Rooted in the Mughal courts of the seventeenth century and refined across the narrow galis of the old city, this embroidery tradition endures through the hands of karigar families who have stitched its vocabulary of shadow-work, phanda, and murri for generations. On this opal-green cotton kurta, each motif breathes with the restraint the craft demands: small, precise, unhurried. The colour itself carries something of the Gomti on an overcast morning, and the white threadwork reads against it with a clarity that no machine can replicate.
How to style
For a summer afternoon, pair this kurta with wide-leg ivory cotton palazzo trousers and flat Kolhapuri chappals in tan leather. For an evening gathering, layer it over slim white churidar and finish with oxidised silver jhumkas and a hand-block-printed dupatta in soft ecru. For a diaspora celebration where you want heritage without formality, wear it with straight-cut white linen trousers, minimal gold studs, and leather mules. The opal-green holds equally well under indoor chandelier light and in open courtyard afternoon shade, making it genuinely versatile across occasions.
Fabric & care
Pure cotton breathes, but it also remembers every indignity. Hand-wash this kurta alone in cool water with a gentle, pH-neutral detergent; machine agitation will distort the delicate chikankari stitches over time. Do not wring; press the water out gently and dry flat in shade to prevent the opal-green from fading unevenly. Iron on a low-to-medium setting on the reverse side, using a pressing cloth over the embroidered areas to protect the raised threadwork. Store folded in clean cotton muslin, away from direct light, and this piece will hold its character for many years.
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