Viridian-Green Jamdani Sari from Banaras with Woven Flowers All-Over
Dry clean only. Store folded in a soft muslin pouch away from direct sunlight to keep the sheen alive.
Description
Pure Silk<br>Weaver Ansar Ali. Blouse/Underskirt Tailormade to Size
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Behind this piece
Jamdani is among the oldest figured-weaving traditions in the subcontinent, its name derived from the Persian for flower-vessel. Though its roots lie in the muslin workshops of Dhaka, Banaras developed its own silk-Jamdani vocabulary over centuries, grafting the discontinuous supplementary-weft technique onto the city's lustrous silk base. Each flower on this viridian sari is individually thrown by hand, weft by weft, without a pre-programmed jacquard mechanism. Weaver Ansar Ali works within this labour-intensive tradition, where a single sari can occupy a skilled pair of hands for several weeks on the pit loom.
How to style
Wear this sari in a Nivi drape for a literary festival or an intimate wedding lunch, pairing it with an ivory raw-silk blouse to let the viridian speak without competition. For evening, a deep gold tissue blouse and uncut-diamond studs will honour the woven florals. If you prefer a relaxed silhouette, try the Gujarati seedha-pallu style with a gathered skirt and kolhapuri heels in tan leather. A single antique gold bangle on each wrist, nothing more, keeps the focus precisely where the weaver intended: on the cloth itself.
Fabric & care
Pure silk Jamdani demands patience rather than machinery. Dry-clean for the first two or three wears to stabilise the supplementary-weft floats. If you hand-wash, use cool water and a silk-specific, pH-neutral liquid, gently pressing the fabric rather than wringing it. Dry flat in shade, never on a hanger, as the weighted silk will stretch at the shoulder seam. Store wrapped in a soft muslin cloth, away from cedar and synthetic mothballs, which can yellow silk over time. Refold along different lines each season to prevent permanent crease-set at the borders.
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