13 Mistakes That Could Ruin Your Saree!

The six yard wonder of India-Saree, is one attire that can make any woman look strikingly beautiful and can add a glamour quotient. Saree is so versatile that it suits any occasion and flaunts your figure. The only condition to wear a saree is to drape it in the right way and in turn it will make you feel so special. So what’s the ‘right way’ of wearing a saree? Many woman including celebrities are spotted several times making certain mistakes in draping their saree that takes away all the grandeur intended. We’ve listed out 13 simple mistakes commonly made that should be considered every time you wear a saree. A little care while you drape your saree can make you a gorgeous diva.

Here’s a list of 13 mistakes that could ruin your saree look:

1. Misfit blouse

A fact that we can’t deny is that most of a saree’s beauty is attributed to the blouse that we pair it up with. A loose blouse makes you look old fashioned and outmoded while a too tight blouse reveals the back fat and also makes you look undefined and unstructured. Blouse should be appealingly made with delicacy and skill so that it can truly enhance your saree while glamorizing you. Emphasizing on neat and right body fittings is as important as the style you chose for blouse. Make sure you get it stitched to perfection…not-too-loose, not-too-tight. It is also important to wear a right bra while you take measurements for your blouse, so that your bra will not pop out over the shoulders or at the back. Anything other than a perfectly fitting blouse is one of the biggest mistakes that could ruin your saree look.
Some of the celebrity mistakes show us how exactly a wrongly fitted blouse can ruin even a most beautiful saree.

2. Wearing the saree too high or too low

Nothing can make a saree look worse than not draping it at the right place on your waist. While experimenting with your saree is all the rage now, tying it too high around your waist or too low are both going to make it look less elegant than it is supposed to look…and needless to say, ruin the entire look. A saree tied higher than your waistline makes you look like you are from 50s. Moreover, it can also make you look too short than you are, makes your belly look like a pot and lowers your glamour quotient.

On the other hand, a saree tied too low not only shows more skin but also spoils the feminine looks of the saree. It can also create an impression that your legs are short which makes you look less glamorous. Also instead of the intended beautiful mermaid shape of the saree from knees to floor, the drape creates a narrow ‘V’ shape if tied too low. To enhance your saree’s beauty as well as yours, tie it just above the waist bone, so that it sits right below your navel.

Here’s a few of our B’wood divas who’ve ruined some gorgeous sarees by draping them a bit too low.

3. Wrong Accessories

A saree is never complete without some jewellery and some other accessories to go with it. However, it is important to make sure that these accessories are not overdone. Too much of mismatched, loud and colourful jewellery can ruin the saree look and also make you look gaudy. The trick is to keep it simple and minimal just so that the beauty of the saree is more pronounced with the help of the jewellery instead of getting ruined. Simply wear one statement piece of jewellery that suits your saree. Also forget the prehistoric matchings concept— matching bangles, bindi, earrings etc., so that you won’t look like a Bollywood actress of a 1950 movie. Contrast is the key and it is more important that your accessories suit you more than just matching your saree.

4. Improper Pallu Draping

Getting the pallu right is the most important part of draping the saree. Whether you’d like to go for steps or you’d like to leave the pallu loose, don’t use too many pins and see that the drape is simple and yet intact.

More importantly, make sure that the pallu covers the front of the blouse properly. Be it to show off the embroidery you got done on the blouse or for whatever reason it is that you decide to leave a bit of your blouse uncovered (which is being done a lot lately), remember that a saree’s beauty never stands out when you decide to shift the attention to the blouse instead. It is not right to keep the pallu too narrow over the front part of the blouse. In some cases it creates an impression as if the bosom is too broad and bulged sideways with more fat on the sides which makes you look older in age and in some women it makes them look as if the upper part of their body is too lean and not in tune with the lower part of the body. Simply speaking wearing a pallu too narrow through the middle of the bosom makes you look unstructured. The idea of wearing a saree is to flaunt the feminine figure but not to make yourself look in bad shape. Also keeping the pallu improper and revealing too much makes your saree appear like a pub wear.

Here are a few cases when your saree look could get ruined with a tad too much of skin show and improper draping.

5. Carrying Wrong Bag

Not giving your bag enough attention is a mistake that people often make that could very likely ruin their saree look for them. See to it that your bag is just right for the saree and not too huge. Clutches and potli bags go best along with sarees instead of huge bags.

6. Wrong Footwear

Among all the accessories that add beauty to your saree are the footwear that you choose to wear. It would be best not to choose wedges, ballerina flats or flip flops to go along with your saree. Stilettos and peep toes  go well with sarees.

7. Choosing Wrong Petticoat

Just as a badly done blouse can ruin your saree, so can the wrongly colored petticoat. A bright petticoat being too visible spoils the saree’s beauty. Also see to it that the fabric and the fitting of the petticoat is perfect so that it does not play a spoilsport to your saree. The petticoat shouldn’t be too long nor too short. Flared petticoats should be avoided as they will make you look fat and shapeless. Loose petticoats will also create folds ruining the looks of your beautiful saree. If your petticoat is too narrow, it makes you very uncomfortable and you may end up walking like a duck. If it is too lose over the waist, it will get heaped up on tying which can make your waist look fat. Take care that you choose a petticoat of floor length if you opt to wear high heels and a sheer saree.

8. Wearing the wrong saree for the wrong occasion

Sarees are definitely the most versatile and dressy attire ever but that does not mean that you can wear any saree to any event or place just as long as it is a saree. Your saree should be in tune with the occasion you are wearing for.  If you’d like to wear a saree to your work place, going for the blingy, gaudy sarees wouldn’t be a good idea. Likewise, try not to wear sarees that are too simple for grand Indian weddings. Wearing it to the wrong place would definitely ruin the beauty of a saree.

9. Wearing Heavy Make-up

No matter how well you’ve draped your saree, the wrong make-up can easily ruin the look. Make sure that the eye and lip colors that you choose go along perfectly well with your saree, lest they’re very likely to stand out and make the attire look odd. In any case, try not to over-do the make-up. Too much makeup can make you look like a disco ball.

10. Using too many pins

It would be a near-impossible task to keep your saree intact without pins. However, using too many pins all over your saree could very easily ruin it for you making the drape look like a samosa. Try and keep the saree loose and flowing so that it will be easy for you to get around. At the same time, pins could also lead to some minor tears in the saree. So try and use as less pins as you can for your saree. You definitely need to use 1-2 pins or a brooch to keep the pallu organized and a pin to keep the pleats in place.

11. Saree Length

Your saree should not be too short or too long. It should just touch the floor while making it comfortable for you to walk. It is very important to wear your intended footwear before you start draping your saree. Just make sure that the length of your saree as well as the petticoat are floor length even while you wear your footwear.

12. Saree pleats

Saree pleats should not be heaped up carelessly. If you add too many pleats, your belly may look a little large. Also too less pleats doesn’t look beautiful. It is ideal to create 6-7 pleats measuring about 5-6 inches wide. The pleats should be even in width and should go straight one over the other neatly. Tuck the pleats facing towards your left and slightly towards the left side of the navel. If the pleats are of uneven length, it will not look good at the bottom of the saree. See that you arrange and tuck the pleats evenly.

13. Pallu Length and Style

Some women give importance only to the front part of the saree and just tend to forget about the looks of the pallu at their back. If the pallu is too short, it looks outmoded and makes you look a little older. Also if it is too lengthy, it makes you uncomfortable and also you may look a little shorter. Also if you are wearing a heavy saree, a lengthy pallu adds too much weight and tends to pull over the blouse where you pinned up the pallu. It spoils the looks of the blouse at the shoulder and back. Keeping the pallu 5-7 inches below the knees can flaunt the appearance of saree.

Even the pallu style defines your saree. Generally speaking if your saree is made of a flowing fabric like chiffon or georgette, it will look beautiful when the pallu is pinned on a single step without pleats. Stiff sarees and more so if they have a rich border, they look luxurious on styling it up with pleated pallu. Try both ways every saree when you wear it for the first time, look into a long mirror and decide which style goes good with it.