Saturday, September 24, 2011

Sringar

Today I'm working on completing a new dress I've been working on these past two days. Day one I did most of the cutting, day two, interfacing and stitching the bodice and today, hopefully I will finish it. I only have to stitch the skirt and pockets and voila! 

The other day, while searching for sweaters and scarves, I found a bunch of clothes and bangles I haven't seen since my trip to India. Yesterday, two friends dropped by to look at saris, while I was going through the collection, I realised how many gorgeous frickin' saris I have. All are cotton Bengali handloom, তাঁত সাড়ি and several are intricately hand-embroidered tangail,  টাঙ্গাইল; I also  found tons of silver jewelry, in Rajasthani style-- heavily detailed and bulky sitting around collecting dust in storage bins so today I've decided to indulge my vanity and play dress up as much as possible.  Last week I played around with a cone of henna, painting anyone who would let me, until finally it started to dry up and I exhausted myself trying to squeeze out the viable portions. I even decorated my own hands and feet, I only have photos of my feet, however. Usually I never post photos of my own feet on my blog, as I know there are devotees that frequent it for the occasional Krishna-conscious post but today I will simply beg forgiveness ahead of time and ask that you not scroll down to the bottom unless you specifically wish to see the cute peacock design on my ugly feet. :)

Though I really like henna and all mehendi designs, my favorite cosmetic is still alta, first and foremost. Maybe today I'll play around with designing artwork in alta. Using traditional Bengali or Hindu insignia like swastik, peacock, kalash, fish, butterfly, vedi etc. are my favorite motifs to use in decorating hands though I specifically avoid placing any auspicious or sacred paraphernalia drawings like vedi, kalash or swastik on the feet. I like the heart-shaped leaves and vines because they look like paan leaves, a very essential and iconic part of Bengali weddings. 

I think I did pretty well considering how I had to play contortionist just to get the right angles. 

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