Nakshikantha: Stories on fabric

The winter afternoon sun makes me so nostalgic. It takes me back to our weekends in the cozy verandas, cuddled up lazily in old kantha quilts, Ma keeping us engrossed with her childhood stories and Baba silently reading his usual newspapers."পুরানো সেই দিনের কথা ভুলবি কিরে হায়"(excerpt from Tagore's famous song on bygone days and nostalgia)!!! Alas!!!

Holiday season during our childhood was all about stories, lazy afternoons, warmth of old handmade quilts, wedding parties, colors and happiness. Thus this winter series post is inspired by all those elements and few more. Its a vibrant Nakshikantha on tussar saree with stories of birds embroidered all over the saree in a corner to corner style. You can drape this saree to any of your Holiday parties or Wedding invites. Thus presenting our #Kantha saree look

Bought this Nakshikantha saree on my last trip to Bolpur, West Bengal from a local handloom shop. Its a hand-embroidered master piece on tussar. This specific kantha motif is called pakhi kantha or bird motif kantha. The saree has been embroidered with more than 32 hues of thread. The off-white typical of tussar color of this saree makes all the embroidered motifs pop-up. Sanchita also draped a similar pakhi kantha saree in peacock blue Bangalore silk in one of our previous blogs here. 

So what is Kantha  or Nakshikantha ?

For as many as 500 centuries, poor Bengali women have taken their discarded cloth scraps and sewn them together with a simple running stitch; taking the old and re-purposing it into something useful and protective. Far from trend-setting, or even artfulness, kantha was created originally for the most basic and practical purpose: to keep warm. Over time, kantha developed as a generational skill, a craft that could symbolically impart story, desire, and well-wishing for loved ones & gift recipients. Elaborate kantha were made as wedding gifts or gifts for mothers, with stories and wishes weaved in(source). Nakshikantha is refered to those specific artistic kantha work which depicts special motifs. The motifs may include images of flower and leaves, birds, fish and animals. They even have unique ways of story telling through the motifs.

How to buy genuine Kantha sarees:

In recent times with advent of machine embroidery, there has been a lot of less expensive pseudo kantha sarees sold in bigger outlet stores. But the genuine hand embroidery has always held its own reputation as pieces of art .  In order to buy real hand embroidered Kantha sarees, please look into the density of the stitches. Denser the stitches, more likely its an hand embroidered one. Also the price of a real Nakshikantha saree is way expensive than the machine embroidered ones. But if you would earnestly like to own such a gem in your collection and want to support the brilliant artists working on them, this price would seem worthy for you. Kantha work is done on cotton, silk and tussar, so make sure you also check the handloom mark/silk mark on the fabric you're paying the for.

Styling of Kantha Sarees

Kantha Sarees are nothing new to us, we have been seeing our moms and grand-moms draping it with utmost elegance from ages. Kantha sarees are themselves so beautiful that we don't need much else. But an ordinary blouse and random accessories can spoil the whole drama in the saree. As these sarees are very traditional, edgy stylizing can draw all the attention in any party. Here are some tips to stylize your kantha buy:

• The right blouse

Choose the right blouse. Printed or too much work on blouse may take the focus out of the kantha work on saree. You can choose subtle kantha embroidered blouse but solid colored ones matches the best. Contrast blouses can be a great option to brighten up the over all look. For multi-colored kantha work sarees, you can have a variety of colors to choose for a contrast blouse. 

You can even experiment with crop-tops or unconventional blouse cuts like, off-shoulder, halter etc to raise the style barometer. Here's few examples of such modern blouses. But remember to consider your comfort before pairing them.

Source: Pinterest

• Accessories can make or break the look

Boring and random acessories can spoil the whole look of the beautiful saree. So when you pair up your jewelries with the saree, keep in mind the blouse you are going to wear and the final look you want. Kantha sarees are very versatile and can be worn with silver, gold, pearls and even "junk" jewelries. So you have plethora of options to choose from. You can go over the top with chunky jewelries or keep it very minimal to let the saree talk. Its your choice! But whatever jewelry you pair up with, should compliment the whole look rather than looking out of place and dated.

For one of the looks I sported here, as I added floral hair acessory I kept my jewelry simple with a statement chandbali earring, a whole lot of colorful bangles and a kutch work sling bag. It added the needed glamour to the look and also kept a balance.

For the other look, as I kept my hair in waves, I tired some over the top silver chunky necklace and jhumkis and kept my hands bare with only a stylish palm ring. As the jewelry was heavy, I carried a very simple white leather sling bag. 

• Makeup and Hairstyle that compliments the whole attire:

 Winter is the best time to experiment with your hair and makeup choices. At least you don't have to worry about sweating out your layers of foundation nor spoiling your newly curled hair. For your tresses sometimes simplest accompaniments can add a lot of drama to your look. You can try a floral clip like I have here, or also tie your hair in a traditional bun with lots of fresh flowers to amp up the evening look. During the day time you may simply straighten your hair for a cleaner look.

Play around with some fun makeup trends this season. If you are a  lazy person like me and never want to spend hours on makeup, choose some statement colors for eyes or lips so they get highlighted without much ado. Like here in one of the looks I tried glitter and in the other a blue pop of color on my eyes, so that with less work and products I can make them bright and highlighted. Also you can go for a whole lot of other options like smokey eyes, nude eyes etc depending on how traditional or modern you want to look.

What Was I Wearing:

Saree: Karukrit in Bolpur, West Bengal, India

Blouse: Silk material bought from Gouranga Bastralaya, Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Silver jewelry: H&M

Chandbali earring: Vinatha Collections, Virginia, USA

White sling bag: Celvin Klein

Embroidered bag: Hawkers' Market, Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Palm ring: Bilu da's Collection, Kolkata, India

Metal Bangles: Hogg's Market, Kolkata, India