That's when I discovered another accessory - a simple length of cloth. It started with knotting a colourful scarf around my neck to break up the monotony of my office garb of drab shirt and grey trousers. That's when the world of folds, drapes, knots and related appointments like brooches & pins opened up to me.
Salwar-kameezes found a place in my wardrobe around the same time and from that direction, I came to the Indian version of scarves. Dupattas, such an integral part of Indian dressing, lend themselves to so many ways of wear, spanning the range from flirty to pragmatic, modest to seductive and accessorial to pragmatic. They add character to the clothes you wear.
Call it a stole, call it scarf or a bandana or a dupatta, the versatility of an extra piece of cloth cannot be emphasized enough. I love mixing up the conventional and this accessory allows me the freedom to do so without stumbling into inappropriate. For a bohemian look, I sometimes sport a regular cotton dupatta as a stole. What is usually known as a stole can be creatively knotted and fluffed up the front of a plain tee-shirt to make a fancy yoke. At the very least, a severe formal look can be offset by a soft, feminine (and saucy) scarf. While travelling around a polluted city, a scarf is a great way to keep the dust off your face and your hair, tangle-free.
The most common ways that I see people wear scarves are:
The Headscarf: Fold a square scarf in a triangle, place on head and knot under neck. An import from rural Europe, this style has gotten associated with fever patients in urban Indian.
The Dangling Neckpiece: Loop a narrow, rectangular scarf over neck. Tie once and fasten with pin in the middle of the front. This style is most commonly seen on the uniforms of the service sector, especially airlines.
The Noose: Looped tight around neck and hung down the front or the back. Most chiffon/slippery fabric dupattas are worn this way, presumably because it is the only practical way to. This style doesn't do anything by way of modesty, grace or aesthetics for the outfit.
The Off-Shoulder Drooper: Very popular when the dupatta is the focus of the outfit because of its embroidery or other work, this is worn loosely draped over one shoulder/arm. It serves well to showcase the dupatta but often gets in the way or falls off during regular activity. I think it's best suited to a mannequin.
The Modest V: Each end thrown over one shoulder, the front pulled down to cover the torso. This is the most modest style I've seen and it finds great favour with the more conservative of my family members. For all its shapelessness, I think it still adds an element of grace and feminity to the otherwise straight lines of the salwar-kameez.
The Dhavani/ Odhni of a lehenga-choli: This outfit is rapidly going extinct, except for ceremonial occasions. There, the northern/western versions of draping over one shoulder and tucking into the lehenga seemed to be most popular. The southern version of mimicking a saree palluv (drape across torso for maximum coverage and tuck other end into lehenga/ pavadai) doesn't seem to find as much favour.
The Elbow Drape: Popularised by prime time Hindi soap operas, this style involves draping the dupatta over each elbow, leaving the ends hanging alongside the lehenga and the middle forming a triangle down the wearer's lower back. I don't like this style too much since it necessarily involves holding one's arms at right-angles (Barbie doll style) at all times.
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