How to Wear a Saree in Bengali Style

Wrapping the Saree Around Your Waist

Tuck the saree in your waist. Start the tuck on the right side of your waist, and wrap it all the way around your body until it comes back to the right side of your body. As the edge runs along your waist, you can gently tuck in the entire edge, so the saree has a secure fit. The bottom border of the saree should graze the top of your feet, and should look horizontally straight and parallel to the ground.

Pleat the saree by tucking it back and forth. Once you have wrapped the saree once around your waist and tucked it on your right side hip, take the continued edge of the cloth, and tuck it into the left side of your waist. Then, reverse the direction, folding the saree back on itself from the left, and tuck it again on the right side of your waist. Moving from the right tuck, bring the cloth back across the front of your waist, and tuck it again on the left side. Do this one more time, moving from the left tuck, and tuck it again on your right side waist. This back and forth folding is called box pleating the saree. When you are finished pleating the saree, the fabric should lay evenly and perpendicular to your body. Overall, after the initial full body wrap, you will tuck the saree twice on your left side and twice on your right side.

Draping The Saree For Your Upper Body

Fold the remaining saree to make pleats. Pick the saree up from the shorter edge (the end that is not coming directly from the tucked portion), and hold it vertically at the corner. Start folding the saree in 4-5 inch sections, folding and layering the saree back and forth using your thumb and pinky finger to hold the fabric in place. Be careful to take your time and make clean, even folds. Make sure that the ends of the folds finish on opposite sides of the pleat. For example, if the beginning, top corner of the pleat starts on the right side, then the end, bottom corner of the folding should finish on the left side.

Throw the folded section over your left shoulder. The end of the saree is called a pallu. The folded pallu will now be thicker since it’s folded. Position the pallu over your left shoulder, pulling up from the front, bottom part of the saree so the pallu can be completely draped over your shoulder. The bottom of the pallu behind your shoulder should fall somewhere in between mid calf to lower calf length. Make adjustments so that the decorated bordering of the saree is fully visible and relatively straight and vertical.

Ornament the other hanging end of the saree. From the pallu hanging behind your back, grab the corner of the top fold. This corner is the corner facing outward, shown to the world, not the corner facing your back. Pull this corner from the left side of your body, to the right side, and bring it underneath your right arm, so it is now in front of your body. Attach a trinket to this corner of the saree. You can use a safety pin to securely attach the trinket to cornered pallu. Traditionally, the trinket has been a heavy house key, but any kind of weighted decoration will do.

Position the decorated corner of the saree. Once you have attached your trinket, and the decorated corner is in front of the right side of your body, drape it over your right shoulder. The trinket should fall at around the top to mid portion of your back.In order to complete the Bengali look, accessorize your saree with suitable traditional jewelry like gold earrings, necklaces, bangles, and a tikka (forehead ornament).