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Tribal saris:

Tribal saris are characterised by an important feature: the drape firmly covers the upper part of the body. These drapes often require specific clothes, the Toda shawl for instance, rather than a standardised sari.
When a veshti is closed above the breasts, I have called it "high veshti". Many tribes all over India wear garments based on such a simple drape.

Left: Toda women with typical draped shawls.

Right: the Boro "mekhla" worn by some tribal women of Assam. This interesting drape is made with a single piece of cloth, the size of a twin sized bed sheet.

In some styles the cloth is passed over one shoulder (usually the right) and knotted over the breast. I called these drapes "right shoulder tribal saris". Far right, the Pullaiyar sari, only remembered by few older women in the mountains between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.


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SARIS: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE INDIAN ART OF DRAPING

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