A sari story

These traditional Indian garments are much admired by women in the west, especially following the explosion of interest in Bollywood - and now it seems we all want to know more about this exotic clothing.

Women who visit the Clovelly Centre in St Mary's brought along their saris and their stories for a special project run by the WEA and Mount Pleasant Media Workshop.

As well as creating exhibits that explain the origin and significance of this elegant garment, the project allowed the Asian women to get to grips with digital imaging.

Dahlia Jamil of the WEA said: "We organised the exhibition as part of the WEA centenary celebrations. It was a great opportunity for the women to use computers and learn about digital imaging in a fun way," she said.

Iffat Khan of Westbury Road, Regents Park turned her story into a sari by having her words printed onto cloth.

She told the embarrassing tale of how she was wearing a sari just after she married and the car she was travelling in broke down.

She had to clamber into the breakdown lorry pulling the swathes of material with her - and trying to look elegant for her new husband.

"It was so embarrassing," she said.

Iffat said she enjoyed listening to the stories from some of the older women and she learned a great deal from them.

"I was born here and have a different point of view. It was good to hear the stories behind the saris," she said.

Shakun Sharma from Ridding Close, Shirley explained there are many changing fashions with saris.

"The styles are changing all the time. If I go back to India in the summer they will be wearing different saris to the ones they had in the spring," she said.

Our chilly climate puts some off donning saris but a family wedding is a time when most women will wear them, explained Dahlia.

Baseerat Shaheen from Northumberland Road, St Mary's brought along her intricate wedding veil.

Wedding saris are the most ornate and can cost up to £2,000. The most coveted are made of silk and organza - and some muslin saris are woven so finely they can be folded down to fit inside a matchbox.

Shakun added: "My favourite was my wedding sari - it was multi-coloured with orange, green and blue."

Her friend Kartar Shergill, from Jansen Road, Shirley believes saris are the perfect fashion garment.

"You feel very elegant when you wear one and you look slim - saris really do suit everyone," she said.

FACTFILE:

The sari is a length of cloth measuring from about four to eight metres by about 120 centimetres. It is draped around the body, with most of the fabric pleated at the waist and then wound round to make a skirt or pair of trousers. The remaining fabric is swept across the upper half of the body, covering at least one shoulder and sometimes veiling the head. In some regions, a woman wears a shorter length of fabric draped below the waist only.

Saris are either woven by hand - there are over three million handlooms in India employing more than six million people - or by powerlooms in textile mills.

The creation of saris is big business and hand- woven saris are prized.

The length and width of saris varies by region and by quality.

The designs on saris are significant. They are divided into three areas the borders, the enpiece and the field.

Traditionally, each area communicated a woman's social and family status as well as her regional identity through the use of colour and motifs.