How to Wear a Saree the Traditional Way?

Hope you have seen the Different ways of Draping sarees post. So as promised I will be giving the detailed and step by step demonstration of each method in individual posts. Here comes the first method Classical Indian Drape-the Traditional way.

1. Classic Indian Drape (Traditional Way)      
2. Gujarati style
3. Maharashtrian style
4. Tamilian version
5. Bengali style
6. Mundu Neriyathum / Kerala style       
7. Coorgi Style
8. Mumtaz style             Check out theTraditional Sarees of India

Wearing a Sari in Traditional Way
The two mandatory requirements for wearing any kind of  saree are a Petticoat which is a waist to toe garment tied tightly by a drawstring (it should match the base color of the saree as closely as possible) and a tight fit Blouse (preferable of matching color to the saree) 

Step 1: Starting at the navel, tuck the plain end of the saree into the petticoat keeping the entire saree on the left and continue tucking till you take a complete turn. Adjust the lower end of the saree to the height required. Ideally footwear is worn prior to draping the saree so that you drape the saree to the right length.

Step 2 : Making pleats. From the point where the one complete rotation has ended, start making pleats with the saree. Make about 7 to 10 pleats(depending on the lenght of the saree and length of each pleat) and hold them up together so that they fall straight and even. 

Step 3 : Tuck the pleats into the waist petticoat slightly to the left of the navel, taking care to see that the pleats are turned towards the left.

Step 4 : The pallu. The remaining portion of the saree must be turned once around the body and then draped over the left shoulder. Arrange the pleats on this part of the saree (you can keep it as single layer or make multiple layers) and then pin them up on the left shoulder to prevent the pallu from falling off.

This is the most common method to wear a saree. You can wear matching bindi and jewellery to go with the saree to give the complete traditional look

Here is a video demonstrating the same, differing a little from the above said procedure. There are couple of variations also which you can adopt.