Buff women in saris
The title of a new fetish site, or the real results of the Bangalore Open? Presenting Venus and Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic (thanks, Dari):
on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008, 5:06 pm in Fashion, Photographs, Sports, Tennis › 
Email this
› 
Facebook this
› 
Reddit this
› Link
› Reader links
HOW is it these women cannot google “how to tie a saree” before embarassing themselves! I smell me a niche market to go after:
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2007/11/03/ashley-judd-sari/
They obviously didn’t tie these sarees on by themselves. They had to have had help. Except that someone maybe got a little too creative with Venus Williams’ sari.
Serena’s is more traditionally tied, and she also seems more comfortable with herself in it.
All three could pass for Indian, somewhere in India, even Bangalore. And that is all good.
Though I wonder if the modeling gig was part of the ‘appearance money’ deal?
All three of them look terrible. The person who dressed them should be fired.
Can someone explain the faux pas for the estrogen-deficient?
No pocket to stash the tennis balls.
Manish, it’s an impaired sense of aesthetic. Surely, any male can see how unattractive these phenomenally fit women look in such ill-chosen colors and draping style. However, de gustibus……. :)
Reminds me of Aishwarya Rai’s gauche season at Cannes.
I finally realised why I recognised Venus Williams’ new hairstyle. Uncles rock that style to conceal receding hairlines. So what’s it doing on her?
don’t miss the velvet blouses. yuck!
Four pics of Sania Mirza in saris: One Two Three Four.
I can totally see why she would have wanted all the ‘appearance money’ for herself ! :)
The worst part about Venus’ saree? It’s draped on the wrong side. Sarees should always be pinned over le left shoulder. I cannot even begin ripping on the velvet, lack of make-up and poor excuses for bindis…and…and…and…
Maybe she was wearing it Gujarati-style :)
Of course Venus is wearing it Gujarati-style. That’s no faux pas, by itself.
And Manish, when you said ‘estrogen-challenged’, I thought you meant them. Frankly, and totally un-PCily, that’s the first thing I would have guessed had I not known whose pics these were. Especially when I saw the Serena + Venus pic.
they look like crap.
hey don’t make fun of gujarati style.
jesus. there are better saris out there.
i think they look beautiful. and i also don’t think they should look like indian women when they wear saris, they are american after all! and not even average american girls, but buff athletic american girls.
it reminds me of when one sees indian women in ill fitting american clothing! sheesh, guys have it so easy …. :)
1. The Saris aren’t ironed… who is the bonehead that didn’t iron them?
2. Where’s the jewelry? They look like peasants (no disrespect intended to peasants).
3. The fabric is heavy silk… perhaps a chiffon would drape better?
ABD women by in large don’t know how to fold, drape or pleat Saris… guys
have it much it easier with Shirwanis. Although I’d like to see an ABD guy
try to fold and wear properly a pleated dhoti.
Fuggehataboutit.
I fell in love with Aish when I saw her in the garden vareli saree ads. Those were perfectly executed and amazingly beautiful.
Here’s Lisa doing her thing in the old ad that we’ve all prolly seen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLGOkI1g3Io
of all the three, the central saree draping was real bad. The right most one was very well draped and looked good. The left one is just barely ok..it just looks very odd because of the way these athletic women were standing with their hands , not a very feminine way..the beauty of a saree not only lies in the how u tie the saree but also the way you hold the saree and the way you walk and position ur hands, how u hold ur pallu..
some definetely did a bad job in tying these sarees on these super atheltic women, the color choices are bad on them and they should have taught them how to hold a saree gracefully too..
but I appreciate these great sportswomen who seem to be a good sport and wore sarees and looks like they had fun with it. they look happy, smiling that is also important..
I first saw them and I thought: village fashion show? And then I was like, MY GOD!! VENUS and SERENA???!! Why did they raid some grandma’s closet? And Who stole their jewelry? They look bare and deficient. Pull that saree down across the waist, Serena. Dont get me started your makeup, girls. Its like you gave up in India. Its India, not the moon. They have photographers and the internet. And the place where you got those sarees, is their equivalent of Walmart! Oh well, just dont EVER let this happen again. Never EVER again!
The pics have nicely served to refract the sexism and classism in people’s perspectives. Men wonder if they are ‘estrogen challenged’, while women blame them for not wearing enough make-up and jewelry, and for wearing cheap saris the wrong way. Yikes!
I see the bare necks as a ’sartorial accessory advising malfunction’, but come on. They might look cheap, have the wrong color and no design or patterns - but the saris surely aren’t ‘Walmart’ quality. And there have to be millions of women in India who wear saris without being able to afford lots of make-up and jewelry, so it can’t be that you couldn’t look good in a sari without them.
Since you asked nicely :-) :-
1) The pleats of the saris are not Ok - specially for Venus and Serena. Ironing the saris as someone suggested would have helped. What probably happened is : the sari was ironed but the pleats were not made along the “creases” - a recipe for disaster
2) After the pleats are tucked in at the waist - some amount of adjustment is always required. For example: pulling the outermost pleat from the bottom of the saree towards the centre , tucking in “extra ” material at `the waist under the pleats .Doesn’t appear to have been done.
A safety pin /saree pin applied judiciously to the pleats would have helped
3) Some more attention should have been given to the waist - in a well draped saree the border ( usually decorated) should show up at the waist ( See Serena’s waist in 1st photo - border shows partially)
4) This is a personal preference ..but Venus “pallu” should have been broader
To be very fair to these ladies:
The sarees were probably purchased at short notice and so there probably would have been no time to add a “fall” ( piece of cloth lining attached to the bottom border of the saree) .A “fall” helps keep the bottom edge of the saree in shape while protecting it from tears etc. Ditto the blouses - tailored blouses are the best but please don’t diss the velvet ones. They are the only ones that are available off the shelf :-)
As for make-up/jewellery - thats irrelevant as chachaji says.
As a woman, I don’t think they represented well in this photo op and am hardly blaming them for not wearing makeup. For one, “Venus advised the photographers to click as many pictures as they wanted since this would be the last time she would be wearing a sari. It was not, she added, that she didn’t like wearing a sari but that she found it difficult to put it on by herself.” The sisters seem poorly prepared, considering the images were expected to be shown around the world.
Many models appear without makeup and look just as fresh and sexy. It’s more disappointing to see such shoddy showmanship, as yes, they look like they just got off the court, threw on an everyday saree strutted their stuff for the press. Runa’s technical analysis holds true more so for such silk versions. But, considering the style options in India, you’d expect more from the stylists.
Saris are not easy to wear, even if you’ve grown up around them and have expert maternal/auntie help in draping them. If you’re used to your legs moving freely it’s a bit strange to have to take smaller steps, and so people sometimes don’t tie the sari tight enough, and with a stiff billowy fabric that looks bad. First-timers are always better off in crepe or chiffon. A blouse must also work with the wearer’s body type (sleeveless always more flattering). Venus and Serena were just playing dress-up, clearly, and having a bit of fun, so big deal if they didn’t look so great in a sari. Presumably their stylists aren’t familiar with Indian clothes.
Speaking of dress-up, have you noticed the huge number of pictures on Flickr of firangs dressed up in Indian clothes for somebody’s wedding? With identical grins on their faces? Very funny. (I even saw pictures once of an earth-mother type white woman who had wrapped a sari around herself like a sarong and had henna patterns on her pregnant belly. There should be a Flickr set, actually, called Foreign Women Interpret the Sari).
Water buffalo… Serena’s hair style isn’t helpful.
Now you know why I’ve never worn a sari: fear of ridicule.
If I ever do wear one, I’ll be draped and dressed by a professional.
Last year at the Sunfeast open (Kolkata), the players (and the saree helpers) did a far better job.
Maria Kirilenko:
http://www.downthelinetennis.com/2007/09/maria-kirilenko-trades-out-adidas-for.html
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/1414792264_8703791c71.jpg
Daniela Hantuchova
http://www.downthelinetennis.com/2007/09/daniela-hantuchova-at-sunfeast-open.html
Nina, everyone has that fear at first! It’s all about getting someone who knows what they’re doing to show you how to put one on. Loads of first-timers and furrners carry it off just fine (see Ashley Judd, for example). A drapey, thin georgette or crepe is a good first try, and always flattering. Venus and Serena just seem to have picked the worst kind of sari to put on for the first time (and badly). Yes you can!
brown_dbd, those photos are making me exercise my forehand.
I think the pictures Manish linked in above may be a slightly skewed sample, not exactly flattering to the Williams sisters. Nevertheless, they serve a purpose.
There are a whole bunch more: more tennis players in Saris at the ‘Bangalore Open’ (can someone do a who’s who?) and more pics of the Williams sisters, here. The pleats are a little messed up - both for Serena and for Jelena, but Venus’ sari now seems quite all right - it’s well tied, and the color scheme is fine, it’s just unique for being Gujarati style.
After Kirilenko and Hantuchova linked in above, here’s Kournikova at the Bangalore Open.
East European models are increasingly appearing on billboards everywhere in India. This whole
fascinationfetishization (Manish was right): wanting to see East European tennis players in saris, is part of that trend. So one of the reasons the East Europeans might look ‘just fine’ in the saris is because Indians now tend to view their looks as ‘normative’, however true it might be that most Indian women actually resemble the Williams sisters more.I didn’t even recognize them as the Williams sister. They truely look they could be from India.