South Indian Style!

I am a proud South Indian from the beautiful state of Karnataka and have always wanted to style myself  traditionally with jasmine flowers and the Kanjeevaram sari and the whole shebang. 

During one of my many travels to India, I got an opportunity to do this and was very happy with the outcome. 

Draping a brand new Kanjeevram sari perfectly is not easy and I wanted to get this professionally done. I wanted the traditional faux jewelry as well which I purchased at Jayanagar, 4th block across from the Jayanagar complex. A little hole in the wall jewelry store that had an amazing collection. Don't let the outer appearance fool you, the owner got some beautiful pieces from the storage and I was pleased and made the purchase. List of the jewelry to complete the look is as follows: A choker, a long necklace, arm bands, waist belt and jhumki's(earrings).

Day of the photoshoot, 10 am Appointment for sari draping and hair was good to go  at BodyCraft Bangalore, Jayanagar Branch. I thought I would quickly buy Jasmine flowers available everywhere usually and head on over to BodyCraft but guess what, jasmine flowers were hard to find that day, flower blooming season ending apparently, so yes, it could happen in Bangalore too where Jasmine flowers are plenty, in any case, after some running around and way past my 10 am appointment, I finally found the flowers and got quite a lot to make my head full of jasmine flowers dream come true! :-) Finally got to BodyCraft and the lead hairstylist carried out my vision after some minor change this, change that moments. Sari draping was also close to my vision, after a few snags, voila I was ready for my photo shoot.

Posing in a Kanjeevaram sari is very important otherwise you can end up with some unflattering images. Model Stance is very important while posing with a kanjeevaram sari, pleats should line up with bent knees that are pointing forward to create that flattering look. Photos were shot at hotel at beautiful Oberoi in Bangalore, award winning gardens with century old rainforest trees are featured throughout the hotel which you will see in the pictures and my south Indian style look came to fruition. Outfit and styling details are listed below however they are out of the country. For comparable options here in the bay area, here are some options. For south Indian sari and style options, visit, Vibha by Vinaya Gopisetti and Suchees by Sucharita Paruchuri

For Hair and makeup options, Beauty by Ranjana

For jasmine flowers,

Shot  with a canon mark iv and a 85mm 1.4 lens, scroll down to view some of my favorites.

Hair and Sari Draping- BodyCraft, Jayanagar, Bangalore

Location- Oberoi, Bangalore

Sari- Kalaniketan, Bangalore