Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Scarf Week: Dupatta

Scarf (dupatta), Indian vendor. Dress, Merona (shortened). Tank, Merona. Cardigan, Express. Boots, Nine West. Bag, World Market. Brooch, swap.


I bought a couple of dupatta from an Indian vendor at the Marine Wives Gift Shop in Okinawa. They are both oblong and embellished at the ends with beading and embroidery. They are shorter than most oblong scarves, so they are useless as belts and a too short to wrap many times around the neck. Knotting the dupatta obscures the lovely embellishments. They are meant to be worn draped across the front of the neck, with both ends hanging behind. (At least, that’s the way I’ve seen them worn most often.) It’s a lovely look, but requires impeccable posture.


I’ve struggled with how to wear these exotic scarves in a business casual environment. They seem to work best as I’ve worn mine today, with or without the brooch. I’ve also worn this orange dupatta draped around the back of my neck with the ends aligned along my jacket’s opening. It adds a little color and can also be adjusted to conceal excessive cleavage.

Does anyone else wear their dupatta in a non-traditional manner?

I'll tackle the quintessential oblong scarf tomorrow.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

i hope you dont mind me saying so, but i love you. like i love carrie bradshaw. i found your blog yesterday and immediately showed it to my office-mate...seriously, can we go shopping with you? :)
i am doing the scarf-under-the-blazer tomorrow. and your articles are fantastic...i agree you should next write about fit (any advice for us very petite gals?).
E

•´.¸¸.•¨¯`♥.Erin.♥´¯¨•.¸¸.´• said...

I LOVE that bag. Heaven help me.

Jane said...

I love the colour of the scarf - it makes such a difference to your outfit.

Anonymous said...

back away from the bag, erin. ive already claimed it...hehe

grace said...

I really like the look of the scarf under the jacket. I wouldn't have thought of that and it's great. I like it the way you wore it today too, obviously, but that's really interesting.

The two tails in the back thing doesn't work for me at all. Who sits that straight?!

estrella said...

Bordering the jacket with the scarf is an absolutely great idea, thanks for sharing :)

Milly said...

pretty scarf...i like the idea of wearing a bright color scarf under the jacket...great idea!

Unknown said...

Love this outfit. The bright pop of orange with that dress is just perfect.

Unknown said...

Hi Kasmira.

I know you did a post on nude/tan colour shoes a while ago, but I just can't find it. Would you be able to post a link to the thread please?

Thanks,

Karen.

Kasmira said...

Hi Karen,

Here are the posts...(I really need to organize my theme weeks so that you can find them!)

http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2008/04/same-old-fake-missoni.html

http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2008/04/nude-legs.html

http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2008/04/classic.html

http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2008/04/chokey.html

http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2008/04/little-bit-of-sunshine.html

Katie Keisler said...

Pretty pretty orange! You've gotten a lot of wear out of that wrap dress! :-)

Londyn said...

Totally off subject, but your hair color look fabulous! Very bright. Love it.

mad-scientist said...

ways to wear a dupatta (while you are at it, you might try a churidaar and a salwar kameez, they will suit you a lot)
1. the usual way : draped across the shoulder
- variations: draped in a single line across the neck (if you have a fabulous neckline + cleavage - people wear it this way.)
- draped in a flowy way (with the length and breadth of the dupatta hanging loosely across your hands) : purpose : to highlight the translucency of the fabric

2. reverse (with the 2 ends hanging in front instead of the back)
you could fasten a clip or a brooch to the 2 ends in the front

well...many more ways..

anyways, you might also try wearing a 'lucknowi' its the most beautiful outfit.

myrubyslippers said...

thanks for all the wonderful ideas on how to wear scarves. now i want to get more oblong scarves :)

Alex said...

I love those Nine West boots on you.