Uncovering my mom’s valima gharara got me thinking about something…
Of all the fabrics we we have and use to create our beautiful bridals…which are the most durable against the test of time?
Banarsi
Kamkhab
Jamavar
Any other fabric you might have had a good experience with
Which are timeless fabrics (trend wise) and have the longest life (quality wise)?
Re: Longer Lasting Bridals...
Reha is there someone getting married in your Family? :@:..coz too many thread from u in wedding section :p
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Reha didnt open this many wedding related threads when she was getting married but i see she is really excited about her sisters upcoming wedding..
I so see myself in you.. i m the same way :)
I hope you guys have loads of fun at the wedding..
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come to think of it--kamkhwaab, jamawaar, and and banarsi last for a very long time and they retain their sheer and elegance. These silks are timeless fashion-wise IMO:)
YESSSSS!!! My sister is getting married in July. Inshallah.
Hai na? For some reason during our own weddings, we’re excited but nervous too. For siblings, best friends its TOTALLY different!
Thank you hun, I will keep you guys posted on everything. Im compiling a song book too…Sahar02 sent me her song book too and its just FULL of great songs.
You’re right but whats the difference? They look so similar, no?
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So no one knows the difference between the three fabrics?
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Kamkhwab refers to gold woven silk created in China and traveled to India during Mughal times with the Persian brocade weavers. Its essentially a metal brocade and a specialty of Benaras.
Benarsi silk is finely woven silk with pattens and motifs. It has gold and silver brocade.
Found this in the Book of Silk
Re: Longer Lasting Bridals...
According to Wikipedia:
Kinkhwab (Brocade)
Kinkhwab was originally an elegant, heavy silk fabric with a floral or figured pattern known most for its butis and jals woven with silk as the warp and tilla as the weft, produced in China and Japan. Tilla in the earlier times was known as kasab. It was a combination of silver and tamba (copper) which was coated with a veneer of gold and silver. Kinkhwabs have also been known as ‘Kimkhabs’, ‘Kamkhwabs’, ‘Kincobs’, ‘Zar-baft’ (Gold Woven), zartari, zarkashi, mushaiar.
Kam means little or scarcely. Khwab means a dream and it’s said that even with such a name ‘Its beauty, splendor and elegance can be hardly dreamt of’. Kinkhwabs are heavy fabrics or several layers of warp threads with an elaborate all-over pattern of extra weft, which may be of silk, gold and / or silver threads or combinations. There may be three to seven layers of warp threads. (Tipara means three layers and Chaupara means four layers to Satpara meaning seven layers). Kin means golden in Chinese. Its specialty is in profusely using the gold and silver thread in a manner that sometimes leaves the silk background hardly visible.
When the figure work is in silver threads with a background of gold threads it is called ‘Tashi Kinkhwab’. This is a variety of ‘Kinkhwab’ which has a ground worked with an extra warp of gold [badla (flat wire) zari] and the pattern created with an extra weft of silver badla zari or vice versa. A satin weave is very often used, resulting in a smooth ground for the fabric. The heavy fabric appears to be in layers, as the warp ends are crammed drawing three, four and up to seven ends per dent for the Tipara, Chaupara up to Satpara respectively.
Zari is generally of two types Badla and Kala batto. Badla Zari was made of flattened gold or silver wire with the ancient method of making zari from pure metal without any core thread. This accounted for its peculiar stiffness. Sometimes cracks would develop in the metal during the process of weaving which resulted in the loss of its natural luster and smoothness. Therefore weaving with Badla Zari was difficult and required great skill. Often a touch of Badla was given to floral motives to enhance the beauty. This type of zari has mostly gone out of favor amongst the contemporary weavers and they mostly depend on polyester or pure silk as a substitute.
Silk brocade of Banaras, Ahmedabad and Surat were well known in the seventeenth century. While Banaras continues to be a center of production of Silk Brocades, Ahmedabad and Surat have practically nothing to show today. On the other hand, Silk Brocade weaving has gained ground in the South of India.
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Re: Longer Lasting Bridals…
According to Wiki:
Jamawar
“Jama” means robe and “war” is yard. The base of the jamawar is mostly resham, with perhaps an addition of a little polyester. The brocaded parts are woven in similar threads of silk and polyester. Most of the designs seen today are floral, with the kairy (i.e. the paisley) as the predominant motif.
Today, the best jamavar is woven in Pakistan. This fabric is widely used in that country for bridal and special occasion outfits. The texture and weave of patterns is such that the fabric often gets caught when rubbed against rough surfaces (metallic embroidery, jewellery etc.) it must therefore be handled delicately when worn.
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Kamkhwaab is very thick and older ghararas were made of this fabric:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/pix/rampur_zulfiqar.jpg
Benarasi used for saris traditionally:
http://www.jo****ex.co.uk/fileAdmin/useruploads/products/3806137460316a280a7ba8d5032ee099_Banarsi%20Brocade.jpg
Jamawaar
http://img.tradeindia.com/fp/1/354/676.jpg
Sorry Image uploader just refuses to work today
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I like, I like! Thank you BR for the explanations...it seems like there are sooooooooooo many different types of cloth now and deciding which one you want is hard!
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The type of kaam also determines the long life. I think dabka turns black. I have a Shakeel's outfit whose dabka kaam turned black in 5 years. Rizwan Moazzam's outfit with cut dana is still going strong after 5 years.
I bet 'Banaraas Silk House' has loads of info regarding this. My nani kept teaching me about this but I kept zoning out then. Purely, my loss! :(
