Osariya
Osariya is the traditional Sri Lankan saree that inspired our Kandy model. It is a women clothe made of 3 pieces : a blouse, an underskirt and the drape (called pota) draped over the left shoulder.
The first encounter,
Let's tell a little bit of a personal story...
My first encounter with the saree was in Sri Lanka on my first trip there in 2008, at that time we were traveling directly from Paris to Colombo with Sri Lankan airline and the flight attendants were all wearing the kandyan saree. So I guess my first time seeing a woman dressed with a Saree IRL* happened to be in Paris actually…
When you’re landing on this magical island you immediately see, and it’s still true to this day, that the majority of women are wearing it, not just on special occasion but really in their daily life. It creates a beautiful scenery of vibrant colors, designs, textures… and you cannot not be captivated by the way saree dresses the woman body such elegantly.
I acquired my first one during this trip, it was purple and mauve adorned with gold…
*I had, at this point, only seen women wearing saree on screens or on the pictures of my Sri Lankan friends.
Why Sri Lanka to begin with ?
It was meaningful for me to start the brand with a Sri Lankan inspired design, Sri Lanka is kind of my second home, it’s the place I’ve been to the most and spent the most time. It’s also where I have a second family that I love dearly.
💛
An other valid question you may have can be why precisely the Kandyan saree and not a more classic Indian saree that many women wear as well in Sri Lanka ?
Well because Sri Lanka has its very own culture, a very rich and captivating one. That is unfortunately not always well represented in the world compared to India for example. And also because this design in itself is very beautiful.
We will see but it’s also very practical for the women wearing it and I think it says a lot about the women role and place in the Sri Lankan society.
What are the main differences between the Indian saree and the kandyan osariya anyway?
The main difference between the Indian saree and the kandyan osariya is the Neriya : a short piece of the 6-7 meters saree that is meant to be pleated and wrapped around the midriff. It’s definitely a skill to get your head (and hands) around…Some modern kandyan saree have now a made up separated neriya that you can adjust like a belt and tuck into your saree, it’s the easy option.
My first saree was this type of saree because my folding and pleating technic was, and still is, far from on point…🙃
The second big difference is on the pallu (the loose end of the saree/drape) that in the Indian saree is draped across the entire arm and is a seamless extension from the rest of the saree. The belly in this case is largely covered by it.
In the osari the pota starts from below the neriya, is pleated with up to 3/4 pleats and pinned to one shoulder (the left one) with a pin or a broach and the pallu falls behind the shoulder. With this sari the midriff is more apparent than in the Indian sari and the left arm is totally free which makes it a more practical option for the daily work and fun.
If you want to have a deeper look at the osariya, I invite you to go watch the short documentary very well produced by Calvin Chinthaka, a famous British-Sri lankan fashion photographer. He has received many prices for this work👏.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GvwwVP8TUg
The kandyan saree references in our Kandy design :
You will find references from the Kandyan saree in our 3 pieces of the Kandy model :
The top with a very classic shape, wide cleavage both back and front and sleeves that end right above the elbow. I like this shape very much, it’s supporting just enough of the upper arms while keeping your elbows and forearms free to do whatever you want…
We wanted a simple top, supportive, stretchy, comfortable and breathable so we opted for some nice oeko-tex organic coton.
The underskirt ended up being a linen pant in our design because we wanted freedom of movement above anything else and we also wanted a linen pant that actually fits well and is both elegant and casual. We were never satisfied by linen trousers yet we love them. They were always too transparent, too light that it was not elegant enough to work or go out with, not shaping our bodies the way we wanted especially our 🍑 So we designed what we think is the perfect linen pants !
You can find in reference to the pleats of the neriya, the pleats made by the elastic band on the back. Plus you can wear the drape around the waist, either as a belt in the buckles or wrapped around your waist.
The drape has drastically diminished we grant you that 😂 the several meters long saree became a one meter half moon drape 🙃
Why the half moon ? Because we love the moon that much… 🐺🌙
Kidding !
Well kind of… We find that it’s fitting the women bodies better, curved, less strait…just like the feminine energy anyway ! It’s enveloping any parts of the body more smoothly : the arm, the bust, the waist… however we use it the half moon shape bring something delicate to the piece.