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Indian Fashion Glossary
Ambi: A mango-shaped motif - the paisley pattern (lit. 'rich')
Amli: Needle work embroidery native to Kashmir
Angarkha: A long-sleeved, full-skirted tunic for men, generally open at the chest and tied in front with an inner flap
Ari: Awl-like hooked needle, often used for chain stitch embroidery
Badam: A textile term for oval-shaped motifs
Badla: Flattened gold or silver wire
Badla: Mukaish Knots of badla sewn onto cloth
Baluchar: A type of brocaded silk sari
Bandgala: Achkan and shervani (lit. 'closed neck')
Bandhini: The mode of tie-dyeing fabrics to form patterns (also known as bandhej)
Bandi: A short jacket or waistcoat
Batik: A paste or wax resist dyeing technique
Bel: A stylized creeper pattern
Buti: A smaller version of a buta the term is used also to denote stylized animal motifs printed in block repeats
Calico: A term used by early European traders
Cheent: Spotted
Chikankari: White embroidery, predominantly floral patterns, executed on fine white cotton with untwisted threads of white cotton or silk
Chiru: Himalayan antelope
Choli: A woman's blouse or bodice usually tight-fitting
Chunari: A tie-dyed dotted pattern, a veil
Chunnat: Pleated or crimped gota ribbon
Churidar paijama: Style of tight-fitting paijama, rouched from the knee to the ankles (lit. the paijama with bangles)
Dhoti: An unstitched garment used to drape the lower body, very much in use today
Dori: A cord
Dupatta: An unstitched length of material for the upper body traditionally worn by both sexes, but now mainly worn by women as part of a salwar kameez (paijama and tunic) ensemble
Farshi: A wide legged trailing paijama
Ganga Jamuna: The juxtaposition of silver and gold in a woven pattern, named after the confluence of dark and light waters of the two sacred rivers
Ghaghra: A gathered skirt usually very flared
Ghera: Circumference, fullness of a garment
Gheru: Saffron, ochre
Ghundi: A button made of silk or cotton, sometimes covered with gold or silver wire, held together with a loop
Gota: A metallic ribbon in which badla forms the weft and silk or cotton the wrap
Gota Moti: A beaded cord covered with gota, often used for finishing ghaghra and jama hems
Gota Patti: Small leaf shapes made of gota
Gote: The bottom part of a farshi paijama which is made up of three sections, often richly embellished
Holi: A lively and colourful festival celebrated on the last day of the month of Phalgun to welcome the onset of spring
Ikkat: The name of the pattern created by the tie-dyeing the weft and wrap threads before weaving which is a specially of Gujarat Orissa and Andhra Pradesh
Izarband: The decorative drawstring at the waist of a lower garment, usually a ghaghra or a paijama with ornamented tasselled ends
Jaal: An all over pattern in a printed or embroidered fabric
Jala: A small wooden frame used by master craftsmen, on which threads are tied to form a grid of the wrap and weft outling the design of the weave
Jamakhana: The storehouse for garments in the Mughal and other royal courts
Jamavar: The trade name for the woven or embroidered Kashmir shawls
Jamdaani: A weaving technique traditional to the town of Tanda, Jais and Dacca used to produce figured muslins
Jhoomar: A jewelled hair ornament worn on the side of the head
Jhumka: A bell-shaped piece of jewellery
Jutis: Slip on shoes, usually elaborated embroidery and with unturned toes
Kalamkari: Painted cloth (as a trade term it referred to both painted and printed cloths)
Kali: A gored panel
Kalioyndar Paijama: A wide bottomed paijama made up of several panels
Kameez: A tunic
Kanchala - Kundal: A type of earing
Kanchli: A sleeveless bodice worn in Western India
Kanni: A complex weaving technique originating in Kashmir (known in the West as the double twill-tapestry technique)
Khadi: Fabric made of handspun yarns, symbol of India's fight for Independent
Kurta: A loose, stitched garment worn by men and women, most commonly described as a tunic (also known as a kameez)
Kurti: A short kurta usually worn by women a type of grass fiber)
Lahariya: A pattern in which diagonal wavy stripes are formed by the fold-resist dyeing technique of the same name
Lehnga: A skirt
Libaas: An ensemble or dress
Mashru: A medium weight wrap faced satin or twill fabric with silk wrap and cotton weft
Minakari: Coloured enamel jewellery, borders or butis woven with different coloured silk to give the appearance of enamel
Mothra: A criss-cross pattern obtained through fold-resist dyeing in woven fabrics the term
Moti: A bead or pearl
Mulmul: Cotton, usually in reference to Indian muslin, particularly the muslin woven in Bengal
Odhini: A veil, usually 3m x 1m, worn by women with a ghaghra, kurti and kanchli, it covers the head and the right shoulder, is drawn across the body and either tucked into the waistband or left hanging in front
Pagri: The common term for a turban
Paijama: Drawstring trousers worn by men and women with many different styles
Paithani: Cotton and silk sari produced in Paithan
Pallav: The decorative border at one or both ends of a length of fabric usually of a sari, odhani or patka
Pashmina: The wool made from the fleece of the underbelly of the rare Tibetan wild mountain goat
Patti: A border or edging
Peshwaz: A long high-waisted gown
Phulkari: Folk embroidery typical of the Punjab
Poncha: The ankle opening of a paijama, usually the salwar, which is often quilted or ornamented with decorative stitching
Purdah: The practice of sequestering women, the flap of fabric in the angarkha that covers the chest, the pieces of fabric used to make up the cups of a choli
Sari: An unstitched length of fabric up to 9 yds in length and 18 to 60 in width with a decorated end panel draped in a wide variety of styles
Shatoosh: The fleece of the tibetan chiru antelope that is spun and woven into fine shawls
Shal: A shawl
Salwar Paijama: A baggy style of paijama tapered at the ankle worn mainly in the Punjab, Afghanistan and African garment
Shervani: A formal knee-length coat fitted to the waist
Sinjaf: The facing inside the hem of a garment
Sitara: Tiny metal discs, often of gold or silver with a tiny hole at the centre
Tanchoi: Figured silk with multiple supplementary weft threads, that create a heavy densly patterned fabric
Teej: A festival celebrating conjugal love, held in Northern and western India in The month of Shravan
Tikka: A forehead ornament also used to refer to a bindi
Tikki: Metal discs used in zardozi embroidery
Topi: A cap
Tussar: A type of wild silk made in Eastern and Central India from hand spun yarns
Tikki / Tikki Embroidery: Metal discs used in zardozi embroidery
Vastra: Clothes
Zardozi: Gold thread embroidery using metallic elements and threads, sometimes mirrors, precious or semi precious stones
Zari: metal wrapped yarn used for zardozi embroidery |
