I regret giving up wearing the sari after seeing the Design Museum's bold show

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown writes a weekly column for i. She was awarded Broadsheet Columnist of the Year at the 2017 Press Awards and was Highly Commended in the same category at the 2018 Press Awards.Ihave around 45 multicoloured saris hanging in a cupboard, an array of loveliness. One, red and black chiffon, with a border made of real gold threads, is almost 100 years old.

My wedding sari, red and gold brocade, still smells of patchouli perfume after 33 years. The collection includes purple saris, a deep black one with fuchsia threadwork, a burnt orange lace one, another that is two-toned green and pink silk, all unworn for 20 years. I’m not sure I can remember how to pleat them any more and worry about tripping over the edges and causing the whole thing to unravel.

Life was easier if you melded in. So migrant South Asian women donned slacks and tops or covered up their saris with long, muted cardis, swapped chappals for trainers . The Design Museum’s Head of Curatorial Priya Khanchandani at the press preview of “The Offbeat Sari”. At the opening, she, heavily pregnant, wore a pale green sari wrapped across her torso – so no tight blouse! – and over her brown, glowing belly. Rainbow-coloured trainers completed the powerful look. In the display, the trendiest mannequins wear trainers.

Other pictures are of trans people, eunuchs and simple villagers for whom cross-dressing is no big deal. Hijras have been around South Asia for centuries. They were persecuted during the Raj. Not much any more. Crucially, they do not cause the gender moral panic that has spread in the UK.

Source: Entertainment Trends (entertainmenttrends.net)

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