Hand embroidered vintage denim jacket

I have a thing for oversize silhouettes but the obsession takes a whole new meaning when it comes to Levi’s trucker jackets. This vintage denim jacket got embellished with hand-embroidery and mirror work in the Rabari style, during the months in self-isolation, resulting in something that is completely unique and very much my style.

Photos: Vincent Boyer (Say hi on instagram @shape.photos)

This Levi’s trucker jacket is from the early nineties, so about thirty years old and I have worn it non-stop for over a decade.

The self-isolation phase has been trying for many of us, my anxious thoughts took a lot of effort to quell and I needed creative ways to occupy my mind and hands. Hand-embroidery has brought me a lot of joy since I was a child and while we spent increasing amounts of time at home I dove right into complicated needlework projects.

The back and front of this jacket have been embroidered in the Rabari style of needlework and took almost two months to complete. I have written in detail about this style of embroidery in a previous blog post that you can access here.

Over the past decade, I have consciously tried my hardest to buy less, shop better and create more not only because it is good for the environment but also because it helps with my mental health.

I have accumulated a lot of stuff over the years and given a lot of it away as well but I believe I genuinely have enough to last me an entire lifetime. I absolutely don’t get tempted by fast fashion anymore but I do love handloom-ed and handcrafted textiles too much to resist them.

I haven’t bought anything new fashion-wise for almost a year now and I feel I will get to a point soon when I will be happy not buying anything non-essential at all. In the first photo I wore this jacket before embellishing it with a work horse of a handwoven saree on a trip to the highlands with my trusty palladium boots. In the second photo I am wearing the same jacket after I finished embroidering it with an Ajrakh hand blocked oversize shirt, leather shorts and an embroidered leather bag.

I am one of those people who continues to wear their shorts in the winter with summer shirts, albeit with stockings plus a merino base layer.

The embroidered tooled leather bag in the photos was made by the women of the Meghwal community from Kutch and has been in constant rotation for almost ten years now. It was first posted on my old blog here.

I have detailed below why I chose to become more conscious about my purchases and what I have done to ensure that I am buying only what I need. This is just a means to contribute to a discussion on sustainability, buying less and more consciously, while we make a determined effort to walk away from rampant consumerism.

I genuinely prefer handmade and like it even more if it is me-made: I believe handmade items are the height of luxury, craft-centric clothing is the epitome of style and traditional embellishments on modern pieces are the ultimate statement in the aesthetic I prefer.

Putting my values front and centre: By wearing ensembles that prominently feature handmade and ethical pieces predominantly made by female artisans, I am making a political statement that is centred around my belief system. I refuse to be tempted into buying what I don’t need and I refuse to be coerced into mindless consumerism to belong to a certain clique. I am me and very happy in my skin.

Sometimes finding strength in embracing our authentic selves in systems that weren’t created for us is the most radical form of activism. As a wom*n of colour, I believe that fully embracing the traditional arts and crafts of my ancestors is a way for me to draw strength and resilience from generations that came before me.

Gives me a sense of freedom: Buying less stuff means more than just saving money, it means freedom from any sort of competition with someone else and it really helps me unleash my creativity. Many of us have become so far removed from the source of what we buy that we remain blissfully unaware and deliberately unseeing of the environmental plus ethical effects of producing and disposing of it all.

Not going to malls: One of the ways I initially was able to curb any temptation to buy unnecessary things was by avoiding malls unless I needed something specific. I’d rather be out on a bushwalk than wander aimlessly in malls buying things that will add to the rubbish going into landfills.

Avoiding impulse buys: I always give my self at least 24 hours before I decide on buying something even if I really want it. I also maintain a wishlist of things I want for months and have noticed that when I revisit it I am organically able to reduce the number of items in it.

I am very critical of my consumption patterns and constantly have dialogues with myself on whether i really need something as much I think I do. Trust me, it just helps to stop hoarding stuff I have no need for.

Embracing pre-loved items: One of the simplest ways for easing into a more sustainable life-style for me has been embracing used/pre-loved and vintage items into my life. It has really unleashed the creativity and made my style just the right amount of unique mixed with a little bit crazy, just like myself.

I have found truly one-of-a-kind items from vintage stores and flea markets that I now treasure, it makes me laugh to look back at a younger me who wouldn’t touch anything second-hand.

Rejecting the concept of standard sizing: I love strong shapes and easy silhouettes that play with size and proportions in natural breathable fabric. Garment sizing is a concept that I have always consciously tried to do away with and my closet consists of every size from extra extra small to large.

I believe that not focussing on sizing and embracing different silhouettes has made my wardrobe more versatile and less season specific.

Doing away with the notion of gendered clothing: Eschewing the traditional notion of men’s and women’s wear is just the first step in acknowledging that gender is not binary. Once we do away with the ideas of clothing based antiquated ideas of masculine and feminine we stop missing out on potentially great pieces.

To be truly sustainable we need to keep items in use for as long as possible, which is more achievable when swapping or selling without the boundaries of gender; thereby keeping more clothes out of landfill.

A simple way for me to practice self-care: When I am busy creating art and craft, it is oddly therapeutic, its like me giving myself permission to play. I get to create something beautiful simply for the joy of it and no monetary calculations are involved.

Drawing or embroidery gives me the opportunity to let my mind slow down while my hands are busy at work.

Finding community: Crafting has helped me connect with a lot of like-minded individuals who are also quietly intent on slowing down and consuming less. It has helped me belong to a community that is in equal parts inspiring and inviting, which I believe makes me a better person

I have a long way to go before my lifestyle is completely sustainable but I am doing better everyday. I would love to know a little bit about your journey into a more ethical lifestyle and the steps you’ve taken toward it.

The embroidery of Kutch and Saurashtra: Part I

Sewing colourful designs on fabric has been a defining tradition in parts of Gujarat predominantly Kutch (also spelled Kachchh) and Saurashtra as well as in the province of Sindh in Pakistan which borders Gujarat. The motifs and designs used in different styles of embroidery from this region are traditional markers of tribe and ethnicity.

Photos: Vincent Boyer (Say hi on instagram @shape.photos)

Embroidered textiles across the world weave a tale of identity, culture and folk lore in their patterns and motifs. The above photos feature various textiles that have been embroidered by artisans in Gujarat, India as well as by me in the traditional styles of embroidery indigenous to the region.

Communitities residing in Kutch, Sindh and Saurashtra produce costumes for themselves as well as their animals plus many more personal, household, dowry and festive items and textiles, incorporating the elements of needle craft and bead work prominently using cowrie shells and mirrors.

Spending a bulk of my formative years with easy access to artisans who were adept at these craft forms has resulted in me becoming massively obsessed with collecting these textiles and learning embroidery.

I am going to share a little snippet of my collection from the region as well as my own creations in a series of blog posts discussing the needle work heritage of the area.

The first photo features a hand block print yardage in the gamthi style from Gujarat worn as a saree with an ‘ek dana’ Jamnagari bandhani blouse and a black army surplus bag featuring a Neran style hand embroidered patch. The second photo features the same style of embroidery on the bag as well as a pair of vintage Levis 501 cut-offs that I have had for years.

I embroidered and attached the red patch on the bag about seven years ago, it was featured in my other blog here and here. This period of self-isolation has resulted in me  beginning a slew of needlework projects including the denim shorts.

The third photo features a vintage embroidered skirt in the Suf style and the fourth an elaborate toran (door hanging) from Saurashtra.

I am incredibly drawn to the colours and motifs of the intricate styles in Kutch and Saurashtra. Because of the ancient tradition of trade and migration from Central Asia within the pastoral and herding communities that practice these crafts, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact home territories for these art forms. But it is apparent for anyone to sees, the design language of many styles of needle work across Central and South Asia  have similar origins.

In the content below I am going to try and share some interesting details about the various embroidery styles showcased in the photos above.

Kutch: The name may have been derived from the word ‘kachho’ which means turtle or tortoise because the shape of the area resembles a shell of one. The word is also said to mean that which is intermittently wet and dry because a large part of the area is shallow wetland which gets waterlogged during the rainy season and  dries out during the rest of the year.

Overall I know of eight distinct styles of embroidery in Kutch that have differing interplay of stitches, mirrors, motifs, borders and style.

There is a commonality of dress amongst all of the communities residing in Kutch: a chaniyo/ ghagro (gathered skirt), kancholi (long backless blouse), kapada (short blouse) and odhni (long veil down) for women. The men traditionally wear a dhoti (a length of long fabric draped on the lower body), vanjani (gathered pants), kediyu (gathered short shirt), kameez (long shirt), bandi (short shirt), shawls, topis (caps) and turbans. However, specific differences in colours, fabric and ornamentation, designate each community, and within them age and marital status.

Neran: This style is showcased on the bag in photo one and two and the denim shorts in photo number two.

The term neran is derived from the word nen- which means eyes/eyebrow. If you look closely at the pair of shorts and the fabric bag, the smaller diamond in white denotes the eye, the surrounding curved design in brighter colours symbolises the brow. And the entire motif is always outlined by black thread.

This style of embroidery uses mirrors (abla or abhla) sparingly and is charaterised by the extensive use of the buttonhole stitch (locally called jat). This type of needle work is a hallmark of the Marwada Harijan community and was very popular a few decades ago.

Suf or soof: This style is showcased on the skirt in photo number four.

The intricate suf embroidery is a type of counted yarn embroidery that looks more like a weave than surface ornamentation, which is practiced continuously by the Sodha Rajput community since the thirteenth century.

The word suf literally means a triangle and this type of work is characterised by a heavy use of symmetrical geometric motifs that are exceptionally complex. It is counted on the warp and weft threads from the back and worked in satin stitch.

The design and the motifs aren’t pre-drawn onto the base fabric, the artisan envisions their plan as they go and counts it out in reverse while developing the pattern around a progression of triangles and diamonds.

More often than not tiny  fragments of mirrors (abla or abhla) are incorporated into the intricate pattern. This type of work was generally used to embellish a bride’s collection of apparel included as part of her family’s gifts to the bridegroom’s family.

The skirt I am wearing in the photo is a vintage piece featuring elaborate suf motifs that I treasure and have been wearing for close to two decades. This style is also practiced extensively in the Sindh region of Pakistan.

One day I hope to travel there to pick up some Sindhi Ajrakh and hand embroidered treasures in person.

Saurashtra: In Sanskrit, saura means sun, and rastra means worship – the region was named after its ancient sun worshiping Aryan inhabitants. It is the large central to southern peninsula of Gujarat which more recently is locally called Kathiawar or Kathiawad after the Kathi people.

Kathi or Kathipo: The vintage toran (door panel) in photo number four  is a wonderful example of Kathi (also known as Kathipo) style of embroidery, which is used primarily on household articles. This type of needlework forms one of the most prominent and oldest among embroidery traditions in the region.

The name of this style of embroidery is derived from its practitioners, the Kathi people, who are a land owning community consisting of three clans: Wala, Kuhmn, and Khacharas. The kathi style has since been adopted by other groups, like the Gohilvadi Rabaris. Yes, there are plenty of Rabaris outside of Kutch.

This style features an elongated darning stitch (adiya-fatiya), chain stitch, and an interlacing stitch (desi bharat) used in conjunction with tiny pieces of mirrors and worked with silk floss (heer) onto a cotton surface. This toran depicts deities of baby Krishna and Ganesh and features the words Bhale  Padharya (you’re welcome into this home). Both geometric and figurative imagery abound on these surfaces.

A Toran is deemed to be a protective and auspicious talisman for the inhabitants of the house as well as for the guests. I have a major obsession with collecting vintage hand embroidered and beaded torans from Kutch and Saurashtra.

Fun fact: The mirror work patterns that we see today traditionally didn’t use mirror or glass but tiny fragments of mica that were locally available or pieces of tin, silver or coins.

If you enjoyed reading this post and want to know more about embroidery styles of the region, I recommend the following books:

1. Catalog of Embroidered Textiles from Cutch and Kathiawar in the Indian Museum: Santipriya Mukhopadhyay
2. The Embroidery and Beadwork of Kutch and Saurashtra: J.M. Nanavati, M.P. Vora, and M.A. Dhaky

I have a few more books on my wish list that I will share in the upcoming blog posts, so keep an eye out for them.