Hand-Embroidered Organza Formal — Maroon

Description

Roughly three weeks of hand work sits on this one shirt.

Zardozi is worked on a wooden adda frame, coil by coil, with metallic thread laid onto the surface of the cloth and couched down by hand. Here it runs across the neckline, the cuffs and the hem in antique gold on maroon silk organza. Look closely at the detail shot and you can see the coils sitting proud of the cloth — machine embroidery copies the pattern but never the relief, because it stitches through the fabric rather than onto it.

Organza is sheer by nature, so this is worn over a lining. The piece is the stitched formal shirt.

Stock is genuinely small. Hand work of this kind is not run in bulk, and when the karigars move on to the next commission, that is the end of the run.

Dry clean only. Store it flat with the embroidery facing up rather than on a hanger, which drags the weight of the metal thread down over time. Cash on delivery applies here as everywhere else on the site, delivery is free at this price, and the seven-day exchange holds as long as it comes back unworn.