Are you feeling lucky?

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First reported by High Heel Confidential (thanks Nirvana), the Google Ooogle Sari is here. It’s produced by designer Satya Paul (you can see his URL in the URL bar of the browser), as part of his “inspirational series 3 – pop art” (Thanks Bloog). This is the promotional copy attached:

Oogle
Georgette jacquard printed sari along with unstitched blouse piece attached.

Inspirational Series 3 – Pop Art
“Starting in the 50’s, Pop art is a reflection of popular culture in art. Pop art is neither praise nor condemnation but explores the everyday imagery that is so much a part of contemporary consumer culture. It often uses media, advertising, packaging, celebrity and comic book art styles to bring art closer to real life.” [Link]

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p>The sari sells for Rs. 11,995.00/ USD. 299.88 and has now been spotted in a mall in Gurgaon:

Spotted this in a fancy mall in Gurgaon, India (the tech hub south of Delhi). I don’t know the backstory, and I couldn’t find out because (proving that India is aspiring to Western standards in every way!) a guard started rushing over to bust me for taking pictures. [Link]

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p>This latter part cracks me up — was the guard protecting the intellectual property involved here? Afraid that somebody would take the photo and use it to create a copy of the sari more cheaply?

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p>While I’m generally a traditionalist, I see the potential in this sort of printed sari. Do you think it will catch on? Will there be more logo branded saris in the future? Or perhaps saris that use text as decoration – after all, search results (and sponsored links in particular) are kind of boring. One could do far better if you want to invite somebody over to (ahem) deconstruct your text.

Finally – how long until somebody wears this to Google’s own offices? (I’ve got a friend who works at one of the Delhi area offices as a programmer, I should ask him if he’s spotted it yet)

32 thoughts on “Are you feeling lucky?”

  1. Ennis, you question how long it will be before text is used as decoration on a saree. Way back in the pre-internet days, my mom, a physicist by education, used to wear a cotton voile saree that had e=mc^2, v=d*t and a ton of other beginner physics formulae printed all over it. but there it is…what’s old is what’ new.

  2. That’s a great thing to wear to an exam 😉

    I’ve never seen printed text used as decoration, perhaps b/c I live in the US.

  3. that’s no indian model; desi girlz look like they have winehouse in a headlock. that’s why they dont wear tanktops. only baggy steve and barry t’s.


    keepng it real since 1923. Rise thou pigeon.

  4. Printed text fabrics were all rage in 70s all over the world, during the hippie period.

    Somehow, in India, it endured and flourished longer.

    You can see sarees, kurtas, shirts with sanskrit sholkas, gita text, and what not.

    Zeenat Aman in one of the Dev Anand movies made them all the rage with saffron texted kurta.

  5. printed text on saris is pretty common, in bangladesh at least. although they’re not as clever as e=mc^2 🙂

    the ooogle sari is super cute tho.

  6. One day rappers from my desh will rap about Louis V saris w/ 24K zari work. Related. Prepare to be dazzled by NYT headline writers’ brilliance in sari / curry dept.

  8. I think hippie period texted fabric fad might have its origins from India.

    You always see pandits who perform pujas wearing shawl with sanskrit text on them.

    Newspaper print sarees, like subway sandwich places interior decor here is pretty old.

    Now Oogle thing is new.

  13. Ennis,

    The mall may not have allowed pictures because of security reasons. Major shopping areas such as Sarojini Nagar and Chandni Chowk have been targetted in the past and for the same reason no photography is allowed in Delhi Metro.

  15. Ennis, you question how long it will be before text is used as decoration on a saree. Way back in the pre-internet days, my mom, a physicist by education, used to wear a cotton voile saree that had e=mc^2, v=d*t and a ton of other beginner physics formulae printed all over it. but there it is…what’s old is what’ new.

    i have an abraham & thakore skirt that has matrimonial ads from the times of india! the oft-repeated term ‘wheatish complexion’ juxtaposed against the dark silk is brilliant 😉

    printed text on saris is pretty common, in bangladesh at least. although they’re not as clever as e=mc^2 🙂

    one of the most gorgeous sarees i’ve seen is from dhaka, with tagore poems written all over. this is also not uncommon for satya paul – i just saw one of his sarees with the ramayan, and i think he’s had other sarees with some sort of writing

    btw – nice work on getting the google font down so well – it wouldn’t have really worked(?) otherwise.

  16. Interesting! Kush, Bloog and Never Mind make good points and add important details. Thanks. BTW that would be a nice line-up for a Who’s on First routine

    What I was thinking was – Satya Paul’s site could use a ‘dress up the model/ mix ‘n match’ application. I would want to see the effect of, er, removing the turquoise blouse and replacing it with the same style in navy blue – the same color as her bangles, and the O in Ooogle.

    And BTW, Aditi Gowitrikar is not just a model, she’s a gynecologist, actress, and mother too. Like, totally, wow.

  20. yo, yo, yo, yo, yoooooo ennis!

    the blog you linked to, High Heel Confidential, is ridiculously good snark. i’ve spent a good hour going through it on the company’s dime. consider it bookmarked.

    xoxo,

    straight male, not metro

    p.s. i’d search her engine.

  21. Nice, if I was a woman, I’d definitely get that. They should definitely expand into the pugri market.

  22. for a 41 year old she’s totally hot. milf material. i’d do her. btw my wife wears her favorite short-shorts which has a printed kali maa with 2 swords and skeleton necklace hanging down her neck, right in the vag area. so when i’m going down on her, i come face to face with this kali maa and it kills the boner. what to do about this ?

  23. Some random Tamil movie I saw had the leading actress in a bright yellow sari with Tamil letters printed on it. I thought it was pretty cool actually. I think it’s from Thenali? You know, the Kamal Haasan and Jyothika movie?

  29. Back in ’02, I saw a fashion show, and they showed this lady walking with this low cut sari. When she was walking back, and the audience can see her backside, it was revealed that we could see the top 2 inches (5 cm) of her thong. I thought that was so crass. At that time, buttock cleavage was “in-style”.

  30. As ensure mentioned, there are many Bangladeshi saris with printed text (in Bangla) on them. I’ve also seen several jaamdani saris where the Bangla texts were woven into the saris.

    Another style that I’ve seen (and bought for my wife) are “painted” saris, i.e. saris with scenes or abstract designs actually painted, not printed, on them.

  31. 15 · ak said

    i just saw one of his sarees with the ramayan

    OMG, The following Bible verse would be good for a saree print.

    “Please put your hand under my thigh. …” Genesis 24:9

  32. The following is my favourite from Bible that I want on my shirt when we go for dating

    . “Your lips are like a crimson thread, and your mouth is lovely”; “The fragrance of your oils is better than any spice”; “Let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet”; “Your kisses are like the best wine that goes down smoothly”; “O that his left hand were under my head, and that his right hand embraced me.” Innuendos and double entendres abound. Find them; they’ll make you blush …

    Taken from Song of Songs of Old Testament. No wonder King Solomon was a good lover.