How to Pose in Traditional Indian Wear

I am an Indian and I hardly wear traditional clothes. My mom loves to drape a sari on me but I never let her do it, not because I was afraid to carry it, it was more of freedom I felt when I wore jeans. Still, this being said, whenever I wear traditional Indian clothes, there is a different feeling. Calling it elegance or sophistication, Whenever I have worn an Indian attire, I pose for the camera.

Many people are actually surprise to see me when I enter in Indian clothes! Recently I wore a beautiful dress in one of the function and I got the idea for this blog. We all wear Indian clothes and click tons of selfies, some solo’s too and some with family and friends.

The idea for this blog is how to nail that Perfect Pose in Traditional Indian Dress to capture the beauty – You and your dress (either it is Sari, Lehenga or Salwaar suit).

Here are some poses you can try when you wear Traditional Indian clothes:

1. That shy look (Not meeting the eyes)

Some of the best photos come when you actually don’t look into the camera. When wearing Indian dress, that typical Bollywood scenes come to my mind and the shy look many of Indian actresses portrayed. We don’t need to go to that level, but any picture clicked with eyes away from camera shows that shyness, especially the one who looks down. Another advantage of such shot is that it captures bit of eye Makeup.

2. Swirling (Round & Round)

These days we are into the fashion of long and flowy dresses. Ten songs like Ghumeer (Padmaavat) really changed the one look for Indian dresses. These dresses are good for a swirl shot. The intricate design and playfulness is shown in such shots. With heavy lehenga, going round becomes difficult but if done right, it looks beautiful. The secret of clicked such photo is Burst mode. Keep your hand on shutter for it to click continuous picture. Out of maybe 50 pics, 1 will be perfect! Apart from mid-air motion, do try your hands on slow motion too!!!

3. Show off that Back (I meant sexy blouse)

Most of the Indian wear has a design for a back, especially with blouse for Sari. Why keep it hidden, some of the best pictures are taken when you have a design on the back. Mix the back shoot with first pose, the shy one, and you got the perfect picture which will definitely gets you tons of like on social media !!!!

4. Love for Candid (Time to be natural)

I love candid shots, it captures your true self. It doesn’t need any changes or editing, it is you, take it or leave it!!! This being said, let’s be realistic, not all candid picture are amazing, hence, for that amazing social media picture, we do the fake candid! Laugh, smiles, talk and tell your friend (or photographer) to take the pictures. Move around or walk the path looking around for that candid capture. Another secret to get good picture is to keep your motions slow. Not all cameras are good to capture fast movement (night time is actually bad time in such cases), so keep it slow and simple.

5. Time to show your dress!!! (Not the cost, only the design)

Indian dresses are not cost effective so when you taking the picture, you want to ensure that people are seeing the dress and not the part of it. Before you pose for photo, ensure that palu (extra clothe hanging in Sari) is shown to the camera. If you wearing long dress, hold your dress in such a way that the design is seen. There are many ways you can show of your dress in camera and not make it odd pose. So be confident in showing what you have paid for !!!!

6. Your Signature Pose (Yourself as it is)

Many of the pose mentioned above might not be that great for you if that’s not your style and it is very natural to feel it. We are not models to train in posing or pouting. So after you try or even before you try any of the above mentioned pose, click a picture in your own style – let it is peace sign, it tilted neck, or working on phone, or walking or hands on hips.. the idea for this pose is to be you. Don’t get confuse with candid, candid is when you are doing an action and getting clicked. Here, you know your pose or style. It is click without any pose in mind!

7. Come closer (Only towards the camera)

Any traditional attire can’t be complete without the perfect accessories and most of the Indian Wear are accompanied by either an earrings or necklace. Take advantage of those jewellery and click beautiful picture of yourself up and close! It doesn’t have to be any pose or action, it can be just candid or freeze posture for photographer to click close up.

Hope these poses helped you get a better picture for your social media pages. Do share your pictures after trying the poses mentioned above, we would love to see your pictures!!!!

I have recently created a video version of this blog.