Kota Doria Dress Material Maroon Red Floral Yoke

This two piece unstitched dress material kurta top and dupatta the sheer graph check cotton from Kaithoon near Kota in Rajasthan The ivory white top is crowned with a deep maroon red embroidered yoke of clustered flowers and leaves with matching red buti scattered down the body the sheer dupatta carries the maroon colourway through an embroidered floral border and buti The proof of a genuine Kota Doria is its khat the fine net of tiny squares made by alternating finer and coarser cotton yarns across the loom Handwoven the squares are never machine perfect they swell and shrink by a fraction across the width because each is beaten in by hand a living irregularity no powerloom reproduces Held to the light the weave is open and luminous crisp from a traditional onion starch finish rather than a synthetic stiffener and strikingly light in the hand The flowers are surface thread embroidery not print turn the cloth and you will find the stitch paths and knots on the reverse A GI protected craft Kota Doria is woven by the weaver families of Kaithoon on pit looms as it has been for generations The cloth is prized for a rare pairing of qualities sheer and cool enough for the fiercest heat yet firm enough to take detailed embroidery and to drape with a crisp clean fall Made up as a straight kurta the maroon yoke against the ivory ground gives a striking festive contrast that pairs handsomely with gold or oxidised silver the dupatta lifts the set for weddings pujas and evening functions The breathable cotton stays cool and the maroon on ivory palette works with gold cream or deep red accessories