The Parsi community was the first to co-opt Western customs and dress and they extended this to the traditional sari. So six metres of silk from China ("gaaj" or "paaj") came back with traditional Chinese embroidery on the border and the decorative end of the sari known as the "pallav" or the entire body of the sari. And the gara was born.
Initially the entire length of cloth had a border embroidered, it was "framed", as was said. Then as the fashionable women disapproved of the thick bulge at the waist where the sari was tucked in, the newer ones left the top length of the sari unembroidered. The style of wearing the sari by the Parsi women also gave the really old saris a distinctive mark. The corner of the pallav was left unembroidered as this bit was tucked in at the waist when worn in the Gujarati style as Parsi women of yore were wont to do.
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