Dolly Jain is not a name that you come across that often, but this story is going to imprint this name in your mind. So here it goes.
Dolly Jain was a housewife in Kolkata. She was like any other housewife but she did have a knack for sarees and the different ways one could drape a saree. She would often be complemented at parties and gatherings for her draping skills. That is when she started helping other people with their sarees. It was one such wedding where she draped the saree of a bride to be when the designer Sandeep Khosla saw her work. He was impressed and started recommending Dolly to his clients for the skill that she possessed.
From a hobby to a profession..
Soon enough, Dolly had some clients calling her for saree draping jobs. This is when she started taking this hobby of hers seriously. She went on to improve her skills. She can drape a saree in 18.5 seconds and holds a Limca record for draping a saree in 125 different ways. This number was taken a step further to 325.
What is different is that she tries to incorporate both the artist’s vision and the bride’s want into one. But she holds the bride’s want much higher than the artists as her work is for the bride and her special day.
The way ahead to stars..
Soon, through word of mouth, she got more and more notoriety and jobs. It was when she draped Sridevi and received a compliment from her that she thought about making saree draping a profession.
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With more clients came more jobs and more designers who would recommend her as to them, she is the best draper to execute their vision. And now she has been doing this for 15 years and has 25 girls working under her. To book her, one needs to make an appointment 3 months prior to the event. She charges from Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 2 lakh.
The only thing common in most of the celebrity and luxury weddings of 2018, the list including Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, and Isha Ambani’s Wedding was Dolly. Her goal is to infuse the liking for saree in the younger generation. And to do so, she’s writing a book on 365 ways to drape a saree for 365 days of a year.
