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Weaving the Workday: A Convertible Design Framework for Chanderi Motifs in Modern A-line Silhouettes for Office-to-Evening Wear
Subject area: Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities · Area of research: Modern Silhouette
DOI: 10.64388/ire1724670
Abstract
Chanderi, the sheer, lustrous handloom of Madhya Pradesh, is still sold largely as a ceremonial sari and dupatta fabric. Its motifs are admired, but they are rarely engineered for the working woman who moves between office, social and evening settings in a single day. This paper proposes the Dual-Register Motif Framework (DRMF), a practice-based design method in which Chanderi motifs are deliberately placed, scaled and spaced so that one garment can be read as quiet and professional in the day and as expressive in the evening. The framework is demonstrated through a final design: a modern A-line dress in blue Chanderi with a square neckline, short puff sleeves and a below-knee hem, with motif density increasing from bodice to hemline. The paper analyses motif selection, silhouette, colour and fabric behaviour, and sets out a styling matrix by which the same dress converts into office wear, casual wear and party wear through layering, accessories and proportion alone, without changing the garment itself. The study argues that convertibility is a design property that can be built into a heritage textile at the pattern stage, and that doing so extends the wearing life of a handloom garment, which is a sustainability gain as well as a commercial one.
Keywords
Chanderi; handloom; motif placement; A-line silhouette; convertible fashion; office-to-evening wear; heritage textile; slow fashion
References
[1] Chishti RK, Sanyal A (1989). Saris of India: Madhya Pradesh. New Delhi: Wiley Eastern.
[2] Fletcher K (2008). Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys. London: Earthscan.
[3] Fletcher K (2016). Craft of Use: Post-Growth Fashion. Abingdon: Routledge.
[4] Gillow J, Barnard N (1991). Traditional Indian Textiles. London: Thames and Hudson.
[5] Kawamura Y (2005). Fashion-ology: An Introduction to Fashion Studies. Oxford: Berg.
How to cite this paper
@article{1724670,
author = {Dolly Thakur, Shveta Anugrah},
title = {Weaving the Workday: A Convertible Design Framework for Chanderi Motifs in Modern A-line Silhouettes for Office-to-Evening Wear},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {10},
number = {5},
pages = {1684-1692},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1724670.pdf},
abstract = {Chanderi, the sheer, lustrous handloom of Madhya Pradesh, is still sold largely as a ceremonial sari and dupatta fabric. Its motifs are admired, but they are rarely engineered for the working woman who moves between office, social and evening settings in a single day. This paper proposes the Dual-Register Motif Framework (DRMF), a practice-based design method in which Chanderi motifs are deliberately placed, scaled and spaced so that one garment can be read as quiet and professional in the day and as expressive in the evening. The framework is demonstrated through a final design: a modern A-line dress in blue Chanderi with a square neckline, short puff sleeves and a below-knee hem, with motif density increasing from bodice to hemline. The paper analyses motif selection, silhouette, colour and fabric behaviour, and sets out a styling matrix by which the same dress converts into office wear, casual wear and party wear through layering, accessories and proportion alone, without changing the garment itself. The study argues that convertibility is a design property that can be built into a heritage textile at the pattern stage, and that doing so extends the wearing life of a handloom garment, which is a sustainability gain as well as a commercial one.},
keywords = {Chanderi; handloom; motif placement; A-line silhouette; convertible fashion; office-to-evening wear; heritage textile; slow fashion},
month = {November},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/ire1724670}
}