A miniature history of Indian fashion, fabric and embroidery

To most people, the idea of miniature clothing might call to mind Barbie’s dresses but step into Classic Miniature Costumes at Byculla’s Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum

To most people, the idea of miniature clothing might call to mind Barbie’s dresses but step into Classic Miniature Costumes at Byculla’s Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and you’ll realise that small can be impactful in ways you didn’t expect.

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Textile artist Geeta Khandelwal displays 40 miniature costumes on the ground and the first floor of the museum. Each garment – an angarkha, jama, chogha or sherwani – is nine-10 inches tall, from shoulder to hemline. But each mimics, down to the last shrunken block print and tiny stitched hemline, something a maharaja would have worn between the 1850 and 1950.

The pieces are mostly hand-stitched, using long-forgotten sewing techniques. One exhibit even uses 150-year-old jamewar material, hand-stitched into a chogha.

There are even miniature knob buttons, tassels and embellishments. “A lot of maths is involved in making these pieces as they are designed to scale,” says Khandelwal. “I had to measure every inch, make sure the fabric was proportionately embroidered and detailed, not an inch more, not an inch less.” The project took almost three years.

Khandelwal took inspiration from the 2013 book Indian Costumes in the Collection of the Calico Museum of Textiles. Still, it wasn’t easy. “Weavers refuse to make such detailed pieces unless asked to make them for the gods,” she says.

Seen together, the collection reflects the diversity of Indian royal fabrics, from silks and brocades from Varanasi and hand block prints from Rajasthan, to fine muslin from Bengal, wool from Kashmir, and chikankari embroidery from Lucknow.

“Many of these hand-block prints are not available today,” she says.

“Very few people make men’s costumes. Nobody has ever made miniature ones. It is such an innovative idea,” says Tasneem Mehta, managing trustee and honorary director of Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum.