Ari

Awl-like hooked needle, often used for chain stitch embroidery

Badla

Flattened gold or silver wire

Badla Mukaish

Knots of badla sewn onto cloth

Baluchar

A type of brocaded silk sari

Bandgala

Achkan and shervani (lit. 'closed neck')

Bandhini

The mode of tie-dyeing fabrics to form patterns (also known as bandhej)

Batik

A paste or wax resist dyeing technique

Bel

A stylized creeper pattern

Buti

A smaller version of a buta the term is used also to denote stylized animal motifs printed in block repeats

Chikankari

White embroidery, predominantly floral patterns, executed on fine white cotton with untwisted threads of white cotton or silk

Choli

A woman's blouse or bodice usually tight-fitting

Chunari

A tie-dyed dotted pattern, a veil

Chunnat

Pleated or crimped gota ribbon

Churidar paijama

Style of tight-fitting paijama, rouched from the knee to the ankles (lit. the paijama with bangles)

Dhoti

An unstitched garment used to drape the lower body, very much in use today

Dori

A cord

Dupatta

An unstitched length of material for the upper body traditionally worn by both sexes, but now mainly worn by women as part of a salwar kameez (paijama and tunic) ensemble

Farshi

A wide legged trailing paijama

Ganga Jamuna

The juxtaposition of silver and gold in a woven pattern, named after the confluence of dark and light waters of the two sacred rivers

Ghaghra

A gathered skirt usually very flared

Ghera

Circumference, fullness of a garment

Ghundi

A button made of silk or cotton, sometimes covered with gold or silver wire, held together with a loop

Gota

A metallic ribbon in which badla forms the weft and silk or cotton the wrap

Gota Moti

A beaded cord covered with gota, often used for finishing ghaghra and jama hems

Gota Patti

Small leaf shapes made of gota

Gote

The bottom part of a farshi paijama which is made up of three sections, often richly embellished

Ikkat

The name of the pattern created by the tie-dyeing the weft and wrap threads before weaving which is a specially of Gujarat Orissa and Andhra Pradesh

Izarband

The decorative drawstring at the waist of a lower garment, usually a ghaghra or a paijama with ornamented tasseled ends

Jaal

An all over pattern in a printed or embroidered fabric

Jamavar

The trade name for the woven or embroidered Kashmir shawls

Jamdaani

A weaving technique traditional to the town of Tanda, Jais and Dacca used to produce figured muslins

Jhoomar

A jewelled hair ornament worn on the side of the head

Jhumka

A bell-shaped piece of jewelry

Juthis

Slip on shoes, usually elaborated embroidery and with unturned toes

Kalamkari

Painted cloth (as a trade term it referred to both painted and printed cloths)

Kali

A gored panel

Kameez

A tunic

Khaadi

Fabric made of handspun yarns, symbol of India's fight for Independent

Kurta

A loose, stitched garment worn by men and women, most commonly described as a tunic (also known as a kameez)

Kurti

A short kurta usually worn by women a type of grass fiber)

Lahariya

A pattern in which diagonal wavy stripes are formed by the fold-resist dyeing technique of the same name

Lehnga

A skirt

Libaas

An ensemble or dress

Minakari

Coloured enamel jewelry, borders or butis woven with different colored silk to give the appearance of enamel

Moti

A bead or pearl

Mulmul

Cotton, usually in reference to Indian muslin, particularly the muslin woven in Bengal

Odhini

A veil, usually 3m x 1m, worn by women with a ghaghra, kurti and kanchli, it covers the head and the right shoulder, is drawn across the body and either tucked into the waistband or left hanging in front

Paijama

Drawstring trousers worn by men and women with many different styles

Pallav

The decorative border at one or both ends of a length of fabric usually of a sari, odhani or patka

Pashmina

The wool made from the fleece of the underbelly of the rare Tibetan wild mountain goat

Patti

A border or edging

Phulkari

Folk embroidery typical of the Punjab

Poncha

The ankle opening of a paijama, usually the salwar, which is often quilted or ornamented with decorative stitching

Sari

An unstitched length of fabric up to 9 yds in length and 18 to 60 in width with a decorated end panel draped in a wide variety of styles

Shatoosh

The fleece of the Tibetan chiru antelope that is spun and woven into fine shawls

Shal

A shawl

Salwar Paijama

A baggy style of paijama tapered at the ankle worn mainly in the Punjab, Afghanistan and African garment

Shervani

A formal knee-length coat fitted to the waist

Sitara

Tiny metal discs, often of gold or silver with a tiny hole at the center

Tanchoi

Figured silk with multiple supplementary weft threads, that create a heavy densely patterned fabric

Tikka

A forehead ornament also used to refer to a bindi

Tikki / Tikki Embroidery 

Metal discs used in zardozi embroidery

Tussar   

A type of wild silk made in Eastern and Central India from hand spun yarns

Vastra    

Clothes

Zardozi  

Gold thread embroidery using metallic elements and threads, sometimes mirrors, precious or semi precious stones

Zari

Metal wrapped yarn used for zardozi embroidery