Sabyasachi, Adnan Pardesy or Varun Bahl, despite their designer niche, there’s one thing these stellar designers have in common – they make the absolute BEST designer sarees. From ramp shows to the red carpet, from bollywood screenings to high profile weddings, their sarees have been heralded as sacred creations of art meant to be nothing short of worshipped whenever and wherever worn.

A long-standing debate has been about the price of these designer saris and the wearability factor. Well, we say if you can afford it, what’s not to have? Fashion never came cheap.

While gold intricacies and metallic motifs stayed high on every designer’s collection this year, we saw more of rose, beige, creams and nudes and less of black (which is mostly the safest color to use on the ramp)

Prepare to loosen those purse strings as we bring you the best of saree couture 2014.

10. Shane and Falguni Peacock at India Bridal Fashion Week 2014

2014 was all about layers of delicate fabric and GOLD, lots of it! Right from Sonam Kapoor’s and Aishwariya’s Cannes appearance to the big weddings this year, gold has been a prominent part of designs ranging from religious embroideries in Sabyasachi’s work to simple motifs and thick borders in Shane and Falguni’s collection.

9. Gaurav Gupta at India Couture Week 2014

Possibly the prettiest saree this year has seen, this rose-hued saree gown looks resplendent enough for dinner with the Queen. Everyone knows a saree is all about how you drape it; this beautiful creation is ruched on one shoulder complete with gold trimmings that quite remind me of some of the gowns on Dance with Me.

8. Sania Maskatiya

Absolutely breathtaking is the phrase that comes to mind when you see the delicate tulle pallu replete with flower motifs and finely embedded with shimmer on a peach-rose underskirt. The creation is feminine, dreamy and very possibly can be worn by women of every age without seeming out-of-place.

Minus points though for the blouse though, which if any, takes away the surrealism the rest of the outfit manages to create.
7. Varun Bahl at India Couture Week 2014

It isn’t everyday that a designer chooses to pair yellow with silver and cream lace instead of gold, and ends up creating something as beautiful as this Varun Bahl saree. In a collection that predominantly consisted of whites, creams, yellows and silver, this creation in particular makes it to the list because of the extremely intricate blouse detailing and the Indo-Western fusion creation this outfit comes off as – the blouse reminiscent of a Victorian bridal gown and the saree itself bearing likeness to that worn by Rajasthani Royals.
6. Monochrome by Adnan Pardesy

Every year, the fashion scene sees at least one monochrome collection or creation, that takes the ramp by storm. This year, Adnan Pardesy’s collection that included mostly blacks and some monochromes, offered some very wearable pieces that exude the sophisticated charm that is expected of monochromes.

This saree saw an intermingling of the abstract – from a geometric print on the shoulder to more flowy designs on the pallu to a stark white border. If you’re not willing to pay big bucks, this is actually one of those designs you could ask your local tailor to work on for you 😉
5. Misha Lakhani

Experimental designs and fabrics being the key this year, many designers took the extra effort to make sure their clothes are more wearable, light and inexplicably pretty.

This light mauve saree with the super-detailed black choli can be worn either as a full lehenga or wrapped in many different ways to achieve the look the stylist wants. If you’re being thrifty (I doubt) , you could also wear this Nehru-style choli with SO many other sarees. It’s a failsafe designer piece.
4. Shantanu & Nikhil at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

Keeping in tune with this year’s peach-plum-rose shades, Shantanu and Nikhil’s saree gown makes it as one of the top contenders in our list. Its decadence is in its simplicity, the blouse is perfect with a sheer yoke and shimmer expanse. This saree has been a red carpet favorite for most of our filmi celebs.

And now …

Onto our big three, all these sarees were drop-dead gorgeous (and had us reaching for our kidneys, if we had to ) and the lines between all three were quite blurred because all these creations were just simply, winners in their own right.

3. Mehreen Syed in Sanam Chaudhari

Detailing that will leave you awestruck, old world Pakistani charm and texture that will put the royals to shame, this exquisite creation by Sanam Chaudhari is lavish, regal and (we’re pretty sure) on everyone’s wish list.

2. Mystery by Maheen Khan

WOW or what? This showstopper turned heads and hearts as it made its maiden walk down the ramp. This Silk woven saree complete with harem pants and a bikini halter blouse oozes oomph. Quite high on the sexy meter, this is a saree befitting the siren in you. Just make sure you hit the gym for a few weeks in advance before deciding to splurge on this one.

1. Sabyasachi at India Couture Week 2014

Surprised? This jaw-droppingly exquisite saree definitely deserves the top spot. And why not? The attention to detail, the fall, the heavily worked-on bodice and the soft hues on this one, make it worthy of a queen.

And the Queen herself wore this recently; we’re going to leave you with some pictures of Deepika Padukone in Sabyasachi, our favorite saree of 2014.

We hope you liked our picks! What do you think of these gorgeous sarees?