The difference is where the leg opens.
Gharara, sharara and farshi get used as though they were the same garment. They are not, and the thing that separates them is one structural decision made at the pattern stage — not fabric, not occasion, not how much it costs. Here is that decision, and then the five silhouettes we actually cut.
Gharara, sharara, farshi
All three are wide-legged pants worn under a short kurta. The question is only ever where the width starts.
- Gharara — fitted from waist to knee, then released. The flare begins at the knee, and traditionally there is a visible joint there, often banded in gota. Walk in one and the break at the knee is the thing you see.
- Sharara — no fitted section at all. The width starts at or near the waist and falls straight out, so the line from hip to hem is one uninterrupted flare with no knee seam.
- Farshi — a sharara taken further. Wide from the waist, no break at the knee, and cut long enough to pool on the floor. The name comes from farsh, the floor, which is the whole idea.
So: a knee seam means gharara. No knee seam and ordinary length means sharara. No knee seam and floor length means farshi. Every other difference you will read about is a consequence of that one.
We cut the gharara and the farshi. We do not make a sharara — it sits close enough to the farshi that we would rather do two things properly than three approximately.
The five we make
Every piece in the catalogue is made in every one of these, so the silhouette is a choice on the order rather than something decided by which piece you pick.
- Alia
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Fitted through the shoulder, then a clean flare from under the bust. The everyday one — it moves without announcing itself.
Work, dinner, the whole day in between.
- Anarkali
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Flare from an empire line all the way to the floor, with the most fabric of the five. Stand still and it still has shape.
Weddings, festivals, the nights you get photographed.
- Straight
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No flare at all. A straight fall from shoulder to hem that reads long and quiet.
Office, travel, anywhere you want the print to do the talking.
- Gharara
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A short kurta over pants fitted to the knee, then released into a wide flare. The loudest silhouette we make.
Mehendi, sangeet, anywhere there is dancing.
- Farshi
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A short kurta over pants that fall wide from the waist with no break at the knee — where a gharara narrows, this one keeps going. Cut long enough to sit on the floor.
Long lunches, and anywhere you would rather not be in a hurry.
Picking one
The honest shortcut: pick by how much room you want to take up, not by what the occasion is called. An anarkali and a gharara both read as festive, but one moves as a column of fabric from the bust and the other breaks at the knee and swings. In a crowded room that is a real difference.
If you are between two of them, the straight cut is the one that disappoints least — it does the least, which means it is the least likely to do the wrong thing. And a kurta that is going to be worn on ordinary weekdays is nearly always the alia.
The cut changes how a size fits
An anarkali takes its shape from an empire line, so the bust measurement carries it and the waist matters less. A straight cut falls from the shoulder and forgives the waist almost entirely. A gharara or a farshi is fitted at the kurta and loose everywhere below, so the kurta measurements are the ones to get right.
Send all three measurements either way and the pattern follows those rather than the nearest row on a chart. The chart, and how to measure, is here.