Occasion wear survives for years or one wash, and the difference is entirely in how it is cleaned.

Hand wash or dry clean

Machine agitation pulls at zari, sequins and chikankari thread. Hand wash cold with a mild detergent, or dry clean anything heavily worked.

Turn it inside out

Whatever the method, wash inside out. It protects the surface work from rubbing against itself and against other garments.

The first wash

Wash new coloured pieces separately. Reactive and natural dyes release colour early, and a bleeding maroon dupatta will mark a cream kurta permanently.

Drying

Shade, flat where possible, never wrung. Direct sun fades dyed cotton faster than any detergent, and a wet rayon kurta stretches on a thin hanger.

Ironing

Medium heat on cotton, low on rayon, and always on the reverse for embroidery. Put a cotton cloth between the iron and any sequin work.