Wedding veil (Chand bagh)

The Punjab region of India and Pakistan once was famous for darning stitch embroidery called phulkari, or flower work. Some designs were distinctly floral; others severely geometric. When the embroidery densely covered the cloth's surface, the flowers were said to form a bagh, or garden. And when shimmering white silk stitches floated on a dark background as in this veil, the flower garden became a heavenly moon garden (chand bagh). All of the Punjab's major groups - Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims - used phulkari for wedding textiles, worn by bride, groom, and guests. Women of the household typically spent years preparing the embroideries, plotting out designs by counting threads in the ground cloth. Stitching was done from the reverse side so that the embroiderer created the design without actually seeing it.