Everyone remembers that provocative scene in the pilot when Inara takes a sponge bath.

But do you realise what she’s wearing is a sari?  Nothing complicated about this.  It’s just a sari wrapped to cover your important bits.

And that’s not the only time she wears one. In the movie when she waves Mal for help (it’s a trap!), she’s wearing a sari wrapped similarly.

Saris are incredibly versatile garments. They they range in price from the very expensive to the ridiculously cheap. Here’s a great site where you can search by price, fabric, even colour: http://www.utsavfashion.com/saree

As luck would have it, Reconstructing History sells a pattern that teaches you how to wrap the sari in three unique and fascinating ways (as well as make a choli to wear under it). Don’t sew (or don’t want to)? Buy it for the sari wraps. You won’t find anything anywhere else that will teach you these three styles of wearing a sari. And there’s a downloadable version too

Saris aren’t the only Indian clothing Inara wears though.  She spends a lot of time wearing lehenga cholis (lit. “skirt and blouse”).  These are the midriff-baring outfits she wore in Trash, Shindig, and the flashback in Out of Gas.

 
In Trash and in the flashback when she initially rents the shuttle, she wears her dupatta (that’s the bit of a lehenga choli that looks like a sari but shorter) on her head as a veil she sees through.

 
Nandi even wears one in Heart of Gold although her choli is less midriff bearing but more ornately decorated.  So you see, lehenga cholis come in all styles and can be fancy or casual.  And you can get them here too:  http://www.utsavfashion.com/lehenga

So if you don’t sew but want to dress like a wonderfully exotic Companion, try a sari or a lehenga choli. They’re comfortable to wear and easy to order online