Women across South Asia wear the sari. It is a very versatile garment as not only does the fabric affect its thermal properties but also the way it is draped over the body can significantly modify its clothing insulation. We tested three Indian sari ensembles (each of four drapes) with a thermal manikin following ISO: 9920 protocols. The insulation values on all of the 16 selected body parts and over the whole body were recorded. These data provide the information needed for advanced thermal comfort modelling that requires clothing insulation values at the segmentation level. The apparently simple sari offered in reality a wide range of insulation values (0.94 to 0.62) for a given set of garments. Winter ensembles provided 1.11–1.39 clo, while the summer and monsoon ensembles had 0.62–0.96 clo. The findings of this research are more than a correction of clo value of saris, but highlight the potential significance of the garment in the process of adapting to higher temperatures in a warming world.