Wednesday, October 30, 2013

What kinds of clothing do Indians wear in the country of India?I know they wear saris, but that's not all.... i think.

Most of the males in India now wear, what may be described as western dress, which I believe is commonly worn by many men all over the world. Some men also continue to wear what may be described as traditional dresses. Among women, adoption of western dresses is less common. Dresses most popular among women are Sari and Salwar.


Traditional dress for men include dhoti or pajama for legs and kurta for top. Dhoti is an un-stitched cloth of about 4 meters wrapped around waste in a particular style. Actually there are a few different styles possible. Pajamas are just like pajama bottoms in the western countries. Actually the western countries copied the concept of pajama from India and perhaps other eastern countries. However, in India there are several variations of pajama. As a matter of fact the word pajama or payjama means clothing for legs.


Most common traditional top for men is kurta, which is very much like a shirt, which is somewhat longer and and hangs out loosely over dhoti or pajama rather than tugged in. Something parallel to the jacket or coat of the western dress is a sherwani, which is much longer than western coat, has tightly fitting collar like the collar of shirt, buttoned right upto the neck. Men might also wear something like a stole over kurta or sherwani, particularly on special occasions when they dress up more formally.


Sari worn by women is actually a set of three pieces of clothing. A blouse, a petticoat, and a saree. The Indian blouse is rather tight fitting. The petticoat is like a skirt from waist right upto ankles. Saree is a un-stitched cloth of about 5.5 meters, part of which is wrapped around the waist and the rest is slung over shoulders, and may be adjusted in different ways for style or to cover the body from protection from cold or for other purposes.


Salwar worn by women is again a three piece affair - salwar, kurta, and duppatta. Salwar is a stylish version of payjama. Similarly kurta is similar to kurta for men, but more stylish. Duppatta is a piece of cloth about 2.5 meters long slung over shoulders, which may be used in different ways like the top portion of saree. This duppatta is very much like a stole.


I have described above the most popular traditional Indian clothing. In addition to these there are scored of different varieties, which are more popular in different regions, or are variations of the basic dress, to make them more stylish.

No comments:

Post a Comment