Most Indians are happy to wear traditional folk costumes in everyday life, believing that clothing expresses their inner world, and it is an extension of the owner's personality. Color and style, as well as ornaments and patterns decorating clothes, can tell about the character of the owner of the costume, his social status and even the area where he comes from. Despite the increasing influence of Western culture every year, modern Indian clothing retains its originality and ethnic uniqueness.
A bit of history and legends
In the poetic Indian legends, the creation of cloth is likened to the creation of the world. The Creator - sutradhara - weaves the universe with a thread of sutra, which is the basis of the nascent universe.
Studies have shown that Indian national clothes have becomeformed back in the days of the Indus civilization, which existed in 2800-1800 BC. Until the 14th century, the dhoti, which is today's men's clothing, had no gender, and was worn by both men and women. This is confirmed by such ancient literary sources as the epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana". What the female version of the dhoti looked like can be seen in the sculptures of the goddesses created by the artists of the Gandhara school of art. A little later, a one-piece sari appeared.
Rules and norms for wearing saris and dhoti, details and elements indicating the gender and regional identity of the owner began to appear in the XIV century, and today Indian clothing is clearly divided into male and female.
Men's wardrobe
In modern India, men wear these types of traditional clothing:
- dhoti;
- lungi;
- churidars;
- pajami;
- kurta;
- Shervani.
Let's take a closer look at the most common items of men's wardrobe.
The Art of Dhoti Drapery
As already mentioned, the dhoti is one of the most ancient pieces of clothing. This is a fairly long, about five meters, rectangular strip of bleached or plain dyed fabric, which Indian men skillfully drape around their hips. In different regions of India, there are various drapery options, but there is also a generally accepted one: they start tying a dhoti from the middle of the fabric cut, wrapping its central part around the hips and tying it in a knot in front. The left end of the fabric is folded into folds and wrapped around the left leg, after which it is laid behind the belt at the back. The right end of the cut is also draped and tucked away behind the belt in front.
Dhoti is an Indian garment, the length of which shows what caste its owner is from. The shortest dhotis specially adapted for work are among representatives of the lower castes. Men wearing this traditional dress can be found everywhere in India: in markets and universities, in temples and stadiums. There are no restrictions on where and who can wear dhoti. For everyday life, this item of men's wardrobe is made from jute or cotton. Festive dhotis are made of white or beige silk fabric and are decorated with a gold border around the edge, embroidered or painted. But dhoti of saffron and red colors can only be worn by sannyasis and brahmacari - monks.
Men from South India wear dhoti with a special cape on their shoulders - angavashtram, and representatives of the northern states with a long shirt - kurta.
Lungi
In some parts of the country, the most common Indian clothing for men is the lungi. This is a piece of fabric 2 meters long and 1.5 meters wide. There are two options for wearing it: simply tied at the waist, without passing between the legs, or sewn into a cylinder, like a skirt. Lungs can be both plain and colored. They are made from cotton, silk, and synthetic fabrics. It is a necessary home wear for both rural and urban residents.
Such a versatile kurta
Traditionally it is wide anda long shirt without a collar, but with a cutout in front, which can be worn in both formal and informal settings, in winter and summer. Today, such Indian clothing exists in many different versions. For summer, a silk or cotton kurta is suitable, and for winter - from dense fabrics such as wool or mixed khadi (made by hand from silk threads, cotton and wool). Its festive version is decorated with embroidery and jewels.
They wear kurta with tight churidars - trousers specially cut longer than the legs so that the fabric of the trousers forms a kind of bracelets on the lower leg, or with pajas - wide trousers made of white cotton fabric.
Festive Shervani
Modern shervani is an elongated knee-length frock coat with a fastener to the collar. It is sewn from satin or silk, as a rule, for some celebration or for a wedding and decorated with sequins, mirrors or embroidery. They wear it with tight pants - churidars or trousers.
Women's outfits
Remembering what it is like, the clothes of Indian women, the first thing that comes to mind is a sari. However, besides him, Indian women are also happy to wear traditional salwar kameez, lenga-choli and anarkali. What is hidden behind these strange oriental names? Let's figure it out.
Strip of fabric
This is how the word "sari" is translated from Sanskrit. Indeed, this is a canvas 1.2-1.5 meters wide and 4 to 9 meters long, which is wrapped around the body. In Indiathere is a beautiful ancient legend about how the sari was first made. According to her, he was created by a magic weaver who dreamed of a beautiful woman and imagined the sparkle of her eyes, gentle touches, smooth silky hair and her laughter. The resulting fabric was so amazing and similar to a woman that the master could not stop and weaved a lot of it. But fatigue still knocked him down, but he was absolutely happy, as the dream was embodied in amazing clothes.
The scientists found the first information about the prototype of the sari in written sources dating back to 3000 BC. In modern India, this is the most common and popular Indian women's clothing worn with an underskirt (pavada) and a blouse called ravika or choli. There are a lot of ways and styles of wearing a sari, and each region of this large country has its own, special one. The most common is nivi, when one of the ends (pallu) of the sari is wrapped twice around the hips, and the second is fixed on the petticoat and thrown over the shoulder. When going out, Indian women put the free edge of the sari over their heads.
But the material from which the Indian sari is sewn, as in the old days, depends on the material security and social status of the woman.
Saris can be of a variety of colors, patterned or plain, for any, even the most fastidious taste. But there are a number of colors that Indian women prefer only on special occasions. So, when getting married, an Indian woman will wear a red or green sari, decorated with gold embroidery. Young mother, justwho has given birth to a child, will choose a yellow sari and will walk in it for seven days. Traditionally, widows wear white clothes without any decorations or patterns.
Punjabi or salwar kameez
Another type of traditional Indian women's clothing is the salwar kameez, or, as it is also called because of its great popularity in Punjab, punjabi. This costume originally appeared several centuries ago on the territory of modern Afghanistan, and came to India thanks to the Kabul Patkhans.
It consists of two parts: a shalwar (salwar) - wide due to the many folds at the top and trousers narrowed at the ankle - and a long tunic with side slits - kameez. But such tunics can be combined not only with salwars, they are also worn with trousers flared from the hip - sharars, tight trousers churidaras and patiala-style shalwars, which have many pleats on the legs and yoke. Both salwars and kameez are decorated with embroidery, sequins, mirrors or ornaments. Complement all these outfits with a chunni or dupatta - a long and wide scarf. And if earlier Indian clothes in Moscow, and in other Russian cities were found only in theatrical performances, concert performances of dance groups and museums, today you can buy a sari or kameez in ethnic and exotic goods stores, which are quite numerous.
Lenga choli, anarkali and patta pavadai
There are a great many types and variants of lenga-choli, but they all consist ofskirts - lengi and blouses - choli, which can be both short and long, and capes. But anarkali most of all resembles a strongly flared sundress, but they always wear it with skinny trousers.
For little Indian fashionistas, there is a special traditional outfit - langa-davani or patta-pavadai. This cone-shaped silk dress has a gold stripe sewn at the foot level.
Indie Style Features
Indian clothing style is popular all over the world, many famous designers create their collections under the impression of this charming oriental country. There are a number of features that distinguish this style from other ethnic and national trends:
- Color saturation of clothing.
- Natural lightweight fabrics.
- The presence of draperies in both men's and women's clothing.
- Plain and loose pieces in simple cuts such as salwar kameez, tunics, saris and more.
- Layer and layered.
- Rich decoration of things with stones, rhinestones, beads, gold or silver embroidery. An abundance of prints and patterns.
- Asymmetry - tops, tunics and dresses held on one shoulder.
- Many accessories such as bracelets, necklaces and earrings, ankle and belly chains.
- Comfortable shoes with natural or floral appliqués and designs.
The main thing when creating an outfit in the Indian style is to remember that in all the elements that make it up, national characteristics should be traced,peculiar to India.
