Asian Salwar Kameez

Asian Salwar Kameez

Asia is the largest continent of the world with its 17,300,000 sq. miles area. The continent comprises of a number of countries and each country varies from the other in terms of its culture, habits, tradition and fashion. It will be a Herculean task, rather an impossible one to bring Asian Salwar Kameez and its culture under one roof. It is so vast and variegated that all the words of expression would fall short for it. So it will be wise enough to concentrate on only one of the aspects at aimed, selecting only a few countries. When we think of Asia, the name of the countries lurk into our mind are Japan, India and China. So let us concentrate on the traditional attires of these countries and find out how these traditional wear are getting infiltrated into the modern fashion trend.Being an Indian, I know Indian culture and tradition better than any other foreign country. So I would definitely like to talk about our traditional clothing first. India is a country with as many as 29 states and each state has its own way of robes. But as far as the national dress is concerned it is identified with ‘sari’. It is attire for women only. A ‘sari’ is nothing but a long rectangular piece of cloth about 5 to 9m in length. It is worn without any fastening, pins or buttons. The tightly fitted blouse worn under sari is known as ‘choli’ and the final length of the saris hanging from the women’s shoulder is called ‘pallu’. The style, color, texture of a sari varies from one another.

It may be printed, embroidered, stone and mirror embedded et al. The material of sari can be cotton, silk, synthetic or man many more things. Besides its color and design, the most striking and charming feature about the sari is that it is not cut or tailored for any particular size and can fit any women. There are several ways of wearing a sari; and its manner of draping as well as its color and texture indicate the status, age, occupation, region and religion of a woman.

Beside sari, there are many other dresses that are worn by Indian women like ‘salwar kameez‘, ‘lehanga’, churidar etc. A ‘kameez‘ is a long tunic worn over ‘pyjama‘ which is like a loose fitted trousers. A tight-fitted pant is known as ‘churidar’.A pleated skirt is called a ‘lehanga’. Some traditional garments for men are ‘kurta’, ‘lungi’, ‘dhoti’ and ‘pyjama’. ‘kurta’ is like a long top while ‘lungi ‘and ‘dhoti’ are a piece of cloth that is draped around the waist. ‘pyjama’ is the pants worn under the ‘kurta’. A collarless khadi jacket is also popular among men. But most of the India men, unlike women, wear the conventional western clothes. A majority of women in India wear ‘sari’ though some urban women love and feel comfortable in western dresses.

Throughout the country there are many religious and regional variations in the costumes, such as Rajasthan women wear embroidered, mirrored and the tie-dye materials while in Arunachal Pradesh women are found draping home-spun long woolen skirts. Indian dressing style is thus marked by many variations-both religious and regional; and one is likely to witness an abundance of colors, textures and style in garments of India.