Indian clothing

Exercise 58. Read the following text and prepare the report about Indian clothing

DRESSING UP IN KUWAIT, SWEDEN AND INDIA

Exercise 57. Look through the text and find some new information about Kuwait, Swedish and Indian clothes.

In Kuwait, men and women wear their traditional dress most of the time, For men it is a long robe and a cloth covering the head. For women it’s similar and they wear a veil. Foreign male visitors usually wear lightweight cotton trousers and white shirts with short or long sleeves. Men often wear sandals during the day but never in the office. They wear a jacket and a tie for social occasions. But when it’s really hot, it’s usual to take off the jacket. Foreign women visitors usually wear long loose clothes, which cover their neck and arms.

The Swedish are very interested in clothes and are less formal than they were. People usually dress well in public and wear bright colors. In Sweden the winters are very cold, so overcoats and ski jackets are very common. Men wear business suits for work, with a shirt and a tie and women often wear trousers. People often carry a spare pair of shoes because you need boots outside. Children and teenagers are more casual than their parents. For school, they wear blue jeans and T-shirts.

Traditional dress in India for women is sari and for men the achkan suit. The sari has its own distinctive style depending on which part of India it comes from – every region has its own special colors, decoration and style. The men wear their heavy and expensive achkan suits on formal occasions but for less formal occasions they wear the kurtha suit, a long shirt and loose trousers, which is not as heavy as the achkan. Indian people wear lighter colors as they grow older and at funerals white is the usual colour to wear.

Many people wear western-style clothes. For work they wear smart clothes, but not suits and ties. Women usually wear trousers and blouses but not dresses. Young people are as casual as young people all over the world with their jeans and T-shirts.

To the foreign traveler, one of the powerful attractions in India is the colorful and diversified attire of its people. The silk saris, brightly mirrored oholis, colorful lehangas and the traditional salwar-kameez have fascinated many a traveler over the centuries.

For a single length of material, the sari must be the most versatile garment in existence. It is only one of the many traditional garments worn by women, yet it has somehow become the national dress of Indian women. A sari is a rectangular piece of cloth, which is five to six yards in length. The style, color and texture of this cloth varies and it might be made from cotton, silk or one of the several man-made materials. The sari has an ageless charm since it is not cut or tailored for a particular size. This garment can fit any size and if worn properly can accentuate or conceal. This supremely graceful attire can also be worn in several ways and its manner of wearing as well as its color and texture are indicative of the status, age, occupation, region and religion of a woman.

“The tightly fitted, short blouse worn under a san is a choli. The choli evolved as a form of clothing in 10th century AD and the first cholis were only front covering; the back was always bare. Bodices of this type are still common in the state of Rajasthan.

Apart from the choli, women in Rajasthan wear a form of pleated skirt knownas the ghagra or lehanga. This skirt is secured at the waist and leaves the back and midriff bare. The heads are however covered by a length of fine cotton known as orhni or dupatta.

Another popular attire of women in India is the salwar-kameez. This dress evolved as a comfortable and respectable garment for women in Kashmir and Punjab, but is now immensely popular in all regions of India. Salwars are pyjama-like trousers drawn tightly in at the waist and the ankles. Over the salwars, women wear a long and loose tunic known as a kameez. One might occasionally come across women wearing a churidar instead of a salwar. A churidar is similar to the salwar but is tighter fitting at the hips, thighs and ankles. Over this, one might wear a collarless or mandarin-collar tunic called a kurta.

Though the majority of Indian women wear traditional costumes, the men in India can be found in more conventional western clothing. Shirts and trousers are worn by men from all regions in India. However, men in villages are still more comfortable in traditional attire like kurtas, lungis, dhotis and pyjamas.

The traditional lungi originated in the south and today it is worn by men and women alike. It is simply a short length of material worn around the thighs rather like a sarong. A dhoti is a longer lungi but with an additional length of material pulled up between the legs. Pyjama-like trousers worn by the villagers are knownas the lenga.

Indian dressing styles are marked by many variations, both religious and regional and one is likely to witness a plethora of colors, textures and styles in garments worn by the Indians.

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