The History of Indian Clothing

As early as 2500 BC, people in Indian wore cotton clothing, due to the fact that cotton was widely available and India was the first country to produce cotton.  Wealthier families would wear silk, however the majority of inhabitants could only afford cotton. Politics and fashion have made an impact over history on Indian clothing, however the clothing styles remain traditional, as they were hundreds of years ago.

Style and Tradition

Typically women wore saris, which comes from the Sankrit word cloth. Men in often times would wear lungi, which is a linear sheet that is shaped like a skirt and made of cotton. Men also wore dhotis, which is a long piece of cloth wrapped around the legs. Another piece of clothing you might see on a male is a cloth, which would be wrapped around the men's heads worn as turbans. Around 1000 AD men and women began to change their styles to wear trousers with long tunics, which would reach to their knees. These were called churider. Women would wear churider with a veil over the churider. Wealthier women would wear many pieces of jewelry in gold or silver, such as nose rings or earrings.

Politics and Fashion

Loosely draped clothing remained a trend for many years, with most of the Indians sticking to wearing traditional clothing. However during the time of the British Raj (British Colonial rule) from 1858 to 1947, the clothing styles changed. Khandi clothing became the clothing style type to be worn. Khandi is light-colored hand-woven clothing, made of cotton. Khandi is considered a movement, as coined by the ruler Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. To prove the country's independence, the country would make their own clothing by using hand-made fabrics. This was an attempt to dump foreign goods being used by India.

1980's to Present

In the 1980's, many fashion schools were constructed in India. Women were involved in designs in the fashion industry, which was a role they did not take part of before. This was the beginning of the infusion of Western culture into their traditional styles. Clothing today is full of colorful styles, however women still wear saris and salwar khameez, which are tunics. Some men still wear traditional styles of the dhotis, but many men wear simple shirts and slacks.