India Clothing

One of the richest lands of cultural heritage, India is known for its intermingled people of different castes and faiths. All of them have different tastes, fashion likes and dislikes. Actually their cultural and socio-economic background has a great influenced on their attire. Garments and classic fashion styles of this country are popular throughout the world. Women in India wear traditional costumes whereas men in India can be found in more conventional western clothing like shirts and trousers. Various fabrics and textures of Indian hand made clothes fascinate the tourists. Sari - main dress of Indian women- portrays elegance and beauty. These days Indian fashion designers are combining western trends with Indian touch and creating truly outstanding dresses. Even then the tourists visiting India are easily fascinated by purely Indian dresses. Some of the most popular traditional Indian dresses are as following.

Dhoti

It's the most popular traditional dress for Indian males. Most of Indian farmers, which are the two third part of Indian population, still wear Dhoti. If you ever get the chance to see photographs of Indian men before, during and soon-after the independence era, you will find them wearing Dhoti teemed with a Kurta. Dhoti was a casual daily wear of the Indian men until the modernization of our society. It became just formal clothing later onwards. The people residing in the rural areas wear it as a regular clothing attire.

Salwar Kameez

Salwar Kameez is the most popular traditional dress of Indian females. It's sometimes called Punjabi suit also due to its popularity in the Punjab region. Salwar is more or less a baggy pajama type of trouser with legs wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Kameez is a long shirt or tunic reaching often up to the knees. Its length may vary depending up on the latest Salwar suit style in fashion.

Sari

Foreigners visiting in India describe Sari as a long strip of colorful multi-patterned cloth, sensuously wrapped around the body, and teemed with a blouse! This traditional female clothing in India is indeed, a very long strip of unstitched cloth, worn over a similar colored petticoat. Length of the Sari ranges from four to nine meters. It actually depends up on how an individual wants to wear it. Blouse worn with Sari is also known as Choli or Ravika.

Kurta Pajama

Consisting of two pieces of garments - Kurta-Pajama - is one of the basic clothing of Indian males. Former one, Kurta, is like a loose long shirt reaching almost the knees. The second one is Pajama or Pyjama, a lightweight drawstring trouser. Kurta Pajama is mostly worn on formal occasions, but it also can be worn casually. Many Indian men, in fact, wear this dress as their sleepwear.

Sherwani

Sherwani is an perfectly designed coat, with a close body fit. It is fastened in the front with buttons. Sherwani is supposed to be worn over a Kurta and a Churidar, or Khara pajama or a Salwar and at times, even a Dhoti. Traditional Sherwani is recognized as an ultimate wedding and party attire for Indian males. Resembling an Achkan, or a doublet, Sherwani is worn by gentlemen of all age-group in the country. This very popular Indian men's wear is believed to have originated somewhere in Central Asia.

Sharara

A traditional dress worn by Muslim ladies - Sharara - was introduced into Indian culture during Mughal period. But it now forms one of the major traditional costumes in India. Sharara suit consists of a long flowing skirt, Choli or a blouse and a Dupatta for covering the head. Distinctive feature of Sharara dress is the skirt, which is actually divided just like a pant which is fitted till the knee. A big flare hangs down from the knee onwards. A long Chunni, covering the head, is also a part of Sharara dress.