Indian Woman Costume

India is a country with an ancient history. Mention of India, there are already a few thousand years BC. And all this time, the Indian people kept and protected their culture and traditions.

Indian culture is characterized by great originality and originality. In the process of development, the ancient Indians seized various crafts that were passed down from generation to generation, which contributed to the achievement of the highest craftsmanship in each of them.

India is a very big state, and, moving from one region to another, you can’t stop wondering how the way of life and traditions among indigenous people of this mysterious country change. This variety is also reflected in the creation of the traditional Indian costume.

The unique color, variety of patterns, originality and beauty of Indian clothing made her the most recognizable in the world. A woman in India, dressed in national attire, strikes the eye with its irresistible and beauty; however, it is not without modesty and chastity.

As the traditions in different regions of the country are diverse, so the costume is different in its color, cut, pattern and style of wearing. However, despite all the versatility, national clothing retained common recognizable features.

The history of traditional women's clothing dates back to ancient India. There is no unequivocal opinion of historians about the stages of creating a traditional attire. But they all agree that he was initiated by long cuts of fabric draped around the figure in various ways.

This multi-layeredness has been preserved to the present, but it has acquired new forms and variants, creating a modern traditional Indian costume.

Clothing in India was made exclusively from natural fabrics: flax, cotton, wool. Even in ancient India, local craftsmen mastered the art of natural silk production, along with Ancient China. And in the north of the country in the province of Kashmir, world-famous Kashmir shawls made of high-mountain goat wool spun.

The Kashmir shawl is a work of art by local craftswomen. The wool used for its production was thinner than a human hair, which gave the product an unprecedented lightness and airiness. This shawl was of the highest value and was often presented as a gift to the queens of different countries.

The special pride of the Indians was the art of dyeing fabrics. Only natural dyes were used, and there were legends about the skill of the Hindus. It was believed that local colorists could distinguish up to six shades of white and up to twelve shades of black. Due in part to this art, women's clothing in India is so striking in its variety of colors.

In addition to bright colors, women's clothing in India uses richly painted fabrics, extensive use of embroidery, ribbons, and beads. Embroidery with gold and silver threads is especially popular. Such embroidered and richly decorated fabrics immediately create a unique color of the Indian costume.

This is the most famous Indian women's clothing, which has received worldwide recognition. Sari, due to its thin material and skillful drapery, makes the figure very feminine and graceful, and the silhouette - elegant.

The sari is made of a very long thin cloth (4–9 meters), which skillfully wraps around the woman’s waist, and one end slings over her shoulder and lowers onto her chest. The winding technique and the name of the sari are slightly different in different parts of the country. But everywhere - this is a very popular clothing, whose history goes back more than one thousand years.

Casual options are made from cotton or linen fabrics and do not have a rich decoration. A festive sari is always made of silk, batiste or muslin, decorated with painting and embroidery.

A wedding sari is ordered from the masters, who for each bride come up with their own unique pattern, which is why each bride has her own individual outfit.

In ancient India, cloths for this clothing were woven exclusively by men. Due to the complex design and decoration, its production could take up to six months.

This is a traditional blouse with short sleeves, covering the chest and slightly opening the belly of the girl. Choli is very popular not only in a set with a sari, but also with other types of national costume.

In modern times, choli can have different cut options. You can find a blouse with a long sleeve or without sleeves, on thin or thick spaghetti straps.

This is another very popular type of Indian costume. It consists of three parts and includes legend (lengu), choli and dupattu.

Leng is a skirt of various lengths, which is cut like an umbrella. According to the length of the lengi, it was possible to determine the status of a woman. Indian castes always wore only long skirts that covered the ankles.

Dupatta is a light airy cape that covers both the head and the shoulders. If before dupatta only Indian women of the highest castes could afford, now it is an indispensable attribute of the costume of any Indian woman.

Holiday and everyday lehenga-choli differ in material and abundance of decorations and paintings. For everyday use cotton or linen fabrics, for festive brocade, velvet, silk, satin or chiffon.

The outfit is most popular in the Punjab area. Shalvaras (salvaras) are bloomers, narrowed to the bottom. Kamiz is a fitted tunic with cuts on both sides. Shalvar-kamih is often complemented by a cape - dupatta.

Another type of dress, consisting of trousers and a tunic.. But unlike shalvar, churidar are tight pants that are twice as long as legs. Because of this, they gather on the legs in numerous folds. These pants are worn with a long shirt, reaching to the knee, which is called Kurt.

These are very wide wide trousers that drape on the belt in numerous folds. They are also worn with kamiz.

This outfit consists of anarkali dress, trousers-churidar and complemented by dupatta. Anarkali is no longer a tunic, but a full-fledged dress, the length of which can vary from knee to floor. The dress fits the figure to the waist, and then flares. This costume is widely used in everyday life and at ceremonial events.

This is the oldest version of the traditional costume of an Indian woman. It is the first type of saree. It differs from the modern saree in that it completely covers the body of a woman, including both the abdomen and the breast.The shoulders remain open.

Traditional dress for women in Assam province. This is the most difficult type of dress, consisting of three components: Mekhela, Sador (Chador) and Rikhs. All parts are put on each other, skillfully draped into folds on the right side. Richa, which is a very narrow dress, completes the outfit, is worn on top.

Children's national costume is not as diverse as an adult. Little girls wear puttu-padaway. It is a long dress reaching to the tips of the toes, adorned with a strip of gold threads below.

Teenage girls often wear semi-sari. It consists of lengi (skirt), choli (short blouse) and stole, which is wrapped like a sari.

Indian woman jewelery is a matter of national pride. Works of art created by Indian jewelers have been famous for 4 thousand years. Each element in the decoration has a deep meaning, not just a decorative function.

The traditional Indian set consisted of 16 types of jewelry. For each part of the body invented their own unique options. Bracelets, rings, rings, necklaces, necklaces - this is only a small part of the abundance that Indian craftsmen created and continue to create.

In modern India, traditional costume is blended with modern western clothing. Increasingly, you can meet a woman in jeans and camis. Sarees are combined with regular t-shirts. But to this day it is not customary to demonstrate open legs or breasts. Still, India is an eastern country, where tradition and religion have a great influence.