Continuing with the wedding idea from last week, I thought clothes would be a relevant topic because you need to look quite fashionable at these events. Fashion is constantly changing in India just like it is here. There are several types of Indian clothes for women and a few for men.

I’ll start with women clothing first. There are three commonly seen types: sari, lehenga choli, and salwar kameez.

The first is a sari which is a strip of clot that is from four to nine meters long. It can be wrapped in many different styles over a petticoat and blouse. It used to be that once a girl was married/became a woman, she would begin to wear saris daily. But, today, it is becoming more and more common that women and girls are wearing saris depending on the event. Weddings are the place for the ladies to show off their saris. The brides tend to wear there them along with many of the female guests. Here are a couple of examples:

The next up are lehenga cholis. These consist of a long skirt, a blouse, and a dupatta (a scarf to be wrapped). The blouses tend to be cropped to above the midriff and are short sleeved. Cholis can be worn during so many events from every day wear to Navratri (a holiday I’ll talk about later) to weddings. With that, they can be very simple or heavily embroidered. Check some out.

And last, but not least, for the women, is the salwar kameez. When you see someone wearing one of these, it consists of pants, a long top piece, and a dupatta. They are the most commonly worn type of Indian clothing for women because they are light and comfortable for hot summer days while still fancy enough for bigger events. So, here are some more examples.

On to the men. There is two important/common types of clothing: dotis and sherwanis.

Dotis are also long pieces of cotton that are wrapped to be worn by men. They are more traditional and aren’t worn as often, so I’ll just leave you with a picture.

On the other hand, men often wear a sherwani to fancier events. There is a calf-long coat with buttons and a straight color and a pair of cotton pants that are tight at the ankles. It also comes with a scarf occasionally. A fancier version of this can be worn by grooms and guests at weddings. Check out the example below.

So, obviously there are a lot of options when it comes to clothing with the variety of styles, colors, and fits. You figure out what you like over time, and you can have a lot of fun picking out new clothes. But, just remember, they aren’t always as cheap as clothes here.