<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Both "Salwar" and "Kameez" are profoundly Arabic words.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Salwar Kameez sounded Iranian (Farsi) to me, but then I don't know Iranian, was just comparing 'Salwar' to 'Anwar'. So for some reason, it made me think it might have been Zoroastrian dress taken over by muslims in Iran and then brought into India.
So the dress itself is Afghan, is it. That's actually very interesting. Even if the words are Arabic, it's not actually Arabian dress.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The South Indian has a generally prejudiced view of Punjabis and Punjabi culture. But here is one Punjabi artefact whose successful conquest of the South can only be welcomed. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Don't know much about the Punjab, and don't have any prejudiced view of it... But not a big fan of salwar kameez. It's too loose and hides all form.
I think my sister once said that churidar is Hindu, but ought to ask her again, to check. In any case, it is Indian, and could well be North Indian, although younger South Indian women and girls have been wearing it for decades. It looks a little like salwar kameez, but its pants are really tight (and sometimes like western bootleg pants) and the top is not as long as salwar top. The churidar top is also more tightly fitting than the really formless salwar the women of Pakistan wear. And either the dupatta is traditionally a very sheer thing for the churidar or there was none and this was borrowed from the salwar. Can anyone else confirm about the churidar being Hindu? In any case, I'd never seen a Muslimah wear it, either on TV or in reality. Whereas I've seen many, many Tamil Hindus wear it.
Saree is not just Indian, it is particularly Hindu. (As also confirmed by those missionaries that disapprove of inculturation, the evangelicals and some other non-catholic kinds. They did their research for once - that's why they ban the saree for their converts.) In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka women wear it the way Aishwarya Rai is nowadays seen wearing the saree. Are there other parts of India where they wear the saree the same way, I'm rather ignorant about this? The Gujarati style of saree looks very interesting too. Though it looks more special occasion because I've seen it so rarely.
In Tamil Nadu, the youngest girls wear a long Indian skirt (pavadai) with a blouse piece, kind of like the Gagra, but top covers all of torso. Teenage to young adult Hindu girls wear half-sarees, this was especially in the past decades.
IMHO sarees and half-sarees are the most beautiful on women, I also like the gagra choli equally as much (don't know spelling). North Indian women in gagra choli all look like Kshatriya princesses. (South Indian women would too, of course, but I've not really seen any Tamil women wearing this yet...) Anyway, it's magnificent.
Although if you're in a western country these three items wouldn't probably be comfortable for everyday wear, so it makes sense to wear what's comfortable there and keep the saree/gagra for special occasions.
So the dress itself is Afghan, is it. That's actually very interesting. Even if the words are Arabic, it's not actually Arabian dress.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The South Indian has a generally prejudiced view of Punjabis and Punjabi culture. But here is one Punjabi artefact whose successful conquest of the South can only be welcomed. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Don't know much about the Punjab, and don't have any prejudiced view of it... But not a big fan of salwar kameez. It's too loose and hides all form.
I think my sister once said that churidar is Hindu, but ought to ask her again, to check. In any case, it is Indian, and could well be North Indian, although younger South Indian women and girls have been wearing it for decades. It looks a little like salwar kameez, but its pants are really tight (and sometimes like western bootleg pants) and the top is not as long as salwar top. The churidar top is also more tightly fitting than the really formless salwar the women of Pakistan wear. And either the dupatta is traditionally a very sheer thing for the churidar or there was none and this was borrowed from the salwar. Can anyone else confirm about the churidar being Hindu? In any case, I'd never seen a Muslimah wear it, either on TV or in reality. Whereas I've seen many, many Tamil Hindus wear it.
Saree is not just Indian, it is particularly Hindu. (As also confirmed by those missionaries that disapprove of inculturation, the evangelicals and some other non-catholic kinds. They did their research for once - that's why they ban the saree for their converts.) In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka women wear it the way Aishwarya Rai is nowadays seen wearing the saree. Are there other parts of India where they wear the saree the same way, I'm rather ignorant about this? The Gujarati style of saree looks very interesting too. Though it looks more special occasion because I've seen it so rarely.
In Tamil Nadu, the youngest girls wear a long Indian skirt (pavadai) with a blouse piece, kind of like the Gagra, but top covers all of torso. Teenage to young adult Hindu girls wear half-sarees, this was especially in the past decades.
IMHO sarees and half-sarees are the most beautiful on women, I also like the gagra choli equally as much (don't know spelling). North Indian women in gagra choli all look like Kshatriya princesses. (South Indian women would too, of course, but I've not really seen any Tamil women wearing this yet...) Anyway, it's magnificent.
Although if you're in a western country these three items wouldn't probably be comfortable for everyday wear, so it makes sense to wear what's comfortable there and keep the saree/gagra for special occasions.