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Tribune News Service
Amritsar, September 11
Talking about fashion and its influence during the time of the Britishers, author and textile designer, Jasvinder Kaur, busted several myths about Indian attires at a special weekend session organised by the Majha House.
When we talk about fashion, we invariably think of women. But men have embraced fashion all along too. In fact, men were more welcoming to the British style of clothing and tried to emulate it. We have extensive evidence of aristocratic Indian men wearing suits as early as the 1920s while women incorporated only some elements from the western dresses. Jasvinder Kaur, Author and textile designer
In conversation with Alka Pande, artist and historian, Jasvinder spoke about the British influence on men and women’s clothing as she took the audience back to era of the vintage fashion.
“When we talk about fashion we invariably think of women. But men have embraced fashion all along too. In fact, men were more welcoming to the British style of clothing and tried to emulate it. We have extensive evidence of aristocratic Indian men wearing suits as early as the 1920s while women incorporated only some elements from the western dresses,” said Jasvinder.
“The British influence is so intricately woven into our culture that we don’t even realise that what we are wearing is not Indian. When we see men wearing an ‘achkan’ with a ‘churidar pyjama’ we just assume that they are both Indian garments, but in reality they are a fusion of English and Indian elements. We have photographs in which Indian men have paired coats and waistcoats with ‘churidars’, pyjamas, and trousers,” explained Jasvinder.
Introducing Jasvinder’s book “Influence of British Raj on the Attire and Textiles of Punjab”, Preeti Gill, founder, Majha House, said, ‘This is an extensively researched book. Years of hard work have gone into it. Jasvinder is the perfect person to author it because of her vast experience in fabrics and threads. She has had consultancy assignments in Geneva. Alka of course is well known for her deep love for all forms of art. Her contribution to the field of arts is immense.”
“Whenever two different races come into contact some confluence and influence is inevitable. Our everyday clothes and dishes are not exclusively Indian, but a result of this confluence,” said Jasvinder.
“A ‘petticoat’ and ‘blouse’ are neither Indian words nor Indian garments. ‘Petticoats’ in India developed from the layers of petticoats that women wore under their dresses right from the Elizabethan Age. As far as blouses are concerned, Indian women either did not wear a blouse or wore a skimpy one. Only later, it developed as a fancy, graceful garment with a character of its own,” cleared Jasvinder.
“Even embroideries traditionally associated with Punjab, find their existence from the Colonial Era. There are many types of embroideries existent even today, apart from ‘phulkari’, ‘khes’, and ‘dhurries’, which are influenced by the British,” Jasvinder added.
Techniques like ‘bharni’ and white-work were used to decorate pillow covers, table-cloths, bed sheets, and trousseau with English phrases like ‘Good night’, ‘god bless you’ and ‘come again’ woven therein’, said Jasvinder.
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