What makes the Indian couture so unique is the
fact that you will find each and every state of the country having
its own distinct traditional clothing for men and women. For
instance, the salwaar kameez is the ethnic attire of women in
Punjab; the Mekhala Chadar is worn by Assamese women, and so on.
However, all types of Indian clothing look very elegant and Indians
wear them with a lot of pride. The festivities and other special
occasions are the time when you can see maximum Indians donning
their ethnic garb, be it sari, kurta pajama or dhoti.
A sari is long strip of colorful multi-patterned cloth seductively
wrapped around the body, teemed with a blouse! It's the traditional
dress for the women folk in India and there are many styles in which
you can drape it. The blouse worn with sari is also called the choli
or ravika. The salwaar kameez, on the other hand, is the most
ubiquitous of all traditional women attires in India. Due to its
popularity in the Punjab region, it is sometimes also called the
Punjabi suit.
The Indian men's traditional attire consists of the kurta and
pajama, dhoti, lungi and other dresses. Worn on both formal and
informal occasions, kurta and pajama are quite popular dress of
Indian men. The kurta is like a loose long shirt almost reaching the
knees, whereas the Pyjama is a lightweight drawstring trouser. The
men's dhoti is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth about five
yards long, wrapped about the waist and the legs and knotted at the
waist. It is known by different names like Laacha in Punjabi, Mundu
in Malayalam, Dhuti in Bangla, etc.