About two decades back, when my friend’s daughter went abroad to do a course, she wore the traditional Indian salwar and kurta on the long flight because the dress was considered more comfortable and most suited for the tedious journey. She had a matching dupatta dangling from her shoulders. A few years later, after landing a job there, she was on a brief visit to her parents when I happened to be at her home. I blinked, though not entirely in surprise, on seeing her in an altogether new outfit — an attractive top over a capri. She looked slim and smarter than before. Even though it might have taken me a couple of seconds to reconcile with her earlier image, it was a welcome sight.
Perhaps feeling that her new look might have surprised me, she seemed eager to clarify that it was due to the changed lifestyle, climatic factors and compulsions of the dress code in that country. Coming from a conservative family, the girl, who used to wear ankle-length salwar, seemed conscious of the capri she was wearing. I did not need any explanation from her because there was nothing unusual about it. Had she stayed on in her home country she would be wearing these very clothes in the near future, responding to emerging fashion trends. After all, things have changed in every sphere of life during the last 50 years rather rapidly. The onset of internet has only quickened the pace further.
For example, we are all a witness to how, during the initial days, the bulky desktop, required a dust-free and air-conditioned environment, but soon after became an all-weather gadget. Later, it shrunk in size to be known as the ‘laptop’ and tablet and is today carried in the shirt pocket as a cell phone. But that is beside the point. Irrespective of what my friend’s daughter or others of her ilk might have thought about older generation, I must say that the capri is a wonderful garment for people of all ages. Fashion is not my cup of tea, but as a habitual observer, the changing trends in designs, styles, patterns, accessories etc have always interested me a lot. Change is the law of nature. One can’t escape the inevitability of new concepts. Whether one likes it or not, evolving patterns do have their sweeping effect on society. However, it is human nature to resist changes and later accept them — sometimes in toto.
I know that many people have made fun of or ridiculed new designs and styles. Jeans were initially looked down upon for being too tight and for what was described as “showing contours”. Many questioned the wisdom of the blue jeans being worn with garments of all colours. It was described a mismatch. Nevertheless, the fact is that the blue jeans became a rage the world over. It is regarded as the most comfortable and easy-to-wear garment with least hassles of washing and even ironing too frequently. Fashion went a step further. Irregular bleaching, which would have otherwise created a fight with the dyer, came in great demand. It became the in-thing.
There was more. Young boys and girls could be seen wearing trousers with a few windows revealing the skin of the legs. The uninitiated may blame poor cats and puppies to have nibbled at the jeans to create these openings. In any case, they easily catch the eye and serve as good exhibits.
One trend that I have not been able to digest though, is men and women going outdoors, shopping, strolling or visiting places of interest like monuments clad in cotton shorts. Maybe, it is because in our childhood days, we were made to wear knickers or half pants as some call it, at home and outside. Shorts were worn only during sleep. We could not have ever thought of going out of our house in shorts.
Today, young men and women unhesitatingly go out for shopping in malls or regular markets in tea shirts and striped or check shorts. Inhibitions are giving way to emerging fashion trends that we are learning fast from the West.
Not much time has elapsed since we used to be very particular about our office dress — a well-ironed suit, white starched shirt, a neatly knotted necktie, a handkerchief in the coat’s upper pocket and a pair of Oxford boots with shining toes. Today, barring executives, who have to go by the prescribed dress code, most others have been spared such rigidities. All that is required of them is that they must look presentable.
As for the informal wear, capri reigns, notwithstanding the jokes it had sparked in the initial stages like “It’s 3/4th of a trouser because the draper ran out of cloth”.
Lalit Raizada is a journalist based in India.
