Dressed By An Empire

In 1608, when the British arrived in India; and colonialism began, the British started controlling the way we live, the way we eat, the way we talk, where we go, where we stay, and so on and so forth. In this mountain of restrictions, there was one more, which made Indians feel inferior in their own homeland, the way we dressed.

Long before the British came in, since the time of the Mauryas, the Guptas, and the Sungas, clothing was never restricted. Men and women wore rectangular pieces of fabric on the lower part of their bodies and one on the upper. India was not always about covering up your face or your body; it was usually just about comfort and climatic conditions. However, when Greek, Chinese, and Arabic rulers started expanding their empires into India, styles of dressing started getting altered and modified. But, Indians still preferred comfort and did not change the way they dressed.

As India was completely engulfed in colonialism by the British, Indians were forced to comply with the British. The Britishers viewed Indian attire through the Victorian lens and labeled it as “immodest” and imposed stricter norms of dressing through institutions, religion, and social pressure. Covering up became tied closely to respectability and progress, while climate-based and open dressing was seen as backward.

Soon, India gained independence, and clothing styles started changing. India, which used to dress in loose drapes and exposed midriffs, started dressing in more “socially accepted” clothes, like salwar kameezes and saris. While, on the other hand, the western world, which had once thought that comfort dressing was “immodest”, now started believing that backward dressing was not comfort dressing, but the so-called “modest dressing” was outdated, and comfort dressing was unpretentious.

So, the only thing this tells us is that the way we dress has never been just about comfort or culture; it has always been shaped by power. What we call “modest,” “modern,” or “appropriate” today is not purely our own choice, but a legacy of colonial influence that still lingers. And perhaps the real question is: are we choosing how we dress, or are we still being taught what is acceptable?

Written by: Sara Paleja