Fashion is the prevailing style or custom. The fashion industry embraces both haute couture (clothes made by individual designers for a small and wealthy clientele), and garments produced on a wider commercial stories, and by mail order.
Indian fashion varies from one village to another village from one city to another city. India’s fashion heritage is rich in tradition, vibrant in colors and prepossessing. Ancient Indian fashion garments generally used no stitching although Indians knew about sewing. Most clothes were ready to wear as soon as they left the loom. The traditional Indian Dhoti, the scarf or uttariya, and the popular Turban are still visible India and continue to be part of Indian fashion. Likewise, for women, the dhoti or the sari as the lower garments, combined with a stanapatta forms the basic ensemble, and once again consists of garments that do not have to be stitched, the stanapatta being simply fastened in a knot at the back.
Indian sari is the most common dress among the Indian women. Worn in varied styles, it is a long piece of flat cotton, silk or other fabric woven in different textures with different patterns. The choli evolved as a form of Indian clothing around the tenth century AD and the first cholis were only front covering; the back was always bare. Another popular attire of women in Indian clothing is the Indian salwar-kameez. This popular Indian dress evolved as a comfortable and respectable garment for omen in Kashmir and Punjab region, bur is now immensely popular in all regions of India. Though the majority of Indian women wear traditional Indian dresses, the men in India can be found in more conventional western clothing like shirts and trousers. However, men in Indian villages are still more comfortable in traditional attire like kurtas, lungis, dhotis and pyjamas. Indian dresses & styles are marked by many variations, both relious and regional and one is likely to witness a plethora of colors, textures and styles in garments worn by the Indians.
Some gold ornaments are usually worn against the skin at all times. Indian gold ornaments are popular because the metal is believed to have the power to purify anything it touches. Ornaments of gold and other metals, often combined with precious and semiprecious gems and beads, are popular with both men and women in India. Nose pin is a symbol of purity and marriage, though today many unmarried Indian girls wear this adornment.
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Necklaces are very popular fashion accessories across India amongst girls and women of all ages. Necklaces are made of a variety of materials, ranging from glass beads to gold and diamonds. One special necklace is the mangalasutra, worn only by married Indian women. It is the Indian equivalent of the western wedding ring. Bangles are worn on the wrist, bangles are believed to be protective bands and women always wore them as symbolic guards over their husbands. As with other ornaments, bangles today are worn by women of all ages all over India and are made of silver, gold, wood, glass, and plastic, among other materials.
Rings, studs and other ornaments worn in the ears are popular all over the country. In fact, a girl’s ears are usually pierced before her first birthday. Other important ornaments are finger rings, toe rings and anklets. Rings for the fingers are again, of various materials and designs and worn by unmarried and married women. Since the ring has become a common adornment, it is no longer considered a symbol in Indian marriages.
Fashion in India offers several opportunities for Indian fashion designers. Indian fashion industry is growing every day. A fashion sketches. They need not be excellent artists but should be capable of combining tones, shades and colors. Dress designers need to have good imagination and an ability to think in three-dimension to translate into fashion what they can contemplate. Several fashion institutes like National Institute of Fashion Technology (NFIT), Indian Institute of Fashion Technology (IIFT) and Pearl Fashion Academy have been established here students learn to translate their creativity into dresses and fabric designs.
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New developments in computerization will enable the fashion industry to respond to the increasing demand for rapid style changes, the need for shorter production cycles, while allowing customers to select designs and within a short time have bespoke items delivered to their home.