CLOTHINGBy Carolena

Grade 6

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SARI

Women commonly wear the sari. A sari is a long dress with three parts, a tight blouse with a ankle length petticoat and a long cloth between five to nine meters long in length. It is wrapped around the waist and swung over the shoulder.

Other saris are made of delicate material. The finest glitter with gold and silver threads. Some saris are made for field work.

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DHOTI

Men wear the dhoti, a five meter piece of cotton. It is wrapped simply around the waist with one or both ends drawn up between the legs and tucked into the waistband. There’s no buttons, snaps, or zippers. Some men wear long white shirts on top.

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LUNGI

The lungi is a long wraparound skirt worn by southern men. It is usually flowered or checkered. Many men wear turbans too. To make a turban, you just wrap a piece of long cloth around your head. They come in a variety of pastel colors.

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PUNJABI

T he Punjabi is the costume of Sikh women in India, but some other women wear these in India. The suit has three parts to it. Long pants that narrow at the ankles, a knee length dress, and a light scarf. Punjabis come in patterned cottons and silks, as well as polyester.

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CHILDREN’S CLOTHING

In India it was common for children to wear western-style clothing till they were teenagers. Boys and girls both wore shorts and shirts, girls also wore short dresses and pretty blouses. Private school kids wore uniforms. Special occasions required traditional Indian clothing.

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CLOTHING CUSTOMS

Clothes will often reflect religious traditions. Many Muslim women wore garments which covered their heads, and sometimes faces.

Sikh men always wore turbans and Hindu widows wore the color of white, the color of mourning.

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BINDIThe traditional bindi is red or

maroon in color. A pinch of vermillion powder applied on the forehead is the perfect bindi. Women who don’t have nimble fingers take great pain in the first try. They use small discs or hollow pie coins as aid. They apply wax paste into the disc. Then this is covered with vermillion powder. Then the disc is removed to get a perfect bindi. Bindis can be bought too, in different colors.

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INFORMATION SOURCES:

- INDIA: THE CULTURE BY BOBBIE KALMAN- INDIA BY DAVID CUMMING- HTTP://HINDUISM.ABOUT.COM

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