By Shweta Sharma, IANS,
New Delhi : Comfortable, cool, airy, easy-to-wear – that’s just how women like their clothes to be during summers and what’s better than our Indian kurtis, salwar-kurtas and saris to beat the heat?
“Our Indian clothes are airy, breathy, loose and size-friendly and so they are best suited for the season which lasts for almost eight months,” Neeraj Chauhan of the label Azara told IANS.
Twenty-year-old Ruchika Kher, a college student, feels that nothing other than her kurtas teamed with jeans, churidaar or loose salwars makes her feel at ease during the peak summer season.
“Kurtas are so ‘khula’ (open)! I don’t need to feel conscious all the time, they help me camouflage my fat and since they are mostly cotton, they soak up sweat quickly,” she said.
Agrees designer Renu Tandon of the label Mynah. She feels that girls and women alike are keen on wearing cotton suits and kurtis for the comfort that they provide.
“Nowadays, kurtis can be teamed up with leggings as well, which gives it a trendy look,” she said.
However, fashion designer Charu Parashar is not too sure that Indian women tend to wear more Indian clothes during summer than during winter.
“Although I agree that Indian clothes make you feel free, fashion trends in India have changed. The Indianness in the clothes is alive but in a different way,” she said.
Parashar added that two to three years ago, the majority of women used to wear kurtis. But now almost 40 percent of those women have taken to stylised forms of kurtis.
“They wear tunics or, for that matter, during day time women are also seen in dresses and hats. I don’t think a lot of young women would be seen sporting a salwar-kameez unless it is for a formal occasion,” she said.
Twenty-year-old Sonam Bhardwaj endorses Parashar’s views. “Gone are the days when girls felt uncomfortable wearing short-lengths or, for that matter, Western clothes. Now, it’s all about looking trendy and chic in college.
“We have all the more freedom to experiment with our wardrobe,” she said.