It’s the wedding season and time to take out your best ethnic wear from your closet. I love Indian ethnic wear like sarees, lehengas, anarkalis but my favourite is the salwar suit. I love it as it’s not only comfortable but easy to carry too. From normal salwar suits to churidars and pants or palazzos, it has undergone a huge transformation over the years, you can view more Salwar Suits here.

The story of Indian ethnic wear salwar suit –

The salwar suit is thought to have introduced from the dresses of the Mughals. Mughals were the Muslim rulers of India. This was formerly the popular dress of the Punjab region. It slowly became common among women everywhere in India. The salwar suit is a common term which represents varying styles of dressing.  Both men and women can wear it, but fashions differ by gender.

From the 1980s, it is a compulsory dress for girls between the ages of 12 to 16 in Indian government schools. Many girls would wear the salwar suit even after school and moving on to colleges and universities. also, it started to become common with women when they used to go to work.

What is a salwar suit?

The salwar suit includes a pair of pants known as the salwar and an upper body like tunic called the kameez. The salwar pants are made to be long and loose-fitting with small edges above the ankles that are sewed to look like cuffs. Punjabi men also wear the salwar, but they pair their pants with a smaller tunic called as the kurta.

With the times changing, the humble salwar suit has also undergone many changes. The modernized variants of the kameez are normally sleeveless and tend to be more body-fitting than the conventional outfit. In addition, the kameez like earlier is no longer always matched with a salwar. Some women today choose to wear kameez tops over their plain jeans, jeggings, capris, skirts or even pants.

How it evolved over the years –

Like many other forms of dress, the height and width of the salwar suit have been affected by the trending fashion. The width of the trouser hems on the salwar now range from as wide as a pantaloon/palazzo look to as narrow as of harem pants. The length of the kameez also varies from between mid-thigh to well below the knee and also some touching the ground.

Why it is a preferred Indian ethnic wear?

The prevalence of the salwar suit among young Indian women has some links with differences in society. Traditionally, girls would switch to sari after marriage.  But slowly with the change of time, they did not feel quite ready yet to wear the sari. Thus, women adapted to the salwar suit, which was seen as a proper outfit that met their requirements.

For many Indian women today, it is considered as a practical outfit that fills their current lifestyle better than the regular sari. Also, in addition, its ease of wear enables women to move about more freely. Styling these clothes is remarkably easy cause they are extremely adaptable and can be worn for different events. Impressive street ornaments can also be used to devise a beautiful look that highlights the casual appearance of the Salwar Suit. To add more ethnic touches to this, you can pair it with a light bindi and long earrings.

Salwar suits are my favourite ethnic wear of all Indian ethnic wear. I prefer earing it over a saree or lehenga. Which one is your favourite?

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