Category Archives: Early 20th Century

The North-East Post

This doesn’t cover all the North Eastern states of India neither is it chronological or thematic. Rather it’s a North East sampler that includes a fair bit of dance forms in the North-East. The components of the Manipuri dance costume … Continue reading

Posted in 1900s, 1950s, 20th century, Accessories, Art, Asia, Costume, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Early 20th Century, fashion, Folk Dance, Girls, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Textiles, Indian Women, Jewellery, North East, North East India, Paintings, photodivision, Photography, regional styles, retro, retro fashion, Tribal, Vintage Blouse, vintage costume, vintage fashion, vintage hair, vintage jewellery, vintage style, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Islamic Dress Post

When you think of Muslim influenced fashion in India you think of anarkalis, gauzy dupattas, tight churidars, a North Indian style that has a tremendous grip on the popular imagination not least because of Hindi movies. While the Mughals with … Continue reading

Posted in 1900s, 1920s, 1940s, 19th century, 20th century, Accessories, Art, churidar kameez, Colonial, Costume, Culture, Deccan, Dress Reform, dupatta, Early 20th Century, Family, fashion, Girls, India, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Islamic Dress, Islamic style, Literature, Mughal, Paintings, Photography, Postcards, regional styles, Religion, retro, retro fashion, Salwar Kameez, Sari, Sari Blouse, South India, Vintage, vintage art, vintage costume, Vintage Dress, vintage fashion, vintage photography, vintage sari, Women | 3 Comments

The Kerala Post

This post was in response to a reader request on tumblr. Its fairly basic and is confined mainly to the 19th and 20th century but does cover some ground. Here goes! Though the “set-mundu” consisting of two pieces of cloth … Continue reading

Posted in 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, 19th century, 20th century, Accessories, Art, Colonial, Costume, Culture, Early 20th Century, fashion, Flora, Flowers, Girls, Hair, historical costume, historical dress, India, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Literature, Indian Women, Kerala, Late 19th century, Malayalam Cinema, Period Drama, Photography, regional styles, Royalty, Sari, Sari Blouse, sari drape, sari history, Sets, South India, South Indian Cinema, Studio Portraits, vintage costume, vintage fashion, vintage hair, vintage jewellery, vintage sari | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Bindi Post

The tikli or spangle is worn in the Hindustāni Districts and not in the south. It consists of a small piece of lac over which is smeared vermilion, while above it a piece of mica or thin glass is fixed … Continue reading

Posted in 1910s, Accessories, bindi, Central India, Colonial, Culture, Early 20th Century, fashion, Hinduism, historical fashions, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Literature, regional styles, Rural, Vintage, vintage fashion, vintage style, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The 1930s Post

She wore an exquisite pink sari and the delicate gold thread embroidery on it added to the charm of both.  The vermilion mark and the tiny decorative dots of colour on her forehead and the collyrium-touched eyes added much grace … Continue reading

Posted in 1930s, Accessories, Actor, Bollywood, Colonial, Early 20th Century, fashion, Hair, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Old Bollywood, Postcards, retro, retro fashion, Sari, Sari Blouse, sari drape, sari history, Vintage, Vintage Blouse, Vintage Dress, vintage fashion, vintage hair, vintage jewellery, vintage sari | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The 1940s Film Post

இது, இது, இது எல்லாம் ஜப்பான். எல்லாம் செத்து ஒரு ரூபாய் கூட இருக்காது! This, this, this, it’s all from Japan. And all together not more than 1 Rupee! 1940s movies can be a bit amateurish to the modern eye but they can … Continue reading

Posted in 1940s, 20th century, Accessories, Actor, Cinema, Culture, Early 20th Century, fashion, Film Costuming, Flowers, Hair, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Japan, Movies, regional styles, retro fashion, Sari, Sari Blouse, sari drape, sari history, Sets, South India, South Indian Cinema, Tamil, Tamil Cinema, Tamil Nadu, Vintage, Vintage Blouse, Vintage Dress, vintage fashion, vintage jewellery, vintage sari, vintage style, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

2015

Everyone should read Banalata Sen, whether in the original Bengali or translated. As I mentioned the sari history posts were very time and energy consuming this year.  I might revisit some of the earlier decades as the information on them … Continue reading

Posted in 1930s, Bengal, Early 20th Century, Indian Literature, Literature, Personal, Poetry, Vintage, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Maharashtra Post

Zee Talkies got a bunch of actors to recreate iconic roles in Marathi cinema for its 2013 calendar. The ones in this post are: Pic 1-Urmila Kanitkar as Shanta Apte in Kunku. Pic 2-Amruta Khanvilkar as Durga Khote in possibly … Continue reading

Posted in 1930s, 1950s, 1970s, 20th century, Actor, Cinema, Costume, Culture, Dance, Dancer, Early 20th Century, fashion, Film Costuming, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Maharashtra, Movies, Sari, Sari Blouse, sari history, Vintage, vintage fashion, vintage sari | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Women

The Colours of India: Abanindranath Tagore, Jamuna,1926. [X] Norman Rockwell, Portrait of an Indian art student (1962). [X]

Posted in 1920s, 1960s, 20th century, Art, Bengal, Culture, Early 20th Century, fashion, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Paintings, Sari, Sari Blouse, sari history, vintage art, vintage fashion, vintage sari | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Modern Times

I love all those illustrations back in the day (largely the 20s) that have men terrified of the forthcoming emancipation of women.  More often than not, the women in the illustrations look so nonchalant and cool. Pic 1 from Korea … Continue reading

Posted in 1910s, 1920s, Asia, Comics, Early 20th Century, Feminism, Flapper, Illustration, India, Magazine, Vintage, vintage art | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments