Category Archives: Indian Dress

Puff Sleeve

The puff sleeve blouse. Always popular in almost every decade of the 20th century, particularly for young women. Judging from photographs I have seen, the simpler version (unlike the exaggerated sleeves of previous decades) was kind of de rigeur in … Continue reading

Posted in 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 20th century, 21st century, Actor, Colonial, Contemporary, Early 20th Century, fashion, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Sari, Sari Blouse, Sets, Vintage Blouse, vintage fashion | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Midweek Post-2

Women in blue saris playing cards, B Prabha George Keyt‘s cubist work, Woman in a Blue Sari, mid 1940s

Posted in 1940s, 20th century, Art, Early 20th Century, India, Indian Dress, Indian Women, Paintings, Sari, Sari Blouse, Sri Lanka, vintage art, vintage fashion, Women | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Midweek Post-1

First up, Jayalalitha looking quite magnificent as Cleopatra [X] Not as magnificent but Ranveer Singh nicely fills out Arjun Saluja’s designs in a photofeature for Platoform Magazine.

Posted in 1960s, 2013, Contemporary, Costume, fashion, India, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Movies, Tamil Cinema, Women | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Ayah Post-3

A look at how past fashions influence modern fashions: Detail from Warren Hastings with his wife and Indian maid, painted sometime between 1784-87. Floor length “anarkalis” (no doubt known by a different name) can be spotted in 18th century/19th century … Continue reading

Posted in 1780s, 1880s, 18th century, 19th century, British Raj, Colonial, India, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Late 19th century, Paintings, Photography, Sari, Sari Blouse, servind maid, Vintage, Vintage Dress, vintage fashion, Women, Working Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ayah Post-2

Ayahs on film: Nandita Das in Earth. Ayahs on Stage: Anneika Rose in The Empress.

Posted in 20th century, Actor, British Raj, Colonial, Contemporary, India, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Movies, Period Drama, Sari, Sari Blouse, Vintage, Vintage Blouse, Vintage Dress, vintage fashion, Women, Working Women | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ayah Post-1

By the 1930s the image of a cherished ayah had been enshrined in the nostalgia of the Raj that had been generated at the close of the nineteenth century. As that image took on a life of its own, individual … Continue reading

Posted in 19th century, 20th century, British Raj, Colonial, Early 20th Century, History, India, Indian Dress, Indian Women, Late 19th century, Sari, Sari Blouse, Vintage, Vintage Dress, Women, Working Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Goa Post – 2

Angelo da Fonseca, who was known for his Indianised Christian themed art. The two paintings, dated 1967 and 1959, represent the two most common dress forms worn in India, the sari and the three piece that includes a dupatta and … Continue reading

Posted in 1950s, 1960s, Art, Christianity, Goa, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Paintings, Salwar Kameez, Sari, Sari Blouse, vintage art, vintage fashion, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kumbakonam

My grandparents came from the villages around Kumbakonam but lived most of their adult lives in Maharashtra and Bihar.  My great grandparents had a house in Tiruvidaimarudur, they moved here in the 1950s from Mumbai. Given their long lives, we … Continue reading

Posted in 20th century, Contemporary, Culture, fashion, Flowers, Girls, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Salwar Kameez, Sari, Sari Blouse, Tamil, Village, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tumblring

Its easy to post on tumblr, far more difficult to compose a wordpress post, hence the hiatus. Costumes in Deccan Paintings. There is a freshness and vigour to Deccan paintings and it’s always interesting to stumble across them. Dancing Ladies: … Continue reading

Posted in Early 20th Century, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian History, Indian Women, Medieval India | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Tamil Historical Post

The illustrations for Tamil periodicals have a long history and some illustrators are nearly as well known as the writers. A number of serialised stories are historical romances (think Chola empire, Pallavas) and the drawings are fairly vivid in recreating an era, albeit … Continue reading

Posted in 20th century, Ancient India, Costume, Early 20th Century, fashion, Hair, History, Illustration, India, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian History, Indian men, Indian Women, Jewellery, Love, Novels, Period Drama, Romance, Royalty, Sari, Sari Blouse, Tamil, Tamil Cinema, Vintage, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments