Category Archives: Indian Dress

Costumes in NS Bendre’s Paintings

Part of a series on costumes as seen in Indian art. Weaving had a special significance for Bendre, who taught it together with painting and papier mache while in Baroda in the 1950’s. He painted several works over the years … Continue reading

Posted in 1980s, 20th century, Art, Bengal, Costume, Culture, Early 20th Century, Folk, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian men, mid century, North East India, regional styles, Vintage, vintage art, vintage costume, Weaving, Women, women in art | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Costume Books

I have been reading a couple of books on Indian costumes and thought I would write a bit about two of them. Queen Subada, Detail from Shahnamah, Sultanate School, 1450. Costume Details: Phiran: of transparent material, form-fitting and ankle length, … Continue reading

Posted in 1990s, 20th century, Accessories, Actor, Ancient India, antique, Art, Asia, Authors, Costume, Courtesan, Culture, Dancer, fashion, Hinduism, historical costume, historical dress, historical fashions, historical hairstyles, Illustration, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian History, Indian Illustrators, Indian Theatre, Indian Women, Jaina Literature, Jewellery, Medieval India, Sanskrit Drama, sari history, Theatre, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Comics Post

For a lot of us in India at one time Comic = Amar Chitra Katha. My nieces are Australian so their book cupboard is wash with princess stories, fairy stories, Peppa Pig, Horrid Henry and the like.  The Indian comics … Continue reading

Posted in 1970s, 1980s, Ancient India, Art, Comics, Costume, Culture, fashion, Girls, Hinduism, historical fashions, History, Illustration, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian History, Indian Illustrators, Indian men, Indian Women, Jaina Literature, regional styles, Romance, Royalty, Sanskrit Drama, Sari, sari drape, sari history, Sets, tamil Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Buddhism Post

I had done this set of posts starting on Buddha Purnima on tumblr but it’s taken me till now to collate it on WP.  In some ways posts are more coherent on WP so despite the delay here it is.  … Continue reading

Posted in 1880s, 1900s, 1940s, 1990s, Ancient India, Art, art recreation, Asia, Buddhism, Colonial, Costume, Culture, Early 20th Century, East Asia, historical art, historical costume, historical dress, History, Illustration, India, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian History, Indian men, Indian Women, Japan, Late 19th century, Paintings, Philosophy, Religion, Sanskrit Literature, Sari, Sri Lanka, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Regional Cinema Post

For very many reasons Bollywood is Indian cinema.  Now and then regional cinema makes a splash – especially at the National Awards – but for the most part the audiences are local.  You could however argue that all the interesting … Continue reading

Posted in 21st century, Accessories, Actor, Cinema, Contemporary, contemporary fashion, Contemporary Style, Culture, fashion, Film Costuming, Flowers, Indian Cinema, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Jewellery, Manipur, Marathi cinema, North East, North East India, Period Drama, Punjab, regional styles, Sari, Sari Blouse, Sets, South Indian Cinema, Tamil Cinema, Women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Ladies Tailor

All my past attempts at making a vintage(ish) blouse have been rubbish, not least because I have never found a tailor with any interest in old patterns. Just a few months back I finally located a tailor who was quite … Continue reading

Posted in churidar kameez, Contemporary, contemporary fashion, fashion, Indian Dress, Indian fashion, Indian Women, Late 19th century, Salwar Kameez, Sari Blouse, Tailoring | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

वसन्त ऋतु – Spring

It’s spring in India. And while the illustration above* is all mildness and white (and indeed the kunda finds mention in a lot of Sanskrit spring poetry) the flowers of spring that are emblematic of the season are quite red … Continue reading

Posted in Ancient India, Art, Asia, Contemporary, Costume, Culture, Flora, Flowers, historical art, historical costume, historical dress, historical fashions, History, Illustration, indian art, Indian Dress, Indian History, Indian Illustrators, miniature paintings, Paintings, Poetry, Sanskrit, Sculpture, South India, Vintage, vintage art, Vintage Blouse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 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