Clothes make the woman

 

Probably all cultures have hierarchies and class differences. We certainly have them in the US. India has more profound distinctions, predicated on caste, education, where you come from in the country. These are distinctions that I can’t even begin to understand, and I certainly can’t “identify.” It is sort of liberating. Maybe we should shuffle populations more regularly, just to confuse the biases and ultimately eliminate them! People from here can probably judge class and caste by differences in clothing - - color, style, etc. When it comes to Indian clothing, I don’t have a clue….Which color or fabric or style of sari marks which class? For me, it is all a colorful blend. I was talking to a colleague at work that mentioned that he had bought a sari for his mother. I asked whether “sari types” go out of style and change over time. He indicated that they do indeed.  As a westerner, I doubt that I would be able to identify the decade that any particular sari was made.

I’m reminded of our own “uniforms” when we were in middle and high school. Worn blue jeans, work shirts, water buffalo sandals in the summer (that we had to shower with in order to soften the leather.) We certainly did not look “styled.” But within our group, we knew what worked and what did not. Jeans had to be faded, as were the light blue work shirts. Belts were a particular width. Etc. But only the “insiders” knew all of these subtleties. To outsiders, we just looked like unkempt hippies…

This led to some confusion about how I should dress here, as I migrate to more Indian clothing. I got a lot of “kurtees” - - tunics that you wear over pants. I was hesitant in the beginning…are there certain lengths or cuts that you wear as a teenager, for example, that you should avoid as a professional “grown up”? And I wouldn’t know the difference, since I am not sensitive to these subtle distinctions? (subtle to me, obvious to everyone else?) I ended up taking the dive into Indian clothing and no ill effects to far. The Indian tunics have been a great find. I wear them to work over pants, and it eliminates the need for matching blazers with shirts and pants…wardrobe simplification.  

Clothing has that sort of “signaling power.” It might be worthwhile, as a teenager, to “signal” whether you are hippie or preppie or something else. Signaling your caste, if that’s what clothing here does, is a different story. I am glad that I am “colorblind” to the differences.