http://desicritics.org/ Superior South Asian bloggers on Culture, Media, Politics, Sport, Business, and Technology. en Copyright 2006 by the authors Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:02:14 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss BC custom software http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-370234 I guess not everyone can wear a Saree, however I've seen a couple of Western women who actually looked really nice and sensual in it. 370234@desicritics.org Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:02:14 EDT http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323891 IdeaSmith, issue isn't formal wear but the fact that women come up to the hills wearing strappy sandals when their toes are about ready to fall off with frost-bite. Unfortunately my home in India is also one of the traditional honeymoon destinations and every newly wed plains couple seems to nurture a private Roja fantasy. So up the hill they come, the man in wool coats, jumpers, closed shoes with thick socks (probably a sartorial disaster but hey, at least he is warm). The women show up alongside in saris (with the aforementioned nasty cardigan) and strappy shoes! Then they walk around, him with his chest stuck out in pride (and obviously warm), her huddling down to a bundle with the cold. And most likely they go home with her missing a few toes. SS - yes, all those crimes! Sigh...also what is it that American women have with "flowing" dresses when (especially) when they are the size of a tank? I agree btw - BAN PLEATED TROUSERS! Or actually those extra long ones that seem to approximate patiala salwars on guys - hello, get them cut and hemmed to size, boys. 323891@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 17:42:42 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323868 "PLEASE OUTLAW PLEATED TROUSERS!!!!" Amen!! 323868@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 12:48:08 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323855 common... no no, I am not talking about the smartly styled khakis made for business casual looks that can be nicely worn with just about anything and dressed up or down. I am talking about a beat up, ill-fitting pair of $20 Dockers (pleat front! gasp! someone PLEASE OUTLAW PLEATED TROUSERS!!!!) picked out of the laundry bag and paired with some ungodly shirt. yes, there are some great american designers (and tommy hilfiger is not one of them)... and some americans can dress well... but then there are ppl like my uncle who seems to have never met a pair of saucony sneakers he did not like and you could not introduce him to kenneth cole on a dare. 323855@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 10:51:58 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323848 oops, muffin-TOP it should be, not muffin-shop.. 323848@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 10:29:30 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323841 SS, That muffin-shop should somehow be legislated away, as it is too gross. In the 70's the police in some parts of india used to shred bell-bottoms worn by guys and also sheared their long tresses for good measure. Anamika: your decripition of some of the bulky cardigans over beautiful sarees is so funny and on the mark...i hadn't noticed it earlier...yesterday i saw some saree pallu dragging a meter or so... 323841@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 10:10:36 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323838 SS: ""someone that interprets "formal dress" as khakis with no real visible tears and any old shirt with buttons... you got it, american."" hey, but that's what I like about the american style! the unpretentious, cleans lines of a calvin klein etc. as opposed to the slightly ornamental italian (sorry SS, you are somewhere in between) designers. I don't mean the orange "american pants" (nylon), with a parrot green tank-top and runners...but the the "smart casual" klein or lauren look that is at home everywhere... 323838@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 10:03:12 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323835 SS: ""AND OMG! PLEASE! someone needs to tell the newly immigrated to take that tag off the sleeve of the blazer."" A bit too late I think! It is now a part of "the style"...as in "arrey, yeh label kyon kaat diyaa"??!! 323835@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 09:55:00 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323834 SS: "..but that tight pants thing makes me cringe."" I fear that some guys dressed like this are on the fast-track to auto-castration.. 323834@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 09:52:28 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323815 @ Anamika: Think that could be a cultural thing? Here in India, western formal wear doesn't follow the same rules. Open sandals are perfectly permissible in a business environment. Personally I loathe footwear but have to wear it for obvious reasons. I prefer open sandals anyday...the weather is just too hot. And while I wear shoes, sneakers et al, I can identify with kerty's discomfort. I'm most happy to shuck my footwear and go barefoot if I can. 323815@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 08:32:58 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323812 as for americans... we're a lot that simply cannot dress for the most part. if you see a moron in shorts in the dead of winter... american. someone wearing black sneakers? (ugh)... american. someone who weighs a good 90 kgs wearing a skimpy tank top? american. squeezed into low rise jeans that are 14 sizes too small sporting "muffin tops" that any baker would be jealous of? definitely american. someone that interprets "formal dress" as khakis with no real visible tears and any old shirt with buttons... you got it, american. 323812@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 07:56:17 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323809 anamika...wish I knew what that was about... my normally sartorially un-challenged father greeted me at the airport in a sweatshirt from my undergrad days so long ago that I think I might have forgotten where it is located... thank god there is no Georgetown sweatshirt as yet for the baby. people in the US are fiercely proud of their alma mater. I could not give a shit myself, but... That bulky cardigan thing drives me bat shit. esp when coupled with woolen socks and sandals in the winter. I even saw one granny hike up her kancheepuram to reveal long underwear. too cute! temp... oh, the lovely tendency of mixing prints that simply don't go together... HEY! let's wear plaid pants and a flowery shirt! but that tight pants thing makes me cringe. AND OMG! PLEASE! someone needs to tell the newly immigrated to take that tag off the sleeve of the blazer. I know it's nice for everyone to see you just got your first hugo boss or whatever, but that is supposed to come off before you wear it. oh yeah, and please cut the threads that sew your pockets together before the first wearing :)))) 323809@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 07:52:01 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323798 We have Anamika, Annamma, and Anona here together.. with SS thrown in now for good measure.. This gotta get interesting.. 323798@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 05:37:39 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323795 Temp bhai - Latent crush? Hah! I am a bona-fide child of the 70s...even today my wardrobe references Bianca Jagger and Zeenat Aman. So why ever not a crush on AB - but the 1970s, pre-Coolie one only please? ;-) Re particular "national" styles: you can always tell an American in London. They are the only ones wearing huge trainers (sneakers) with everything. And all their clothes seem to be one size too large and cut extra baggy - sort of an American version of pind-style salwar/kameez. And then they wonder why they get identified...lol! Oh and even 50 year olds wear university sweatshirts! And often put their toddlers in matching ones. SS - any explanations for this specific phenomenon? Re: Indian women: my pet peeve is women who throw on the worst, bulkiest, most horribly knitted cardigan over a beautiful (albeit badly tied) sari. And of course the cardigan colours clash with the sari! In London, the Bangladeshis seem to be the greatest culprits for this particular crime. And the insistence on wearing strappy horrible sandals even when its zero degrees outside. Nothing wrong with closed shoes with sari or salwar/kameez, you know. But I see it all the time in London and back home too. So this one obviously is international faux pas. 323795@desicritics.org Thu, 6 Mar 2008 05:12:46 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323760 ss: hehheh! don't get me started on that sheesh the colour combo ties striped ties with striped shirts with striped suits joggers or casuals with suits suit labels displayed on the sleeves oxford shirt with unbuttoned collar see what you started? and a digression: women watch NFL games for the sleek "uniform" 323760@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 17:30:06 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323759 ss: hehheh! don't get me started on that sheesh the colour combo ties striped ties with striped shirts with striped suits joggers or casuals with suits suit labels displayed on the sleeves oxford shirt with unbuttoned collar see what you started? and a digression: women watch NFL games for the sleek "uniform" 323759@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 17:29:39 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323758 temp... #21.... OMG like desi guys who come to the west and figure the tight pants thing will work here too and then buy the tightest fitting jeans or suit pants imaginable and then wonder why ppl are staring? :))) 323758@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 17:12:37 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323756 oops! someone has a latent crush on big b;) *** kerty thanks for your comments...perhaps you should see a podiatrist...may alleviate your condition 323756@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 16:41:23 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323755 HEY! Dont knock Amitabh and his bell bottoms! OR the stripy jacket from Muqaddar ka Sikandar! Or the white suits from Sharaabi! He made them look COOL! :-) 323755@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 16:07:14 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323746 T I grew up with Bata sandals and slippers, and till day hardbor ackwardness wearing shoes. Shoes suddenly exaggerate my walk and I feel so self-conscious that it totally distorts my normal walk. Ever seen those tall-looking circus freaks on tall trousers wobble walk to amuse the crowd? That is exactly I look in shoes. Remember the bell-bottom and high heel shoes era of 70's? Well, I owned the widest bell-bottom pants and tallest high heel shoes than and I had all the girls ogling and giggling at me - I thought it must be my handsome looks and charm until few people pointed out how silly I walked with those shoes. Till date, I avoid wearing shoes whenever I can get away with it, and remove them at the first opportunity. 323746@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 14:55:17 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323734 time and perspective kiddo;) see amitabh in those yard wide bell bottoms? or sharmila with the 'nest' in her hair? 323734@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 14:13:37 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323731 Agreed - and no better illustration than Shri H.D. Deve Gowda whose outfits for his Russia trip were soooooo ill-fitting and odd that one couldn't have invented them. My favourite - the scarf tied around his head and ears to give him bunny ears! :-) 323731@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 13:58:24 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323720 ana #16 but of course! and as cs points out, this extends to men too:) 323720@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 13:13:06 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323711 The other thing that struck me is that we seem to notice the mis-steps and awkwardness more if persons who are not "normally" supposed to be wearing particular clothes, wear them. I mean, there are many Indian women who look a bit strange in sarees and the many western women who look awkward in business suits, but somehow it does not register (on my brains at least) so much as when it is the reverse... 323711@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 10:21:02 EST http://desicritics.org/2008/03/01/094830.php#comment-323709 Anamika: ""I have seen the most stunningly beautiful Indian women wearing the most horrible, dowdy (even though expensive) business suits and dresses. "" Ditto for men, not used to wearing suits...body-language, co-ordination etc. etc. 323709@desicritics.org Wed, 5 Mar 2008 10:11:31 EST