Indian women wear the blouse along with saree and lehenga. The saree and the blouse is ubiquitous and is universally recognised as a ethnic dress from South Asia.
The humble blouse started it’s journey as a piece of cloth. Here are some snippets from an article written by a fashion historian.
Sculptures from the Maurya and Sunga periods (300 BC) show that women wore two rectangular pieces of cloth to cover the top and the bottom. That’s it.
In the Gupta period, people started wearing stitched garments for the upper and lower parts of the body. That’s a progression from just wearing a cloth.
However, in southern states like Kerala, as well as in Bengal, women continuted to remain topless even in the 19th century. I guess weather, not the notions of modesty as dictated by the British Empire was the primary consideration for the attire chosen by Indian women.
However, the British influence eventually overcame the traditional dress habits of Indian women and soon blouses as we see today became the norm.
Full-sleeved blouses or blouses that covered the neck as well as the elbows were the norm as it mirrored the victorian dress code.
However, things are changing.
Women are getting more adventurous and the hem lines are getting shorter and the neck lines are plunging. Sheer blouses, backless blouses with just straps, blouses with stone work, heavy embroidery, and assymetric designs are now becoming fashionable.
Designers like Manish Mohtra and playing a major role in redefining what is acceptable. Aided by Bollywood starlets, at least Indian cities are witnessing women embracing more adventurous blouse styles.
Indians have always considered covering up as key part of their culture not realising that they have embraced a foriegn culture as their own. So it is heartening to see that notions of what is right is being challenged and the humble blouse is doing it’s bit to remind Indians that covering up is not an indeginous virtue.