Dresses and Diverse Cultures

Culture represents the diverse ways through which the similar and dissimilar experiences are felt, interpreted and understood. Cultural patterns help in understanding and responding to the intentions of others. Without having a basic idea of culture specific responses, the success achieved in performing tasks may be nullified or undermined. Culture in India is a far more complex and diverse thing than it can be in any other part of the world. These diversities are not only a result of size but also of differences in the cultural patterns of the various communities living in this country. The regular looting and plunging by various groups at almost all points and periods of time have also played an important role in shaping the identities of the people here. Peoples of India have always adapted the new patterns to suit their needs without doing away with what is theirs in terms of thought, life style, food, dance, music and even dresses. Dress is that aspect of culture which is visible most easily even to a very simple person. Indians, like most communities in the world, have used dresses to emphasize their individuality and they continue to do so against all odds including the influence of globalisation. It is very easy to distinguish various communities in India through the kind of dresses they wear. Even the places of their residences can be judged through their dresses very easily by all and sundry. Nirad C. Chaudhuri has showed the historical evolution of costumes and illustrated their relationship with different cultures in his book Culture in the Vanity Bag. This paper is an attempt to show the interactions of identity, culture and ecology through the different dressing patterns seen in India in the light of this interesting book which is much more than just entertainment and information.