giveawaylovely: 02/18/11

Elegant Pakistani Shalwar Kameez

Shalwar kameez is the dress worn by both men and women in South Asia and Central Asia. It is a unisex dress similar in manner to shirt and pants worn by westerners. The phrase shalwar kameez is a generic term used to describe different costumes which have been developed in different regions (the Sindhi Suthan; Kashmiri Suthan, the Dogri pyjama). Traditionally, it has been worn in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in Northern India. The popular type of shalwar kameez known in the sub-continent has roots in the pre-partition Punjab.

Since the 20th century, women in Southern India have also copied this dress complementing the Sari, the traditional dress of India. The Shalwar or Salwar (as pronounced in India) is a loosely-fit pajama-like pant. The legs are often wide at the top, and narrow at the ankle, although there are several styles of shalwar pants in modern times, some trendy and jean-like. The kameez is a long shirt of tunic length which hits at the middle of the thigh, but traditionally, it would come down to the top of the knee. The side seams (known as the chaak), left open below the waist-line, give the wearer greater freedom of movement. On a female, the shalwar kameez ensemble is completed by wearing a dupatta (loose scarf) around the shoulders, draping over the chest.

Shalwar are gathered at the waist and held up by a drawstring or an elastic band. The pants can be wide and baggy or more narrow, and even made of fabric cut on the bias.

The kameez is usually cut straight and flat; older kamees use traditional cuts, as shown in the illustration above. Modern kamees are more likely to have European-inspired set-in sleeves. The neckline, sleeves and bottom edge (daaman) are many times decorated with embroidery or laces.

For women, an integral part of shalwar kamees is the dupatta — a long shawl wrapped around body or to cover head in more conservative families. The shalwar kamees fashion has revolved around the cuts and lengths of shalwar and of kamees and the print styles and color palette of the dupatta. Most women in Afganistan were forced to hide their faces even when wearing a shalwar kameez by the Talibans

In Britain, especially during the last two decades, the garment has been transformed from an everyday garment worn by immigrant South Asian women to one with mainstream, and even high-fashion, appeal.

Garments cut like the traditional kameez are known in many cultures; according to Dorothy Burnham, of the Royal Ontario Museum, the "seamless shirt," woven in one piece on warp-weighted looms, was superseded in early Roman times by cloth woven on vertical looms and carefully pieced so as not to waste any cloth. 10th century cotton shirts recovered from the Egyptian desert are cut much like the traditional kameez or the contemporary Egyptian jellabah or galabia.The shirt, kameez or qamiz, takes its name from the Arabic qamis.

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A sari or saree is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles.It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, and Malaysia. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.The sari is usually worn over a petticoat with a blouse known as a choli or ravika forming the upper garment. The choli has short sleeves and a low neck and is usually cropped, and as such is particularly well-suited for wear in the sultry South Asian summers. Cholis may be backless or of a halter neck style. These are usually more dressy with plenty of embellishments such as mirrors or embroidery, and may be worn on special occasions. Women in the armed forces, when wearing a sari uniform, don a short-sleeved shirt tucked in at the waist. The sari developed as a garment of its own in both South and North India at around the same time, and is in popular culture an epitome of Indian culture.The word sari is derived from Sanskrit which means 'strip of cloth'and in Prakrit, and which was corrupted to sāṛī in Hindi.In the history of Indian clothing the sari is traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2800-1800 BC around the western part of the Indian subcontinent. The earliest known depiction of the sari in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus Valley priest wearing a drape.

The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with the loose end of the drape to be worn over the shoulder, baring the stomach.However, the sari can be draped in several different styles, though some styles do require a sari of a particular length or form. The French cultural anthropologist and sari researcher Chantal Boulanger categorized sari drapes in the following families:
* Nivi – styles originally worn in Andhra Pradesh; besides the modern nivi, there is also the kaccha nivi, where the pleats are passed through the legs and tucked into the waist at the back. This allows free movement while covering the legs.
* Bengali and Oriya style.
* Gujarati – this style differs from the nivi only in the manner that the loose end is handled: in this style, the loose end is draped over the right shoulder rather than the left, and is also draped back-to-front rather than the other way around.
* Maharashtrian/Konkani/Kashta; this drape is very similar to that of the male Maharashtrian dhoti. The center of the sari (held lengthwise) is placed at the center back, the ends are brought forward and tied securely, then the two ends are wrapped around the legs. When worn as a sari, an extra-long cloth is used and the ends are then passed up over the shoulders and the upper body. They are primarily worn by Brahmin women of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.
* Dravidian – sari drapes worn in Tamil Nadu; many feature a pinkosu, or pleated rosette, at the waist.
* Madisaara style – this drape is typical of Iyengar/Iyer Brahmin ladies from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala
* Kodagu style – this drape is confined to ladies hailing from the Kodagu district of Karnataka. In this style, the pleats are created in the rear, instead of the front. The loose end of the sari is draped back-to-front over the right shoulder, and is pinned to the rest of the sari.
* Gobbe Seere - This style is worn by women in the Malnad or Sahyadri and central region of Karnataka. It is worn with 18 molas saree with three four rounds at the waist and a knot after crisscrossing over shoulders.
* Gond – sari styles found in many parts of Central India. The cloth is first draped over the left shoulder, then arranged to cover the body.
* Malayali style - the two-piece sari, or Mundum Neryathum, worn in Kerala. Usually made of unbleached cotton and decorated with gold or colored stripes and/or borders. Also the Set-saree, a sort of mundum neryathum.
* Tribal styles – often secured by tying them firmly across the chest, covering the breasts.