Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

INDIAN MIDDLE-CLASS IDENTITY 263
Indians, and the adherence to vegetarian food, especially by many Hindu women
both in India and overseas, attests to the dominance of local cultural identities and
preferences over global/Western influences. 15
Similarly, local dress codes continue to prevail, incorporating new chic
variations to appeal to middle-class taste. Thus middle-class women still purchase
expensive saris and stylish salvar kameez, (trousers and long shirt), which are
worn for everyday use and important traditional functions as well as Western
celebrations such as New Year’s Eve parties at five-star hotels and other venues.
Brand names are an important consideration and these may not necessarily be
Western brands but also good local brand names that offer a fusion of Western
and Indian styles in clothing, such as salvar, kameez. (or kurtas), saris, blouses and
skirts. Such styles, designed by Indian fashion designers trained in the West and
using local artisans, are important status markers amongst middle-class women.
Subtle shifts in the mode of dress have been observed in the last few years in the
wearing of the dupatta (scarf), which traditionally accompanies salvar kameez.
Whereas in the past it was worn by women over the head as a mark of modesty,
over time many women came to wear it only around the neck. In more recent
years the dupatta has either got shorter in length, or is worn over the shoulder in a
manner that middle-class women regard as stylish. In some cases it has been
discarded altogether.
Significantly, chic salvar kameez are now even popular with middle-class
diasporic Indian women from relatively Westernised communities that were
initially settled in East Africa but which later emigrated to countries such as
Canada. During the 1960s and 1970s in East Africa many of the younger women
from these communities preferred Western dress, both for everyday wear and
social functions, but now in Canada these same women have adopted stylish
salvar kameez for parties and various celebratory functions. Thus amongst some
diasporic middle-class women, stylish Indian dress has become as much a status
symbol as chic Western dress.
The local sartorial preferences, however, do not detract from the appeal of
Western clothes such as jeans, and the attempt by fashion houses to promote
Western styles. For example, in India’s most cosmopolitan city, Mumbai, an Indian
fashion designer, Shahab Durazi, who is domestically regarded as the ‘king of
Western fashion’ and who is inspired by the Italian designer Giorgio Armani,
staged a fashion show aimed at shifting Indian executive women’s attire from the
traditional sari to ‘smart’, Western corporate wear like power dresses (Hariani
1995:7). A few younger middle-class women in more cosmopolitan cities like Delhi,
Mumbai and Bangalore have even taken to wearing shorts. This is part of a trend,
amongst some in the middle class, for displaying the body in ways which in the
past would have been regarded as taboo. Notwithstanding such trends, indigenous
modes of dressing incorporating both chic local and foreign designs are more
widely prevalent. 16
Among middle-class Muslim women in India, the Muslim dress code is still
widely followed, either through community pressure or individual preference. 17