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shuts the wearer out. A woman donning the garment can not get her head through the ‘sealed’ collar. The second part of this garment is the red sequined dress, worn under the jacket. The upper green bodice known as choli (top) is attached to the long skirt by the train. There is a material used between the lining and the main fabric of the choli. This material represents the strong boundaries Indian society has set against the sex workers. Irrespective of the individual build of the wearer, if this garment was successfully donned, the choli will not allow the woman’s form to influence the shape of the garment. Like the rare prostitute who does marry, she remains defined by her profession and the status it relegates her to in Indian society. 43 The skirt pattern used in the design is adapted from Indian lehnga, which is fused with the western style of the train. It is possible to be deceived by the jacket into believing that there could be another opening underneath the garment. However, closer inspection reveals that this dress also has no opening. A substantial volume of fabric has been added to the skirt to make the dress richer and suggest opulence and status. Under this volume is yet another layer of dull green polyester. This operates as a lining that implies perhaps another method of getting into the garment. However, even this is a ruse. A woman wanting to put the dress on from beneath finds that the linings are sewn together, so she is literally designed out of the dress. Thus, the very skirt that assures status, protection and modesty shuts the woman out. Status and safety are illusions. The protective layer that signifies belonging cannot be worn. One can hold the dress against one’s self and imagine how it might feel to wear it, but the (social) physical structure of the garment will not allow the woman to protect herself with its covering. Beneath its bright signifiers of status it is a closed door. It is desirable but exclusive. 44 The last element in the costume is a golden veil that is known as a dupatta. traditionally this signifies the values and respect a woman carries in Indian society. It connotes modesty and the paying of respect to elders, which is reciprocated. 43 Lehnga is a voluminous embellished, circular skirt worn by Indian brides. 38 38
Thus this wedding dress carries signifiers of status as profiled in traditional marriage codes. It is expensive, voluminous, elegant and poised in the hybrid territory between Indian and western chic. On many levels it is designed to suggest the status and respect marriage holds for women in Indian society. However, beneath its illusion the design is a barrier. While offering the illusion of acceptance, it refuses the wearer access. 44 Dupatta is a Hindi word for a long rectangular piece of fabric used by Indian women to cover the head and bust. 39 39
Page 2 and 3: This exegesis is submitted to Auckl
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Page 10 and 11: The British Empire failed to unders
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Page 26 and 27: 28 clients to them. The girls will
Page 28 and 29: Fig. 2:2 Sex workers caught by poli
Page 30 and 31: artwork Fig. 2:3 A woman struggles
Page 34 and 35: earing her husband’s children bri
Page 36 and 37: artwork Fig. 3:2 A woman struggling
Page 42 and 43: cultural practice. This spiritual d
Page 44 and 45: Varanasi at the same time as the Na
Page 46 and 47: artwork Fig. 4:4 A sex worker showi
Page 48 and 49: Thus, this artwork may be understoo
Page 50 and 51: Fig. 5:1 A sex worker revealing han
Page 52 and 53: an NGO and for dinner to our center
Page 54 and 55: artwork Fig. 5:4 Demise: integrated
Page 56 and 57: The fabric is only sufficient to co
Page 60 and 61: knowledge and a subjective approach
Page 62 and 63: sketching, draping and fitting In r
Page 64 and 65: What was important about this appro
Page 66 and 67: I began by searching the flea marke
Page 68 and 69: I conducted another experiment in o
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Page 72 and 73: Fig. 7:1 The exhibition display. (p
Page 74 and 75: Fig. 7:3 The exhibition display. (p
Page 78: Menon, M. (1999). Twilight zone for

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