Salwar kameez

Australia....Austria.....I get so confused between them.....

Yes of course I am sure I mean Australia.
Brisbane.
Skateway at Mt Gravatt wouldn't let you in with bare midriffs, and neither would the Acacia Pool at Sunnybank ("heavy petting" also got you thrown out, although I had no idea what that was at the time, I was only a kid)

An indian woman wears a Kurta with the chridar. It depends from person to person whether you want it a little higher than Knees or lower than the knees. Lower than the knees is smart in India as it accentuates the figure. Its generally well fitting till the waist and then it flows downwards or is a little loose to make the leg movements easier.Also contrast colours are poplular. You can hold the chunni (Scarf / Duppata) on single shoulder and let the 2 sides be loose in the front and behind. Hope you can figure this out and is not confusing.

speedyturtle - I would wear a churidaar with an above the knee kurta top (for women it's generally called a kurti). Wearing the tops below the knee is so old-fashioned and traditional! Most young women get above the knee kurtis so they can wear them with jeans too.

Capris and kurtis were a big hit on the runway at India fashion week a couple of years ago and women still pair the two. I love doing it. It's fun, trendy and traditional at the same time. And pairing the outfit with a pair of sandals or flip-flops (called chapals in India), looks good. And heels look just as good with capris if you want to dress up the look.

If you choose to wear a chunni, as S.Karry suggested, you can also wear it around your neck like a scarf, or drape it around your neck so the two ends are hanging down your back. I think it's a bit more trendier and saves the chunni falling from your shoulder every time you bend down.

Hope this helps...

speedyturtle, you can't be serious. I grew up in Brisbane in the 1980s and 90s and bare midriffs were never a problem anywhere. I grew up on the North Side though, so maybe you guys on the South Side were more conservative ;-) You might remember though that bare midriffs weren't exactly in fashion back then.

and now for my tuppence worth on shalwar kameez as a long-time solo woman traveller. . . depends on where you're going. If you're travelling only in well heeled areas and not walking anywhere you should feel perfectly comfortable all of the time in modest western clothing (long skirt, trousers or jeans with a kurta or a blouse with sleeves (mainly for the sunburn)). Of course, if you're going clubbing in Mumbai or Delhi you can whip out your sparkly mini skirt.

However, if you are travelling anywhere touristy and planning on doing anything on foot, including down to the bazaar to buy a packet of biscuits -- and this applies esp[ecially to the North -- you should think about wearing shalwar kameez, or kurta with trousers, and YES you should always wear the dupatta with both. If you're carrying a daypack (totally unneccesary -- I carry a cool Indian cloth shoulder bag with a zip that I sling across my body), you can sling the dupatta forward round your neck like a winter scarf with the ends loose. In other situations you can always use safety pins to hold it in place. No problems.

The main reason to wear shalwar kameez is to deflect male harrassment, and it really does get rid of 90 percent of it -- not all of it, but it is SO worth it. A great tip I got from a friend of mine was to wear spectacles (with clear lenses if you don't need a prescription), as it deflects stares -- or even better sunglasses.

In terms of fashion sense, walking boots or sports shoes look terrible with shalwar kameez. You can buy perfectly sturdy flat sandals that wear comfortably and well, very cheaply from a number of Indian chains. And for the cold weather, flat court shoes, like you might wear to work under a pair of trousers, work perfectly well.

Best idea is just to look around you and see what all the stylish Indian women are wearing.

In terms of Indian fashion chains, I prefer Anokhi (their clothes use British/Australian sizing -- rare for Indian clothes shops), but Fab India is also a staple.

sigh Brownshouse. Yes, as I said before, I am serious. In some places in Brisbane in the '70's and early '80's, there were privately-owned establishments, open to the public (two of which I have named above), which still had strict conditions of entry that reflected the 1950's-type attitudes of the owners of those places. The fact that you can't remember such restrictions is easily explained by presuming that you never went to such places, not that they didn't exist.

a simple full sleeve shirt or a round neck t-shirt on a jean is just fine....you will have a lot of other things to worry.

although it is hot, i suggest good trekking shoes or ankle cuffing shoes as they protect you from all the filth.

wet tissues and pepper spray absoulute essential.

regards
peter

pepper spray???!

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<hr>It's funny, because when I was growing up in Australia in the 70's and 80's, bare midriffs were a big no-no. Lots of swimming pools (the posh ones, not the council ones) and roller skating rinks reserved the right to refuse you entry if you had an exposed midriff.<hr></blockquote>

Turtle, your original comment was grossly misleading. You ought not be surprised that Brownshouse and I are jumping up and down crying "foul".

I fail to see what is "grossly misleading" about the above quote. I even named two establishments that specifically listed that dress code at the gate. Just because you have never been somewhere doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Yes, you could go out in public with a bare midriff if you liked, there was no law against it (just as I'm sure there is not a specific law against bare arms or tight clothing in public in India). It just comes down to what is / was culturally and socially acceptable at the time. Many establishments in Brisbane at that time had dress standards that excluded (and specifically mentioned) bare midriffs.

Just about everwhere used to look down on thongs too as socially unacceptable footwear but that has been relaxed as well in recent years.

For different reasons speedy. I really don't think the modesty of Indians can be compared with the dress restrictions in australia - which were mostly about a degree of formality and standards, not sexuality. But lets give this up.