When we talk about India, the first thing we describe it is as a country that is a mix of everything. Whether it is culture, custom, religion, language, or even clothing. Diversity. And, yes, coming to equality as well.

When we talk about the clothing being worn by Indians for centuries, we will see the changing trends, as expected, with time. Being a woman myself, I have seen the changing trends as the years have passed by. I still remember when bellbottoms were in trend. However, just like the weather in India, even the trends come and go.

From the ever classic saris, to the many western wear that we have seen and worn, to the changing trends of kurtis and semi-western wear, Indians have experienced the never ending experiments of clothing. The simple saris and the ruffle saris, the flared sleeves and the puffed sleeves, the skinny jeans and the bellbottoms, the kurtas and the dhotis, the off-shoulder and the boat neck. The styles are too much to be counted on fingers, the trends so many to even remember.

The Indian market has seen the ups and downs in both ethnic wear and western wear. Now, again we are seeing the coming back of styles from the days of black and white. The various variants of ethnic wear are now becoming trendy day by day, and being worn by kids, youth, and senior people alike. The diversity of saris, from banarasi to kanjivaram, from a simple silk one to the ruffled one, one cannot get enough of it. The form of clothing, the style of wearing it, the way to carry it, we all have experimented with sometimes or the other.

The time when only tailors were there to stitch clothes was an era in itself. And, now the clothing shops every 50 meters aren’t even enough.

There has been a tremendous increase in the popularity of ethnic wear. We see saris, kurtis, lehengas, and, of course, the fusion wear. It’s a trend now, and if we attend Indian marriages or functions, then we will see ethnic and only ethnic wear.

Western wear, of course, has its own charm, and I wear it more than anything. However, nothing beats the beauty of ethnic wear.