Salwar kameez

Salwar kameez (also spelled shalwar kameez and shalwar qamiz) is a traditional dress worn by both women and men in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. It is also known as Punjabi suit.

Salwars or shalwars are loose pajama-like trousers. The legs are wide at the top, and narrow at the bottom. The kameez is a long shirt or tunic. The side seams (known as the chaak) are left open below the waist-line, which gives the wearer greater freedom of movement.

Salwars are pleated at the waist and held up by a drawstring or an elastic belt. The pants can be wide and baggy, or they can be quite narrow and made of fabric cut on the bias. In the latter case, they are known as churidars. The kameez is usually cut straight and flat; older kameez use traditional cuts, as shown in the illustration; modern kameez are more likely to have European-inspired set-in sleeves. The tailor's taste and skill are usually displayed not in the overall cut, but in the shape of the neckline and the decoration of the kameez.

When women wear the salwar kameez, they usually wear a long scarf or shawl called a dupatta around the head or neck. For Muslim women, the dupatta is a less stringent alternative to the chador or burqa (see hijab and purdah). For Hindu women (especially those from northern India, where the salwar kameez is most popular), the dupatta is useful when the head must be covered, as in a temple or the presence of elders. For other women, the dupatta is simply a stylish accessory that can be worn over one shoulder or draped around the chest and over both shoulders.

Modern versions of the feminine salwar kameez can be much less modest than traditional versions. The kameez may be cut with a plunging neckline, sewn in diaphanous fabrics, or styled in sleeveless or cap-sleeve designs. The kameez side seams may be split high up to the waistline and, it may be worn with the salwar slung low on the hips. When women wear semi-transparent kameez (mostly as a party dress), they wear a choli or a cropped camisole underneath it.

In Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is the preferred garment of both sexes. In Bangladesh and India, it is most commonly a woman's garment.

Etymology and history

The pants, or salwar, are known as shalwar in Punjabi: ਸਲਵਾਰ ਕਮੀਜ਼, salwaar or shalwaar શલવાર કમીઝ in Gujarati, and shalwar in Urdu: شلوار قمیض‎. The word comes from the Persian: شلوار, meaning pants, ultimately from Arabic سروال, note the inversion of the letters ل and ر which has happened in the adaptation process.

The shirt, kameez or qamiz, takes its name from the Arabic qamis.

There are two main hypotheses regarding the origin of the Arabic word, namely:

1. that Arabic qamis is derived from the Latin camisia (shirt), which in its turn comes from the Proto-Indo-European kem (‘cloak’). ^[1]
2. that Mediaeval Latin camisia is a borrowing through Late Classical Greek kamision from the Central Semitic root “qmṣ”, represented by Ugaritic qmṣ (‘garment’) and Arabic qamīṣ (‘shirt’). Both of these are related to the Hebrew verb קמץ‎ qmṣ (‘grip’, ‘enclose with one’s hand’). ^[2]

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.^[3] In India, the costume originated in Punjab, but is now popular in all of Urban India.

Wide legged pants with drawstring were worn in many areas ruled by Turkic-Iranian horse riding steppe peoples of Central Asia. The Ottoman empire was ruled by Turks; many Iranian dynasties, including the recent Qajar dynasty, were of Turkic origin. Their characteristic clothing became court dress and eventually popular dress. Their wide-legged pants have been called Turko-Mongol^[4] and Turco-Persian.^[5] This style is still worn in contemporary Turkey and Iran.

Starting in the 12th century, a series of raids and invasions established Islamic Turkic-Iranian rule -- the Delhi sultanate and later the Moghul empire -- over much of what is now northern India and Pakistan. The new rulers wore the kameez and the characteristic Turkish pants, which were called salwars or shalwars. Again, fashion followed rule and the salwar suit became popular throughout the area.

National dress

The apparel is commonly worn by both men and women in all parts of Pakistan. The Pakistani government has also requested government officials and diplomats to wear it when they are acting in their official capacity. For these reasons it is described as the national dress of Pakistan. Pakistanis prefer to transliterate the term as shalwar qamiz.

It has also been described by some as the national dress of Afghanistan, though the Afghan government has not itself made such a declaration.

English spelling

Transliterations starting from Hindi often render the sibilant sound at the start of salwar/shalwar as an "s". Transliterations starting from Urdu usually use "sh". Both spellings are found in common English usage. The shalwar spelling seems to be most common in Canada and the United Kingdom, and is the preferred spelling in the Oxford English Dictionary. Salwar seems to be more common in the US and is found at many online stores selling salwar kameez. There are variations of Salwaar Kameez where it is called salwaar suit or indo western suit sometimes.

Other Hindustani words starting with sibilants exhibit the same variability. See, for instance, the Hindu god Shiva, also frequently rendered as Siva, or the honorific Shri or Sri.

Purchasing or sewing shalwar kameez

In Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan one simply visits the local tailor and has a salwar suit made to order. Overseas Asians and interested Westerners can order custom suits over the internet (through online websites). One selects the fabric, indicates the style features desired (type of pants, neckline style, embroidery or other decoration desired, type of sleeves, length of tunic, etc.), pays, and fills out a measurement form. The prices range from under $20 to over $600. There are also South Asian clothing stores in many larger Western cities. Some ethnic and historic sewing pattern companies sell patterns for salwar, churidar, kameez, and kurta, to be purchased at fabric stores or over the net.

See also

• Kurta
• Churidar
• Sherwani
• Dupatta
• Sari

References

1. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary: chemise
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary: qmṣ
3. ^ Burnham, Dorothy. 1973. Cut My Cote, Royal Ontario Museum. p. 10.
4. ^ Baker, Stephen. 2000 "Turko-Mongol Trousers". The Red Kaganate.
5. ^ Mellor, Charles. 2000. "Salwar - Turco-Persian Pants". The Red Kaganate.

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