When it comes to fashion one thing to remember is that a lot of the new things that we wear in today’s time are not as new as we might believe them to be. Most of the modern wear has had their own journey through time where it has gone through several changes and modifications to be what they are today.
We already have a certain knowledge of the history of traditional wear like lehenga-choli and sari, but many of us might not be aware of the day to day clothing that we wear and the fascinating history behind some of them.
So here are a few clothing items that most of us are used to wearing for daily wear, but whose history was just a bit different from where they have travelled to now:
1. Harem Pants:
Harem pants that most of us remember mostly from the iconic look of Kareena Kapoor’s character Geet in Jab We Met has been around for longer than most us would think of.
Almost close to 2,000 years.
Yes, the history of harem pants goes back that far and are said to originate from Persia which then travelled over to India in the form of the dhoti that is commonly worn by men.
So the harem pants went from being for Persian women, meant to symbolize innocence and modesty, then it traveled over to India where it became a men’s garment in the form of the dhoti and then over the course of years it slowly transitioned over to being a women’s garment.
After that, it was in 1909 by French designer Paul Poiret that brought this fashion over to the Western culture, but it was only in the 60’s that harem pants made a come back with them going ultra popular somewhere during the 1970’s and 80’s.
2. Scarves:
In today’s time, a scarf is more than anything a style statement instead of serving any kind of purpose.
But did you know that according to some reports, the scarf was actually called a sudarium, that is Latin for ‘sweat cloth’, the sudarium or ancient version of a scarf was mainly to keep the neck and face clean of sweat during the hot weather.
During the 17th century according to certain experts, the scarf was used as a uniform part by the army of Croatia. The difference in the material of cloth or silk signified the ranking of the soldiers.
It was only in the 19th century that the scarf travelled over to being a fashion accessory by the 20th century, scarves have become a staple accessory that works for both genders, men, and women.
3. Jeans:
Jeans are perhaps the one garment that unifies the entire world in the current times. Whether it is the US, Europe, India or Japan, almost every person there has jeans as a staple outfit piece.
But the jeans were actually an invention during the 17th century when Jacob W Davis created them in the US and then were patented by Levi Strauss and Co.
From there jeans or denim only went on to conquer the entire world and had various transitions across different centuries and era. They were an integral part of the hippie culture during the 1960s, and also for the punk rock culture that ranged during the 1970s and 80s.
It is 2017 and even still jeans remain a favourite of people across the world.
Image Credits: Google Images
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