#subcontinent

Jaipur, India (by AXP Photography)

Yaad ( Faiz Ahmad Faiz)

Anonymous asked: If you do not mind, I would love to hear your thoughts, insights, and analysis of the Indian clothes & ensembles shown in a YouTube video called  "London - Commonwealth Fashion Show  (1967)" by British Pathé. As well as any other country's traditional clothes in the video, that you may have some knowledge on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZYbhTUa47c "London - Commonwealth Fashion Show  (1967)"

I love the Pathe reels - bar the commentary! - so thank you for bringing it to my attention.

I think there are a fair few Indian clothes in there, understandable given the country's size and diversity.

A few of the screengrabs are above. The one with a group of women that is numbered is the clearest.  Most of the costumes seem to be from North/Western India - basically a tunic, loose trousers or a skirt and a head covering or dupatta. If you go to the end of the video link you can see the costumes more clearly.  

1 which is clearer in later parts of the video seems Pahadi/Kashmiri (or is it the Bollywood version of it:). 2 which you can see in one of the screengrabs appears Kutchi, the black and red is quite typical and its a tunic paired with a skirt. 3, the dupatta seems like bandhani but the kurta appears to be paired with a lungi of the sort worn by men in Punjab. 4 is like a ghaghra, in the close up you can see the borla which is a head ornament worn in Rajasthan and Haryana. The top looks like a rabari choli so perhaps its drawing from Rajasthani costume. 5 is a salwar kurta, I thought the dupatta might be phulkari embroidery (Punjab). 6 is a nod to old India, very reminiscent of Shakuntala.  7 I think is from the Northeast - it’s a short, woven sarong but the silver jewellery threw me a bit. 

In the staircase pics, you can see saree styles. The conventional Indian style, South Indian, seedha pallu as well as the white saree with motifs which in 1967 would have been a contemporary version of the saree. 

Surprisingly there was this silver gown which could easily fit in with fashions today. 

The Pakistani ensemble (left) which features heavy gold work was 100 years old at the time. I think the heavy kurta is worn over a chudidar, the dupatta is heavily worked too and a classic red.  On the right is an Indian ensemble at the show. Despite the Turkish style trousers and the kaftan style kurta (not visible here but it has gold work), it shares a common language with the vintage Pakistani dress. 

Sri Lankan costumes in the video include the saree, western style dress and the osariya. I have a screengrab of the close up of the osariya waist frill as well as the feet jewellery. 

The men at the end of the video are in Kandyan costume. 

Roof torn open, blown apart