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Summer wear for women

Indian women have the biggest problem in tackling the summer heat. On one hand, the outside temperature soars anywhere upwards of 35 degrees Celsius and on the other, they spend a sizeable portion of their time in the hot kitchen. So, the only way to beat the heat is to wear comfortable clothing, but given the restrictions in appearance, the Indian women do not have that much of freedom or choice to roam about in the minimal clothing unlike their counter parts abroad, more so, in the western culture. That is where the question of meeting the special needs of the Indian women wear comes to the fore. This is a case of covering the body and still remained cool in the hot summer. In a typical reaction, a woman garment shop keeper in Barcelona told this columnist: “It is like making the cake and having it too. Why don’t your women wear comfortable dress like us?” At a subsequent cotton fashion meet in Paris, this columnist referred to this instance and asked the select crowd of designers: “How many of you are prepared to design a summer wear for the Indian women that is acceptable on the Indian streets?” Predictably, not one volunteered. Of course, that was a gathering of a few amateurish designers up-coming in the industry. But, ask this question to even the experienced and the challenge they face would be stupendous. Barring the metros and modern cities, where the youth is prepared to go for new look dresses, some of which are a cross of the western with the desi, it is not easy for the designers to make the Indian women to sport any dress even on grounds of beating the summer heat. That is the reality as of now.

It had taken decades for the women in South India to be accepted in salwar kameeze or churidar kurta (so too the men, for that matter) as this was considered to be the dress of the modern women or a north Indian. But, now, women regard these as the most comfortable Indian dress and that is the only principal reason as to why they have been accepted. Today, schools prescribe salwar kameeze and churidar kurtas as uniforms. So, having used to wearing them from the student days, women continue to wear these dresses in their later life. But, it is certainly impossible to have the Indian women generally wear shorts with sleeveless mini tops as the westerners do to beat the heat. This summer, young girls and women had gone in for some sizable scale purchase of sleeveless tops. “We did sales worth Rs 52,000 of such dresses in May alone,” a shopkeeper in Chennai told this columnist.

The most striking feature is that dresses of all sorts are being purchased. When it comes to summer wear, women look for relatively cheap dresses which give them cool and comfort. Brands are not the main consideration. “In summer, a full covering dress itself is an equipment of torture. So, what we need is something like cotton that breathes and gives us the air rather than heavy dresses which radiate heat inside. And frequent crumbling while in travel upsets the look. So, I prefer something that looks simple, white or pale, cotton and of course, salwar kameeze is the choice for work,” said Ms Shyamala, a bank officer. That is the tendency which the garment manufacturers are trying to capitalise during the summer heat.

In Chennai, this columnist came across some dresses in a way-side shop that are cheap, marked free size and sporting a prominent label to claim: “This dress breathes for you”. Already, the readymade market in India is worth a whopping Rs 75,000 crore. While a sizable chunk is taken by the men’s wear, the women’s dresses also occupy a significant portion, particularly in summer. A shopkeeper revealed the truth: “Most of these summer dresses are cheap and affordable. So, women buy them. But, these dresses do not last long. So, this market gets continuously replenished.” The modern look youngsters, particularly, students, have bought sizable volume of low-hip trousers and high tugged tops, skirts and T-shirts, some without sleeves. Invariably, all these summer purchases have been cotton made. Showing a sleeveless cotton V-necked T-shirt, thin and striped in red and white, Ms Latha, a college student told this columnist: “Is this not good looking? But I bought it from a street shop for half the price of the branded ones.” That is the catch. For summer wears, in India, both the young and middle aged women, do not wait for branded dresses as long as there is some design and the material is cheap. They know as much as the shopkeeper that the utility of the dresses is confined to the hot summer months and that they could always go for fresh purchases next summer. That is the message for the manufacturers of the summer wears for women in India. It is a multi crore turnover segment of the readymade garment sector. As long as they can add up values like a free purses, belts, laces, beads, etc, women are sure to support them in their unabated drive to beat the heat. Well known brands do sell, but others do as much the same. This is true of cotton sarees and the matching blouses as well.

- P S Sundar