http://tinyurl.com/can5hdg

I completely agree with you, Hillary.  A little education is probably a fair solution to this problem and I also worry that Mr. Ghosh clings to an outdated opinion of the nature of fashion. I think it’s somewhat clear that fashion has become much more about self expression, personal comfort, and quite frankly, feeling pretty, than it is about utility (proof: hot pink skinny jeans). I think that as long as a non-Indian woman is wearing the clothing respectfully, and not treating it like a Halloween costume, or “trivializing” or “exoticizing” it, there’s nothing wrong with it, especially if she’s got a reason for it, like attending an Indian event or wedding.

There’s nothing wrong with Oprah wearing a sari to a party with Bollywood actresses in India who will all be wearing saris. And there’s nothing wrong with a Caucasian woman wearing a saree to an Indian wedding. My mother-in-law did it and rocked the look!  Also, full disclosure: I work for luxemi.com, an online Indian retailer in America. I inherently believe that people of any culture should be able to wear clothing from any other culture if it makes them happy. If someone told me I couldn’t wear a dress from Paris, I’d be pretty bummed (especially if this person was paying for said dress).

“if non-Indian women aren’t familiar with the history and meaning of the sari, they shouldn’t wear it.” It sounds like he’s automatically assuming that they aren’t familiar with it… which is “rather patronizing”

Yes.  This is a bit “silly.”  I never liked the Sari look and wouldn’t wear one.  But a hula skirt; now that is a cool outfit.  Where did this come from — with the culture thing.

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My nephew married a wonderful Hindu young woman this summer and my sense of it was non hindus were quietly applauded for trying to dress in accordance with their culture.  I can see why Oprah who is rather large would like to wear a sari but from the photo it seems she needs a bit of help in doing it properly.

But I don’t believe that Indians are offended if non-hindus wear their lovely clothing.   This is carrying political correctness a bit too far.  The sari is a cultural issue – not a religious one.

Years ago, my wife had occasion to travel to Bangalore and work there for an American company there.  During her stay there was a big company celebration that required that she dress up.  Her Indian colleagues requested that she wear a sari.  While she was somewhat concerned about this, they insisted and she went along with it.  Her one condition was that a couple of her Indian female colleagues show her how to wear the garment properly.

When she later attended the celebration, it became a point of great pride and fellowship that she had chosen to wear Indian apparel instead of an American garment.  They took pictures of her with her colleagues and you can see how delighted they are with this gesture.

I think that it is the awareness that one has, the respect that gets paid and the intention of the wearer that makes all the difference.  It is one thing to marginalize a traditional clothing by absent-mindedly integrating into a egotistical fashion statement.  It is quite another to wear such a garment with the intention of honoring it and the culture that produced it.

D. M. Kenyon
Author of The Lotus Blossom (A book about the adoption of another culture’s traditions to achieve awareness in our own culture).

Damn, I hope that the “bathing costumes” worn by turn-of-the-century American women on public beaches never catch on in some other country.  If it did we’d all have to express outrage – loudly contending we are being insulted – at some non-American women wearing, as current fashion, something intended to convey modesty by ‘covering the female form’.

The sari is a dress, a piece of attire, a garment.  It is no more “special” than a floor length evening gown, a swallow-tail tuxedo, a mini-skirt, pedal pushers, whatever.

Get over it.

There are many more – and infinitely more important – things to get upset about.

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