I am not a fashionista myself. And I have always been hauled
away from the Indian fashion of the 70s and 80s, thanks to the Raymond tailor
stitched shirts and pants which my mom wanted me to wear for all occasions. Interestingly,
one of the very few things that we, the Gen X and the millennials have in
common is that we have collectively made fun of our forefathers’ fashion statements. Today,
out of the blues, while spending a several thousand rupees on apparels to take
on Summers, I realized, we were totally off beam about our forefathers’ fashion
statements. They were essentially the trend setters and proponents of various
vogue wears without even realizing that their dressing would become chic
fashion 50 years later. It is pretty convincing that every trendy wear of contemporary India is just a revamped and tweaked reappearance
of what our forefathers wore for their entire life. And we, instead of thanking
them for life, continue to copy their fashion on one hand and make fun of it on
the other.
Bandanas vs Hegl Mel Towel
(HMT)
Hegl Mel Towel (ಹೆಗಲ್ ಮೇಲ್
ಟವಲ್) is a Kannada
phrase which literally means Towel on shoulders. In urban dictionary, it has
gotten its own meaning: “An uneducated adult” just because
our ancestors were not concerned with chic fashion and used towels instead. Of
late, the bandana, which was just a cowboy couture,has penetrated men’s
wardrobes as well. The classic patterned kerchiefs which only girls wore a
decade ago are being used today by the male fraternity too. Today’s metro-sexual
man uses the bandana as Scarfs, with sleeveless shirts, as strolls, hair tie,
helmet cap etc. The fashion gurus claim that it even plays a role in human
health and survival.
Now, what is a bandana? It is nothing but a multipurpose, patterned
handkerchief which is bigger in size. In other words, it is that same piece of
cloth called towel which our grandfathers carried on their shoulders, all the time!
Today, we welcome people wearing bandanas on red carpet; but we synonymize our
forefathers with towels on their shoulders as a country dweller and brand the
entire union of men from 60s as HMT? How rude are we!
The truth is that we have shamelessly copied Hegl Mel Towel
a.k.a. HMT, a foresighted fashion statement by our forefathers, without giving
the due credits to them and just renamed it.
 |
| Hegl Mel Towel and Bandana |
Flowing skirt with
draped detail vs Lungi
My recent visit to Zara outlet took me by surprise. I was
flabbergasted to see a lungi priced at 5000 rupees. While I was trying to
digest the price, a saleswoman came to me and politely said “Men’s section on
the other side sir...”. I was hardly able to comprehend for a moment. Out of
conscience, I asked her “since when is lungi a woman’s fashion”? The saleswoman
perhaps assumed me to be from the HMT squad and informed me that it was not a
lungi. It was apparently called “flowing skirt with draped detail”. She
explained in detail, its versatility, why it is worth five grand and how their
designers thought of the airy feel that it offers. And she suggested that it is
a great idea to gift my wife a flowing skirt with draped detail. I just
imagined my wife donning a lungi and at that very moment I got an
uncontrollable urge to pull my lungi up with my legs, fold it and say “Enda MoLe…”. Unfortunately,
I was wearing jeans.
I still get forwards on Whats App on all the weird lungi ads.
We are such resentful generation who make fun of lungi in and out; but have no
issues in paying five grand for a flowing skirt with draped detail.
 |
| Traditional Lungi vs Skirt with draped detail |
Checked boxer vs Patapati
cheddi
Of all the disrespect to our ancestors’ fashion statements,
ridiculing the patapati cheddi is brutal AF. From movies to memes, social media
to sycophantic behavior of millennials towards someone who is wearing the
patapati cheddi, people have tried to sabotage the image of this wonder garment
in all possible ways. But luckily, it has stood the testing times. Have you
ever wondered what is the secret of a patapati cheddi’s mass success? To know it,
you need to try it. Even I didn’t; until my character in one of the plays
demanded it. When I tried it, it was apparent that the comfort of checked
boxers that male fraternity across the world is falling for, is actually a
fashion idea stolen from ancestors of our countryside. Checked boxer is nothing
but a patapati cheddi with elastic waist instead of a string knot. Period.
Again, here is another fashionista from the 60s which is
shamelessly copied by our generation.Yet we make fun of patapati cheddi, but
never mind shelling extra bucks for checked boxers. It is like copying an
answer from your friend in exam and making fun of what he has written. Please
stop making fun of this wonder garment.
 |
| Top row: patapati cheddis. Botton row: Checked boxers |
From“bell bottom pants”
by our 70s cinema stars which has metamorphosed as “Palazzos/flares” to the practical and utilitarian thread “girdles” (ಉಡಿದಾರ) which have up-scaled as “ornamental
belts” and “cummerbunds” - there
are plenty of such examples out there to prove that there is nothing new about today’s
haute couture. It is purely evident that today’s chic fashion statements are just
ramifications of the yesteryear’s no-frills fashion and they are just modified
to look modern and stylish in an unconventional way. And of course, they come with
an exorbitant price tag which we are okay with. *frowns*
Our forefathers did not have a sense of style. But their
fashion was very practical, without unnecessary extras and above all, they were
totally comfortable. Our generation should be deeply indebted to what they have
given us to build on. Imagine the scene if our ancestors had patented patapati
cheddis and HMTs. Our satisfaction should come from the fact that we are paying
so less for an upmarket fashion derived from a century old style. Not by making
fun of them.
So next time you see an old man with a towel on his
shoulders and/or with patapati cheddi, take a selfie with him, thank him and
post it on social media proudly with hashtags:
Image courtesy: Google
Patapati cheddi courtesy: Aravind Iyer
