Traveling to India - 5 Tips for What to Wear
I’ve had several women contact me in the last few weeks and ask for my suggestions on what to wear in India. GREAT question gals!
Despite the revealing clothes worn by Bollywood hotties like Aishwarya Rai, India is a socially conservative country. As a traveler, you’ll be immediately judged and treated accordingly depending on what you’re wearing. As one Indian told me (as he was trying to sell me silver jewels) when I was there last year, “Why don’t you dress more like an Indian, you look like you just got off the plane.” This despite the fact that I had been there for nearly a month! So much for Ex Officio, bring on the salwar kameez!
So, here are some of my thoughts on how to dress as you travel through the subcontinent:
1. In the larger cities (Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore) and areas where there are hoards of tourists (Goa, Kerala, Agra), you can generally get away with less conservative clothing. This means that you can bare your… shoulders and knees.
2. In small villages, holy sites and any destination that sees even moderate tourism, dress conservatively. Never wear shorts or a short skirt. Keep your shoulders covered. Don’t let the fact that you can see lots of bellies through the gaps in a sari fool you into thinking that showing some skin is OK. It’s not.
3. Wear one set of comfortable clothes and go shopping when you arrive. Any city that you fly into on an international flight will have a range of clothing stores - from traditional Indian shops like FabIndia where you can buy kurtas, a salwar kameez outfit and scarves, to more modern malls with jeans and western-style clothes. It’s far cheaper than shopping at home and you can always leave them behind if they don’t suit your tastes at home.
This is me at the Newark Airport. I wore jeans and a kurta (a long Indian shirt) with a sweater over it.
4. Buy a scarf or shoulder wrap and wear it, always. Not only are these beautiful but they will help you to blend in, they’ll keep you warm and they’ll spruce up any outfit! I’ve taken to wearing my Indian scarves at home every chance I get.
5 . Shoes. Ugh. Every girl Wanderluster’s conundrum. I never travel with more than two pairs. I generally wear a nice pair for the flight and will wear these when I go out to a more upscale restaurant. I then wear a pair of leather Teva’s for every day use. The leather style is nicer than their sport sandals and they help me to feel less like a backpacker - even when I am one! I wear socks if it’s cool out - all the women do this so you won’t look like a outcast.
What do you wear for your Indian adventures?
Travel Well!
You can also read about my India travels on my blog at the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
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