The Salwar kameez, originated in regions of Central Asia, dominated by Turkish and Iranian people. Among them, there existed the habit of putting in baggy trousers, drawn tight with strings, a pattern, absolutely similar to today`s salwar.Indeed, the salwar is a kind of loose trousers, narrowing down a bit towards the bottom, contrasted to the upper wide gather. However, instead of drawstrings, sometimes, the Salwar, is held firmly by elastic belt.
The Kameez, is on the other hand, a, long shirt or tunic-like dress. Furthermore, the upper-garment of Kameez, is accompanied by a Dupatta. A Dupatta, is a cloth-piece, draped around the head , and the front upper portion of the body, by some, while others may pass the Duppatta, over the shoulders only, to augment the look of feminine decency. Therefore, salwar-kameez, resembling a male Pathan suit, alone makes for a men`s dress, but a salwar-kameez when is endowed with a Dupatta, it turns out to be the befitting dress of anybody and everybody , who feels comfortable in it.
History recounts that, the court-nobles of the Ottoman and Qajar dynasty, upheld salwar-kameez as their court-costume. This royal background made this particular costume reach the heights of fame.
Indeed, this specific style of costume, was imported in India, by the Muslim invasion, that set off in the 12th century. The Turko-Iranian regime of the Delhi Sultunate, and later the Moghul Empire in India, sustained the tradition of dressing in Salwar-Kameez in India. And the rest of the story, was the rising of Salwar-Kameez to popularity.
Salwar-Kameez, has received the greatest embrace from North India, especially Punjab. There, Salwar-Kameez-Dupatta, happens to be the traditional costume for women, given their comfort-friendly factor.
Experimentation and innovations, at par with tradition, are on the rise , with regard to the designing of salwar-kameez-dupatta, not only in Punjab, but also in th whole of India.
The very first variety could be in the base material used for the costume. It could of plain cotton, rich silk, tussar, crepe, georgette, shiffon, khadi, or the other types of fabric available.
The next diversity, can occur in the flare and the pleats, making up the Salwar. Colours also have an expanding range, starting from the bright shades like maroon, red, violet, blue, yellow,
black, to the lighter shades of white, sky, pink, and so on. This colour-spectrum is true of the kameez also. Another, feature of variation, regarding the Kameez is the cut of the thing, the neckline-pattern and the sleeves. It can have full-sleeves, or short-sleeves or no-sleeves.
The several designs, of the Salwar-Kameez-Dupatta, include, sequin-embroidery or semi-precious stones` embroidery. , Mirror-work, artwork, cut-work, or simple but sophisticated prints , hand-paintings, etc. . The climax of designer`s excellence is the intricate Zardozi and the Zari embroidery , made on the exclusive pieces. Zardozi, is a Persian embroidery done with gold or silver threads , called Zari in India, or copper wire, gilded with gold, along with kundan, or stone-embellishments.
It is obvious from the fact , that with such awesome, multifarious shapes and shades . Salwar-Kameez-Dupatta, is primarily, one most used costumes of women in India. A woman can easily flaunt herself in a simple but elegant salwar-kameez-dupatta in office, while in a wedding party she can beautify herself with a Zardozi version.
