fashion essay in urdu

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Dressing Up in Style Posted by Rachael on May 13, 2018 in Uncategorized

This week, we’ll talk a bit about traditional Pakistani and Indian dress. Although many people nowadays, especially men, wear Western business and casual attire, such as t-shirts, jeans, button-down shirts and slacks, people still wear traditional clothing from time to time (especially on special occasions like weddings). Traditional clothing is especially common amongst rural people, although you will still find t-shirts and jeans in some remote areas as well. It’s important to appreciate traditional dress because it reflects centuries of culture and history and is thus particularly well-suited to the climate of different regions of South Asia. You will quickly find this out when you compare the uncomfortable and hot feeling you get from wearing jeans in the Lucknavi summer to the airy and buoyant sensation that comes from wearing a loose-fitting, cotton shalwar.

Garments for Men (مردوں کے لیےٴ کپڑے)

The first garment for men that I’ll talk about is the Pakistani waistcoat or vest (ویسٹ کوٹ), which men usually don on formal occasions and in professional settings. This Western piece of attire that was adopted by Indians and Pakistanis alike is no doubt descended from the British colonial era. Another outer garment is the اچکن/achkan, which is a jacket that typically falls to the knees and is also worn on special occasions. A similar garment to the اچکن/achkan is the شیروانی/sherwani, which is a lengthy, outer garment that is usually worn over a کرتا/kurta (or long tunic) and a lower garment such as چوڑیدار/churidar, دھوتی/dhoti, پاجامہ/pajama or شلوار/shalwar (we’ll get into these later). It is different from the اچکن/achkan in that it is usually shorter in length, made from heavier fabrics and has a lining.

Examples of traditional Pakistani dress at a wedding; image by Alvi Haroon on Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Now, let’s discuss one of the words I just mentioned above: pajama! Sound familiar? The word pajama was borrowed into English from Hindustani (پاجامہ) in around 1800; yet the Hindustani word itself was originally borrowed from the Persian “paay-jaameh” ( پايجامه ‎)   or “leg garment ; this term merely indicates loose-fitting, lightweight pants with a drawstring (izaarband/ازاربند) around the waist, not the clothes you sleep in 😉 This lower garment is worn by both men and women today. As for another lower garment mentioned above, the دھوتی/dhoti is worn by men throughout South Asia and usually consists of around 15 feet of (generally cotton but can be silk for a special occasion) rectangular, unstitched cloth that is draped around the legs and waist and tied at the waist to create a comfortable, airy garment that is perfect for lounging, doing work or, in some cases, getting married!

Image by Matteo on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

As for all-important headgear, Muslim men, especially, wear a taqiyah (Arabic: طاقية), or, as it more colloquially known, a ٹوپی/topi (cap), which is a squat, round skullcap worn oftentimes for religious purposes. It is considered proper to cover your head while entering a mosque to partake in prayer as the Prophet Muhammed was said to have kept his head covered while engaging in religious activities. This kind of head covering is particularly prevalent while Muslims engage in نماز/namaaz, or the five daily prayers that form one of the five pillars or commendable practices of Islam.

Garments for Women/عورتوں کے لیےٴ کپڑے

A dupatta (دوپٹا or چنّی/chunni) is a common accessory or feature of a woman’s outfit, although many women living in large cities may not wear them, or may wear them as a fashion accessory rather than a “symbol of modesty,” which they were originally intended to be. A dupatta or chunni is just a long scarf that, when worn for modesty’s sake, is draped across the chest or across the chest and over the hair, especially when entering a mosque for prayer.

An image of two children taken in the modern-day state of Jammu & Kashmir in 1890; both of the children are wearing churidaar. Image by Fowler&Fowler on Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

گھاگھرا چولی/Ghaghra choli is an outfit women may wear to a special occasion, such as a party or wedding. It consists of a long, flowing skirt, usually heavily embroidered or otherwise decorated, and a form-fitting, midriff-bearing blouse (the choli). A variant of this is the لہنگا/lehenga, which is also comprised of a long, flowing skirt and short upper garment. The variations in style with these two outfits are almost endless. And then, of course, is the ساڑی/sari, a popular garment in both Indian and Pakistan that is perfect for daily wear or a festive occasion. It consists of yards of fabric that are wrapped around the body and over the shoulder. Underneath is a long petticoat and a choli blouse.

Another, less common outfit seen today is a “gharara,” (غرارہ), which originally hails from Lucknow. It consists of a کرتی/kurti (or short, waist to mid-thigh length tunic), a dupatta or scarf and a pair of wide-legged pants that are ruched at the knee so that they may flare out conspicuously. The knee area of the garment (called “گوتا/gota”) is usually intricately decorated with zari/زری (thread work of fine gold or silver) or zardozi/زردوزی (another type of embroidery using gold and silver thread as well as sometimes metal, pearls and precious stones) embroidery.

A bridal gharara with zardozi embroidery; image by Farmina Khan on Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

As for garments that demonstrate a person’s religious devotion, women may wear a burqa (برقع), which is usually a long, black garment that reaches to the feet and covers the head and sometimes face, excluding the eyes. In other words, it is a full-body garment. Another option is the hijab/حجاب, which is usually a piece of cloth that covers the hair and chest, leaving the face exposed. The hijab is typically paired with a loose, long-sleeve or 3/4-inch-sleeve shirt. The purpose of these garments is to suggest modesty, demonstrate religious devotion and emulate the Prophet Muhammed, who was said to cover his head during religious activity. Religious men usually wear long tunics (کرتا/kurtaa) and a head covering, such as a topi (ٹوپی/topi), to similarly suggest modesty and devotion.

Garments for Both Men and Women/مردوں اور عورتوں کے لیےٴ کپڑے

The national dress of Pakistan, as you may already know, is the shalwar-kameez/شلوار کمیز, which consists of shalwar or loose-fitting trousers that typically have a drawstring at the waist and kameez, which refers to the upper garment, usually a kurta (a long tunic that varies in its precise length) or a kurti for women (a short tunic that can be waist to mid-thigh length). Every region in Pakistan has its own particular style of shalwar-kameez, from the Sindhi people, to the Punjabis, Balochis and Pathans. Shalwar-kameez can be made out of many different fabrics, but the most common are silk, chiffon and cotton.

A woman from Karachi, Sind, photographed in 1870 wearing dupatta, kurti and shalwar. Image by Fowler&Fowler on Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

One variation of the shalwar that is particularly popular is the patiala/پٹیالہ shalwar, which gets its name from the city of Patiala in the Indian state of Punjab; centuries ago, the King of the region used to wear patiala shalwar as his royal dress. Now, however, the style has been developed exclusively for women and is noteworthy for the amount of fabric it comprises as it features numerous pleats that drape downwards, creating an elegant effect, flowing together at the bottom.

Another option for a lower garment are churidar/چوڑیدار, named for the extra fabric at the bottom that bunches up at the ankles and gives the appearance of bangles on an arm (churi/چوڑی=bangle). These are more form-fitting trousers worn by both men and women.

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About the Author: Rachael

नमस्ते, मेरा नाम रेचल है/السلام علیکم، میرا نام ریچل ہے۔ Hello, my name is Rachael, but I also on occasion go by Richa––an interesting story for another time :) My two great loves are Hindi and Urdu. I first traveled to India (Jaipur, Rajasthan) in college on a Hindi study abroad program. A little over a year later, I returned to the same city to study Hindi in a yearlong program. I've also spent a summer in Kolkata, West Bengal learning Bengali, and I studied Urdu at the University of California, Berkeley, where I was a graduate student in South Asian Studies. I hope to share with you the fascinating world of Hindi and Urdu literature, society, culture and film through my blogs!

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✍️Essay on Fashion: Samples in 100, 150, 200 Words

• Updated on  
• Oct 26, 2023

Fashion is a non-verbal form of expression that describes a person’s character and sense of style. Before, it was just the realm of the famous, and aristocracy. However, the average person, particularly young people, can now afford to wear fashionable clothing. Additionally, fashion started out as a trend but through time came to be accepted as a certain way of living, whether it be in terms of behaviour, apparel, or lifestyle. Speaking of which, in this blog, we will talk about how fashion has evolved over time in our sample essays. Let’s dive in. 

Table of Contents

• 1 History of Fashion
• 2 Essay on Fashion in 100 Words
• 3 Essay on Fashion in 150 words
• 4 Essay on Fashion in 200 Words

History of Fashion

Not just fashion designers but other people are curious to know the history of fashion. According to historians, Charles Frederick Worth was the first fashion designer. When clothing was still created by unidentified seamstresses, he founded the House of Worth, a fashion design studio, in Paris. Contemporary fashion is characterized by a blend of diverse influences, styles, and trends from various cultures and time periods. Fashion has become more accessible and inclusive, with designers experimenting with sustainability, technology, and innovative materials to create unique and socially conscious clothing

Also Read: Essay on Nature: In 100 Words, 200 Words, 300 Words

Essay on Fashion in 100 Words

Fashion encompasses clothing, accessories, and even behaviours, reflecting culture and individuality. Fashion evolves continuously, driven by designers, influencers, and changing norms. It has the power to convey identity, status, and creativity. Whether classic or avant-garde, fashion allows individuals to make statements and connect with others through a shared aesthetic.

It mirrors the zeitgeist, responding to economic, environmental, and social shifts. In a world of fast fashion and sustainability concerns, redefining our approach to style becomes essential. Fashion’s allure lies in its ability to blend art, identity, and innovation, shaping our visual language.

Essay on Fashion in 150 words

Fashion is a form of self-expression that plays a significant role in our lives. It includes clothing, accessories, and personal style, reflecting one’s personality and cultural influences. Fashion trends constantly evolve, influenced by designers, celebrities, and societal shifts.

The 1920s saw the rise of flapper dresses and a rebellious spirit, while the 1960s embraced mini skirts and the counterculture movement. In recent years, sustainability and ethical fashion have gained prominence, emphasizing the need for eco-friendly choices and responsible consumption.

Fashion is more than just aesthetics; it is an industry that impacts economies, employing millions worldwide. It serves as a medium for creative expression, and social movements often utilize fashion to convey powerful messages.

In conclusion, fashion is a versatile cultural force that goes beyond mere clothing. It reflects our society’s values and artistic expression.

Also Read: Essay on My Favourite Book: Samples in 100, 200, 300 Words

Essay on Fashion in 200 Words

Fashion is an evolving form of self-expression that has penetrated our daily lives, bringing more clothing choices to become a reflection of culture, identity, and individuality. 

Fashion, throughout history, has mirrored societal norms and values. It has been a canvas for rebellion or conformity. Whether it’s the flapper dresses of the 1920s, the bell-bottoms of the 1970s, or the minimalist styles of the 21st century, fashion has been a powerful communicator.

Moreover, the fashion industry is an economic powerhouse, shaping global trends and contributing significantly to various economies. It influences not only what we wear but also the jobs we create and the environmental impact we have.

Fashion’s role in personal identity is undeniable. People use clothing to express their personalities, tastes, and beliefs. It empowers individuals to feel confident and unique.

However, the fast fashion industry has been criticized for its environmental footprint and labor practices. However, over time calls for sustainable, ethical fashion have gained momentum, emphasizing the need for responsible consumption.

In conclusion, fashion is more than just attire; it’s a reflection of our culture, an economic force, a personal identifier, and a global conversation. As we navigate the complex world of fashion, it’s essential to strike a balance between personal expression, industry responsibility, and environmental sustainability.

Related Articles

The development of clothing, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery with varied cultural aesthetics and their mixing and matching to create outfits that represent distinct styles of dressing are referred to as fashion. 

Fashion is a form of expression that is not restricted to clothing, this term often refers to designer clothing and accessories.

Dressing up shows how we look at someone. They help create an idea of what we think of someone’s personality. Wearing makes someone comfortable and people will respect your individuality. Therefore, this is an important part of fashion. 

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay-writing page and follow Leverage Edu ! 

Malvika Chawla

Malvika is a content writer cum news freak who comes with a strong background in Journalism and has worked with renowned news websites such as News 9 and The Financial Express to name a few. When not writing, she can be found bringing life to the canvasses by painting on them.

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How a Novelist Became a Pop Star

In fiction, Ali Sethi wrote about being queer in Pakistan. Now he’s singing his story.

The musician and writer Ali Sethi, photographed at 64 Sound recording studio in Los Angeles on Mar. 11, 2024. Credit... Philip Cheung

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By Emily Lordi

Photographs by Philip Cheung

• Published May 10, 2024 Updated May 13, 2024

“I hope you fall in love, I hope it breaks your heart” is the refrain (in English translation) of “ Pasoori ,” Ali Sethi’s 2022 global hit. Is this a curse or a blessing? The song, performed as a duet with the Pakistani singer Shae Gill, defies such simple classifications — it’s a pop banger sung in Urdu and Punjabi, punctuated with flamenco handclaps and driven by a reggaeton beat. Sethi, a Pakistani-born artist who lives in Manhattan’s East Village, composed it in the wake of a thwarted collaboration with an Indian organization that feared reprisal (because of a 2016 ban on hiring Pakistani creatives). Drawing on themes from ghazals — sly courtesan poems about desire and betrayal that have doubled as political critiques, a genre that dates to seventh-century Arabia — “Pasoori” is at once “a love song, a bit of a flower bomb thrown at nationalism, a queer anthem, a protest song, a power ballad [and] a song of togetherness,” Sethi says. It’s now been viewed some 850 million times on YouTube, including by countless Indian fans.

Sethi, 39, is a master of microtonal singing, gliding between the notes of the Western tempered scale. He’s been lauded for sounding like a vestige of another age — his supple, keening tenor the result of years of apprenticeship to the Pakistani artists Ustad Saami and Farida Khanum. Growing up in Lahore, where he was recognized at school for his academic and artistic abilities but also, he says, “taunted by both students and teachers for being part of a queer cohort,” he found in traditional music a way to be good but also fabulous, rooted without being fixed.

Back then, he didn’t see the arts as offering a viable career path. As an undergraduate at Harvard in the early aughts, he was expected to study economics. He instead took courses on South Asian history and world fiction, and first read Jane Austen at the behest of his teacher Zadie Smith. In 2009, he published “The Wish Maker,” a semiautobiographical coming-of-age novel set in his home city. The narrator navigates the wounds and thrills of adolescence, as well as a factionalized, globalizing country, alongside his female cousin: They watch an “Indiana Jones” film (“about an American man of the same name who wore hats and enjoyed the company of blonde women”) and are puzzled by its Indian villain; they fuel their crushes with love songs by Mariah Carey and the Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

The book was well received, though Sethi now thinks its realist form couldn’t fully accommodate Pakistan, a society in flux. As he was finishing the novel in Lahore in 2007, the country was besieged by sectarian violence. His father, Najam Sethi — both he and Sethi’s mother, Jugnu Mohsin, are prominent journalists and publishers — received death threats, and Sethi spent over a year in hiding, staying in the basements of friends. In 2011, he traveled to India to work as an adviser on Mira Nair’s 2012 film, “ The Reluctant Fundamentalist ,” adapted from Mohsin Hamid’s 2007 novel. One evening, when everyone was eating and singing, Nair was so moved by Sethi’s version of a ghazal famously sung by Khanum, “ Dil Jalane Ki Baat ,” that she urged him to record it. The song became part of the soundtrack and the first step toward Sethi’s recording career.

Storytelling is still inherent to his work. Whether at concerts or on Instagram, Sethi often describes the inclusive nature of traditional South Asian music. Because it’s always been “anciently multiple” and cosmopolitan, it contains the “antibodies,” he says, to heal a divisive culture from within. But there are moments when he wishes to not represent but present for a while. He plans to write another novel, in the more experimental form of lyrical autofiction. Today, the burden of being an ambassador is lightened by the presence of other queer South Asian artists, including the writers Bushra Rehman and Sarah Thankam Mathews, and Sethi’s own partner, the painter Salman Toor. Last year, Sethi appeared at Coachella along with several other South Asian musicians, whose multilingual sets slotted right in alongside the Spanish artist Rosalía and Nigeria’s Burna Boy, who performed in English and their native languages.

On his forthcoming pop album, out this summer, Sethi sings in English, Urdu and Punjabi (the last being ideal for dance music, he says, because of its “lilt and thrust”). The project extends his “reggaeton meets raga meets contemporary global beats aesthetic,” he adds. The point isn’t a something-for-everyone hybrid but an alchemy that alters each element. What is reggaeton when it appears in “Pasoori”? Who is the Indian nationalist who falls in love with the song or has her heart broken open by it? The power of music to draw people together is an old story. But what they are drawn into , Sethi hopes, is a willingness to shape-shift.

Photo assistant: Silvia Rázgová

An earlier version of this article mistakenly reversed the names of Ali Sethi’s parents. His father is Najam Sethi and his mother is Jugnu Mohsin, not vice versa.

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The Complex, Gender-Bending History Behind ‘Florals for Spring’

Essayist Olivia Laing delves into the surprisingly subversive lore behind the motif.

We got married at a University of Cambridge college, in a 15th-century hall decorated with Pre-Raphaelite exuberance in the same unusual black, red, and green palette as the dress. There were heraldic roses and other botanical motifs everywhere you looked, rising up the walls and swarming across the painted ceiling. It was like entering a fantastical Eden, at once traditional and anarchic.

Flowers are often coded as sweetly feminine, especially in fashion, but their historical use is far stranger and more subversive. Before I became a writer, I trained as an herbalist, falling deep under the spell of medieval herbs, with their bewitching floral associations. Flowers had once formed a kind of secret language, an arcane code that only an adept could read. Bouquets, paintings, even dresses could carry a hidden message, by way of the humble plants they contained.

While I was researching my new book, The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise , I came across a historical study with the beguiling title of Queen Elizabeth’s Wardrobe Unlock’d . It was an account of the marvelous dresses the Tudor queen had worn, many of them densely embroidered with flowers, which broadcast a coded message about her virtues. The dress worn by Elizabeth in the famous Hardwick Portrait includes pansies for humility, lilies for purity, and roses to emphasize her Tudor lineage. They appear on a dress swimming with floral, animal, and even monstrous life. It wouldn’t look out of place on a catwalk now, perhaps worn by Gwendoline Christie at Maison Margiela .

It was William Morris who brought the lost language of flowers back into everyday circulation. He’d pored over medieval herbals as a child, and their flowers reemerged in his fluid, fertile prints. Morris wanted everything to be as beautiful as possible, and he covered the staid bedrooms and stiff drawing rooms of the Victorian world with a restless profusion of marigolds and roses, chrysanthemums and lilies. His flowers encoded a subversive dream of a shared Eden, a secret message he even managed to install in the Throne Room of St James’s Palace.

The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise by Olivia Laing

There’s a similar sort of subversion going on in the clothes of Steven Stokey-Daley, a young British designer much loved by Harry Styles. Stokey-Daley is a gay working-class man who draws his inspiration from the elitist and highly coded uniforms of British public schools. His label S.S. Daley deploys the distinctive shapes and styles of an aristocratic wardrobe, creating a gorgeous Brideshead Revisited world of dressing gowns, flowing shirts, and rowing blazers. It’s not so much an emulation of privilege as an exposure and reclamation of how power is worn.

Since presenting his debut collection in 2020, Stokey-Daley has incorporated flowers into his work, often using 16th-century botanical prints. One of my prized possessions is an oversize S.S. Daley men’s shirt, finely striped and covered in an angular tracery of orange poppies. His flowers spell out a distinctive and defiant queerness, disrupting the conventional language of gender.

Simone Rocha’s spring 2024 collection was also awash with gender-bending florals. She sent both male and female models down the catwalk in shirts and jackets cunningly folded to create outsize floppy roses. Some models carried roses; others had rose transfer tattoos on their legs. The pièce de résistance was a series of tulle dresses stuffed with real roses. “They smelled amazing,” she told me. Rocha is a keen gardener, especially of roses, and it felt natural to incorporate the flowers she loves into her clothes. What excited her was “to contrast the natural with the man-made. In particular, the stuffed rose dresses were almost to mimic the boning of a garment, but trapping it and exposing it in tulle.”

This is the kind of floral fashion I love. Queen Elizabeth I would have understood its appeal: clothes that are like walking inside a private garden, in bloom summer and winter alike.

Olivia Laing’s new book, The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise, is published by W. W. Norton.

A version of this story appears in the June/July 2024 issue of ELLE.

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