[As always, a disclaimer that India is an enormous country with many different languages, cultures, and value systems. I will be writing from the perspective of a visitor to North India, specifically Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.]
India is known for its beautiful clothing. From regal kurta for men to elegant saris for women, Indians know how to dress for special occasions!
Except in modern urban areas, India is also known to be a very conservative country when it comes to clothing. Women must always cover their chests and shoulders, and head coverings are considered polite, although not required. Women also always cover their legs - even in 110F weather you will see women with long pants!
The traditional dress for women is either a sari or kurta. The sari is simply a long rectangle of fabric that women skillfully wrap around themselves to form a sort of dress. The kurta is essentially a long shirt which has side slits up to the waist. They can be any length from to the ankle to just at the waist. I own two kurtas and I can attest that they are the most comfortable items of clothing I have! Plus, they are a great mix of formal enough for work, but comfortable enough for home. Under the kurta, women usually wear flowy pants, jeans, or my favorite, churidar - leggings with extra fabric at the ankles that bunches up to look like bangles. Women also wear a shawl/scarf called dupatta. Most of the time it is draped over their upper body so that the two ends hang behind them, but it is also useful to protect against pollution, or to cover the head when entering a particularly traditional place.
Kurti with churidar (picture taken from the FBB store website) Note that this is a store in a very urban area, thus the bare shoulders. A woman with this kurti would likely cover up with a scarf.
Beautiful sari (picture from Google)
Comments
I have always found traditional Indian clothing to be very beautiful. Saris look so dazzling and intricate, and the deep royal colors commonly used have always managed to catch my eye. I imagine they are probably not very cheap at all, even in very rural regions, so I wonder how some people of poverty can afford them? I am also very interested in learning more about which types of traditional clothing different regions in India have, now that you brought up that there are differences.
I love that you got a chance to look into traditional Indian clothes! My family is from Bangladesh so the clothes we wear are very similar. If you like wearing kurtas, I really think you should give saris a try -- even though it's a little bit more difficult to learn how to wear them, they can be very comfortable once you get it right.