Kurta

This article is about the item of clothing. For the abandoned village in Georgia, see Kurta (village). For the Ukrainian footballer, see Serhiy Kurta.

A traditional cotton kurta with wooden cuff-links-style buttons, centre placket opening with chikan, a style of embroidery from Lucknow, India

A kurta is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia,[1][2][3] and now also worn around the world.[4] Tracing its roots to Central Asian nomadic tunics, or upper body garments, of the late-ancient- or early-medieval era, the kurta has evolved stylistically over the centuries, especially in South Asia, as a garment for everyday wear as well as for formal occasions.[5]

The kurta is traditionally made of cotton or silk. It is worn plain or with embroidered decoration, such as chikan; and it can be loose or tight in the torso, typically falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer.[4] The front and back of a traditional kurta are made of rectangular pieces, and its side-seams are left open at the bottom, up to varying lengths, to enable ease of movement.[4]

The sleeves of a traditional kurta fall to the wrist without narrowing, the ends hemmed but not cuffed; the kurta can be worn by both men and women; it is traditionally collarless, though standing collars are increasingly popular. Kurtas are traditionally worn over ordinary pajamas,[5] loose shalwars, or churidars. Among urban youth, kurtas are being increasingly worn over jeans,[6] not only in South Asia,[7] but also in the South Asian diaspora, both the recently established,[8] and the longstanding.[9] Young women and girls in urban areas are increasingly wearing kurtis, which are short hip-length kurtas, with jeans or leggings, in addition to more traditional lower-body garments.[10]

  1. ^ "kurta, n.", OED Online, Oxford University Press, September 2022, retrieved November 22, 2022 (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women."
  2. ^ Stevenson, Angus (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford University Press, p. 981, ISBN 978-0-19-957112-3, A loose collarless shirt worn by people from South Asia, usually with a salwar, churidars, or pyjama. From Urdu and Persian kurtah.
  3. ^ "kurta", Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary and Thesaurus, Cambridge University Press, 2013 Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South Asia"
  4. ^ a b c Shukla, Pravina (2015), The Grace of Four Moons: Dress, Adornment, and the Art of the Body in Modern India, Indiana University Press, p. 71, ISBN 978-0-253-02121-2 Quote: "The kurta—the tunic—is likewise variable in its cut. It might be wide or tight, there is variety in the length and width of the sleeves, the height of the slits on either side, and especially the shape of the neck. The length of the tunic varies as well, ranging from upper-thigh to well below the knee. Like most garments of this type, worn by people in many countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, the tunic always covers the crotch area of both genders."
  5. ^ a b Alkazi, Roshen (2002), "Evolution of Indian Costume as a result of the links between Central Asia and India in ancient and medieval times", in Rahman, Abdur (ed.), India's Interaction with China, Central and West Asia, Oxford University Press, pp. 464–484, ISBN 978-0-19-565789-0, This exposure to a different mode of dress for four centuries in the ancient period and for six centuries under Islamic rulers later, created the varieties of cut and sewn garments which now form and intrinsic part of what today is called Indian costume. This applies particularly to the Deccan and the Northern parts of India. The South, however, retained the earlier draped and unstitched garments of ancient India, e.g., the antariya/dhoti, the uttariya/dupatta and cummerband/waist cloth. These cut and sewn garments of the invaders underwent dramatic changes evolving from simple Central Asian nomadic costume (both Kushan and the Turk Mongol peoples were horse-riding nomads) to the highly civilized, urban and decorative costume of the Mughal court and the day-to-day comfortable and relaxed dress of the common man of today called the kurta-pyjama (page 468)
  6. ^ Kapadia, Shagufa (2017). Adolescence in Urban India: Cultural Construction in a Society in Transition. Springer. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-322-3731-0. The adolescents, all high school students, belong to educated and economically well-off middle class Hindu Gujarati nuclear families in Baroda city. All of them were studying in English medium schools. Almost all of them have a two-wheeler and a cell phone—two indispensable possessions. ... In terms of clothing, there is a preference for modern Western styles, and at the same time, the Indo-Western fusion style (example, wearing a kurta over jeans) is popular
  7. ^ Khaire, Mukti (2021). "Entrepreneurship by design: the construction of meanings and market for cultural craft goods". In Lounsbury, Michael; Cornelissen, Joep; Granqvist, Nina; Grodal, Stine (eds.). Culture, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, New Directions in Theory and Research. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-367-64000-2. Similarly, as more Indian women adopted jeans and trousers instead of Indian clothing for everyday wear, Fabindia introduced a shorter version of the traditional long Indian tunic (the kameez or kurta), called a 'kurti'. The kurti is a scaled-down version og the kurta that nevertheless covers a woman's hips when worn over trousers or jeans; this modest length made Indian women – used to having their hips covered – more comfortable wearing trousers in public.
  8. ^ Perkins, Mitali (2007). First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover. Dutton Children's Books series. Penguin. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-525-47800-3. They were definitely all South Asian, but their parents were from different places. George was a Christian with roots in South India, Bobby's parents spoke Bengali, Nadia's parents were from Pakistan, and Sangi's heritage was Punjabi. ... The dance floor was packed with bodies rising and falling to fusion of what sounded like pop, Bollywood, and reggae. ... Most dancers were wearing western clothes, but several of the girls were in salwar kameez outfits, and some guys and girls were wearing long, cottom kurta shirts over their jeans.
  9. ^ Kloß, Sinah Theres (2016). Fabrics of Indianness: The Exchange and Consumption of Clothing in Transnational Guyanese Hindu Communities. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-137-56540-2. Caribbean masculinity is constructed through one's presentation of being tough and strong. These characteristic s of hard and soft are transferred to clothing. Bhavani further explains that she finds it appropriate to wear kurt with soft pants, preferably matching (Indian) pants bought in a set with the kurta. She expresses her preference for 'matching' clothes: to her, mixing hard and soft clothing—possibly interpreted as English and Indian styles—does not seem appropriate or aesthetic. Her remark of 'mixing' refers to a recent practise among boys and young me, who commonly attend puja in kurta and jeans.
  10. ^ Parameswaran, Ambi (April 2015). For God's Sake: An Adman on the Business of Religion. Penguin UK. ISBN 9789351186083. ... about ten years ago the humble kurta worn with a churidar was reinvented as the kurti which is today worn with jeans, leggings, pyjamas—churidar.