Indian kurtas

Kurti is a type of long shirt worn by both males and females in India, with its length falling either somewhere above or below the knees of the wearer. The Kurta can be categorized as a traditional clothing item and people generally pair it up with loose salwar, churidar pants or trousers. Such Kurti tops can be worn both on a casual everyday basis as well as a formal wear. Indians usually get them stitched by tailors or buy readymade ones from the market.

The make of a Kurta is such that it provides maximum comfort to the wearer. Keeping this aspect in mind, usually very light fabric like cotton and silk are used to make the Kurtis. A typical kurta is simple and made up of rectangular fabric pieces with perhaps a few gusset inserts. The sleeves of a traditional kurta fall straight to the wrist and do not narrow down. One can, however, also choose to get the Kurta embroidered for wearing it during party and other special occasions.

The neck of the traditional Indian kurta is normally round and does not have a collar. However, certain newer variations of the Kurtis flaunt a stand up collar. The Kurta dress is worn by people during the summer season. Those worn during winters are made up of thicker materials like wool as in the state of Kashmir or thick coarse handspun silk that may be mixed with other fabrics. At the sides of the Kurta, the side seams are often left open for 6-12 inches above the hem to give the wearer some ease of movement.

The Kurtas donned on important occasions may feature decorative metal buttons. These may not be stitched to the fabric, but like cufflinks, fastened into the cloth at the time of wearing it. Sometimes, these buttons are decorated with artificial jewels and other similar embellishments. This form of clothing is equally popular with people of both the younger and older generations in India. They wear it with a lot of pride and dignity.