The wealthy Parsis of western India were among the first to adapt Western-style clothing. Baggy trousers and the phenta (or hat) were added to long collarless coats, with boots and a walking stick to complete the look of the gentleman.

Western clothes were a sign of modernity and progress. Western-style clothing was also especially attractive to groups of Dalit converts to Christianity who now found it liberating.

Shanar women were attacked by Nairs in May 1922 in public places in the southern princely state of Travancore, for wearing a cloth across their upper bodies. Over subsequent decades, a violent conflict over dress codes ensued.

The abolition of slavery in Travancore in 1855 led to even more frustration among the dominant castes who felt they were losing control.

The wearing of turban and shoes were the two things created misunderstanding and conflict between the British and the Indians.

In 1824 – 1828, Governor-General Amherst insisted that Indians take their shoes off as a sign of respect when they appeared before him, but this was not strictly followed.

Rabindranath Tagore suggested that instead of combining Indian and European dress, India’s national dress should combine elements of Hindu and Muslim dress.

In the late 1870s, Jnanadanandini Devi, wife of Satyendranath Tagore, adopted Parsi style of wearing sari pinned to the left shoulder with a brooch,and worn with a blouse and shoes.

Jnanadanandini Devi’s style of wearing sari was adopted by Brahmo Samaji women and came to be called Brahmika sari. This style gained acceptance before long among Maharashtrian and Uttar Pradesh Brahmos, as well as non-Brahmos.

The Swadeshi movement in Bengal in the first decade of the twentieth century was linked to the politics of clothing. The Swadeshi movement developed in reaction to this measure.