Now that I’ve told you what not to wear, in a true Clinton and Stacy fashion, I am going to tell you what you should wear in India.

• Sneakers. In particular, a comfortable, but not brand new pair. They are likely to get covered in India Funk.
• A pair of sandals or flip flops that can be easily rinsed. I had my crocs cleo sandals, and Oak wore some Teva-style sandals almost constantly throughout the trip. Ones that slip off easily are good for places that make you take your shoes off, like caves and temples.
• Spants. I know they’re not highly fashionable, but they’re usually made of a breathable and quick-drying fabric. Breathable handy because as a woman, you’ll most likely have them in pant form most of the time, and quick-drying because laundry is done manually and by hand. (Either by you in the hotel sink or by the hotel, where they’ll beat it against a rock and hang it up in the sun to dry). In the rare occasion where shorts feel OK, you can easily convert yourself.
• As I said before, t-shirts that aren’t too form fitting. Combined with the spants, what a fashionable ensemble.
• My Indian clothing tips: There are two things of Indian clothes that I consider practical for western women:
  • The first is a kurti, which is a blouse that you can wear with your spants or jeans. They come in a bunch of different styles, fabrics, and colors and can easily be adapted to wear at home.
  • The second is a salwar kameez. A salwar kameez (in India, at least) is a combination of very wide drawstring pants, a knee-length shirt, and a scarf. I first read about these on the India Mike forums as something very practical to buy on the trip. I both agree and disagree with this statement, depending on what you’re doing. First of all, a salwar feels like wearing pajamas. (a definite plus). However, the scarf is a required element of the outfit, and I found it to be quite bothersome, even when just walking around. Unless you want to be a fashion faux pas, you have to wear sandals with your salwar. Only old ladies wear sneakers with their salwar. So, for hikes and things like that, I was much more comfortable in western clothes. The salwars did come in handy for overnight train trips, and I imagine they’d be good to wear in a city or when you’re moving around at a fairly slow pace. Just my thoughts. Indian women wear salwars everywhere, but then again, they also wear extremely uncomfortable looking sandals on 3 mile hikes. Go figure.
• Bring lots of underwear. At least two weeks worth, so you never run out of clean ones! Same with socks if you plan on wearing sneakers. I wore sneakers a lot because I hated my feet feeling so dirty from wearing sandals.
• Makeup in India should be pretty minimal. Because it was so hot, it got sweat off a lot and I stopped bothering with it for the most part. One thing I found very handy was a tube of Burt’s bees lip balm in my pocket. It was dry season, and added to the heat, it’s important to keep your lips moisturized. (and feel at least a tad presentable) In addition, a tube of sunblock is a must. Bring it from home because I didn’t see it many places while we were there. Indian people don’t use sunblock. Also, ditch the pedicure in the states. See my other comments about dirty feet for obvious reasons. Bring along some nail clippers and a file, and leave the rest at home.
• An easy to carry tote bag became a must, to stylishly yet subtley carry “Lonely Planet” around, I ended up buying what we called “the hippy bag” – one of those big bottomless pit style purses. It came in handy.
• Though this isn’t really something you WEAR, per se, a bottle of hand sanitizer is essential. Most of the bathrooms didn’t have soap at the sinks. Plus, I used my pomegranate scented one that smelled yummy.

So, that’s what to wear in India. Make sure these rules are only followed outside of the country, because if they are tried here it’s quite possible that Clinton and Stacy will be hunting you down for some public humiliation!

Posted by Carrie on Thursday, February 21, 2008
Categories: india · 7 Comments »