Children's clothes

catherinew

Hi all,

I've read the threads on what I should be wearing as a female in India. We're travelling with our four children (girls of 14 and 12, and boys of 10 and 6). Most of their summer wardrobes at the moment are shorts and t-shirts (including some strappy tops for the girls). Is this going to be acceptable for them, or should we be looking at getting some light long trousers for them etc.?

Thanks

Catherine

wonderwomanusa

If they were mine, I'd have 12- and 14-year-old girls in long, lightweight trousers and long shirts. No shorts or strappy tops.

Western barely-teenage girls are much "older" in many ways than Indian girls of the same age, especially in their physical development, and I wouldn't want them to be "targets."

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camelgirl

Boys can wear anything. I agree with Wonderwoman, though I don't think long pants are necessary. Anything below the knee and not tight would be OK.

And if there is any sign of physical development, no strappy tops. Of course, on the beach or in a hotel pool, swim suits or shorts & tops are OK. Though on a public beach the girls could still get unwanted attention, unless it's predominatly western tourists.

This advice is not followed by many tourists & you will see some women dressed in tight & revealing clothes. There have been lots of threads about this and the younger Westerners and Indians on IM often reject our advice about conservative dress arguing that they and their friends dress in modern (sexy) styles with no problems. I think they generally live in sophisticated cities like Mumbai & are more modern in their thinking.

As western tourists, I believe we have to stick with the more conservative style--which is still the way the vast majority of Indian women dress-- to avoid being bigger targets than we already are!

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catherinew

Thanks for the replies - thats really useful.

Catherine

fajitanumerouno

It also depends on how your kids feel when people stare at them while travelling. Guys and people tend to stare at you there sometimes even when you are in somewhat traditional dress. You kind of have to go with it but if you want to minimize it then go conservative and don't wear strappy stuff, shorts, short skirts. Revealing tight clothing either.
Depends on how touristy an area you visit and how people are dressed when you get there what it will be like. Going conservative is the best bet until you see how people are dressed but then it could change as you go toward bigger international cities and places where there are more tourists and then out to the country could be more traditional. Your kids can always have a good time shopping there as well. So take some stuff but plan to buy some stuff. Have fun!

dhans

For tips on kids clothing (and a lot more), follow the link below.

Greetz,

Hans

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catherinew

I thought I'd follow up on my own post now we're home ...

For information, we took a range of clothing, and the girls found that we attracted attention - irrespective of what they wore! The main attention grabber though was our blond 6 y.o son -for the 'cute' factor - rather than the teenage girls. They soon found that they didn't attract any more (or unwanted) attention wearing shorts or strappy tops, but we always had a shawl or similar with us in case of need to cover up.

We saw very few other western tourists with children travelling at this time of year, so our children feature in rather a number of indian tourists photos (always nicely asked for). Perhaps we were just lucky, but they attracted no unwanted attention, just very pleasant conversations about where we were from etc. - irrespective of whether they were in long trousers/tops, or otherwise.

Catherine

Nick-H

Feedback always welcome; it's nice to hear from people after their trip, and remember you're very welcome to stick around for the next one

Cayle

Unless they are expats, very few westerners will travel in India with children for a variety of reasons. I'm not surprised that they attracted attention. My 7 year old daughter is developing an aversion to public places.

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oregonkara

Would this also be true of a toddler? Does I need to cover her arms and legs?

machadinha

For a toddler, I think it won't matter at all no.

Keep in mind that covering arms & legs will protect against the sun, and so can't hurt at all in that sense. (For a young child, or those of any age that like to run around in the open all day long if they get half a chance, if you can get them to wear a light brimmed hat wouldn't hurt at all either I'm sure.) (Light & loose cottons are the way to go here -- or silk, if you can afford it. Keep in mind nice clothes, children's clothes too, whether Western or traditional Indian, and the latter often more suited to the climate by nature, can be had for a fraction of the price in India. I bought my young nieces two very nicely embellished Indian sets that they now proudly wear; with some friendly haggling, brought down to Rs. 600 for the pair or so I think. I got myself some nice if fairly plain or simple adult sets -- pants and kurta or sherwani, one time with an accompanying fine scarf thrown in practically for free I think, even after I'd agreed on a higher price -- of Indian clothes for a similar price a set. For a handsomely embroidered and perhaps more delicate set of these, you could go up to a few thousand Rupees of course -- which would still be peanuts for the quality.)

For more, check those links in member DHans's signature just above (post #6), he's been there & done that a number of times, and has very good info there.

And read also Catherine's feedback in post #7, indicating it didn't matter a whole lot for her older children either. And so chiming in with Nick to say thanks for the feedback, Catherine

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Nick-H

Reasons unstated, so I'm left completely at a loss as to what the poster means. I'd say that the biggest reason that India is not a family destination is the enormous total cost of the long-haul air tickets for a whole family.

As I don't understand the previous post, I can't say if it is true!

If you mean "covering up" in terms of "modesty" --- no, there is no requirement whatsoever to cover your child's arms and legs.

If covering up is to keep the sun off their skin and to keep them cool, then yes... very wise.

Children can attract attention, and can be given rather too much of it: you may take them home with an over-sized sense of self-importance; rather spoilt in fact

oregonkara

Yeah, it didn't matter what clothes I put my 17 month old daughter in. She was swooped up, and kissed, and pinched, and had her picture taken everywhere.

Nick-H

Poor kid!