Traditional clothing or not? (tattoos on women, and more)

Hi everyone! So my trip is only in December/January, but being a girl who loves clothing and dressing up I have been oohing and aaihg all the beautiful traditional styles of clothing that I'll get to wear in India! (So much more beautiful than Western clothing imho!) I was planning to arrive with just enough in my backpack to get me through the first few days, and then head out to buy a range of readymade and tailor-made salwaar kameez and such for the rest of my trip (I'll be in the North and South).

However, I've across this post that made me a little confused whether I should adopt Indian styles or not. I look mostly (or, very? ) Indian (Indian ethnical origin from my mother's side. Dad's Malay/Indonesia/Euro genes didn't stand a chance! haha!), traveling with my European husband, both in our 20s - and the poster seemed to say that this is more prone to attracting "attention" if the girl in these mixed couples dresses in traditional fashion instead of a "non-Indian resident" look (what I assume is "Western" attire!? I don't even know!?) Other posters after said it didn't matter in their cases, but they were older…?

To top it off, I have a very bold chest tattoo (a black raven, a lotus and a ship - stretches to both shoulders and ends just before a round neck T-Shirt collar, to give an idea of size), as well as a large tattoo on my upper right arm (2 ravens, a huge eye, some abstract shamanic and Indian inspired symbols) and a tiny one-eyed black cat on the back of my neck that is often covered if my hair isn't in a bun.

If I don't wear traditional clothing, these will probably show more - but even some styles of salwaar kameez seem to have necklines that fall below where my chest tattoo ends…how "paranoid" should I be to try to hide these tattoos, taking all the above info into account? I dress modestly at home or here in Europe anyway, so that part isn't an issue, but I don't want negative attention because perhaps these symbols mean bad luck for different people? In my own family they are seen as such, so I don't think it's impossible they will be seen in the same light in India. Or maybe I am just blessed with a very conservative family Conversely, I am not keen on negative attention because I am dressing traditionally either (please look at the post I linked to previously)...

This might seem superficial and/or paranoid to some, but having these tattoos as a "caramel" person in Europe has made me a lot more cautious about my body art than in my home land or in the US, where it's usually taken lightly or with great interest.

Thanks for your advice!

In my opinion none of this should not matter ... women in general get a lot of unwanted attention ...
As long as you respect the local traditions you should be fine especially if you are visiting religious sites.
I usually recommend keeping a 'dupatta' / scarf handy ...
Tattoos will attract attention in any part of the world - more out of curiosity.

You'll be fine. I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
Cheers! and Safe Travels,
Madhu

violetfriday, don't worry about it. A thousand small details will give you away as not being local, even though you may look it. Even NRIs get recognised and, for instance, quite often charged as tourists!

Salwar Kameez is almost a compromise dress. Here, for instance, whilst being very much Indian, it is much less traditional. When I first came here, the sari was the woman's dress.

One thing about SK is that (apart from the various things to do with a dupata) there is no black art to wearing it, whereas, as I'm sure you know, wearing a sari has to be learnt and is not easy for beginners. Therefore, if recognised as foreign, you'll get more appreciation for wearing a sari, but more attention too.

I suggest you keep your raven covered up, at least when out on the street: the male eye will be fascinated by it, and find an excuse to linger. Practice the duppatta before coming

Thank you for your replies madhu_nair and Nick-H The advice in both posts helped to calm my paranoia quite a bit! Nick, I definitely won't be backpacking in a sari, so I like that you said SK is a good compromise for foreigners regardless of where they're from. I was just a bit confused when someone in the linked post brought up an issue I hadn't even thought of, and that kinda set off all kinds of crazy worries..

The dupatta is one of the many things I really adore about traditional Indian dress - it allows a woman to cover what she wants/needs to and remain modest, but still be so breathtakingly beautiful - and can be taken off (or put on!) as and when needed, very convenient. I think I'll rely on this little gem while I'm there for sure. Thanks for the heads up guys!!

Hi

I think you will be fine.I met another lady traveller on my recent trip to India and her body was adorned with many visible tattoos and some really large piercings in her lobes.She wore modest western style clothing and she had many people wanting to look at the artwork on her,but she didn't receive any negative responces.Wear your Salwar and hide with your dupatta if you feel the need to Have a great trip.

Hi goddess75, thanks for your reply! It's so helpful to also hear some hands-on experience with this! I have medium-sized lobe stretchings but I figure they can look like ornate earrings (and not "holes") with the right jewelry in them It's so great to hear that people were interested in her body art in a positive way - this can create a great atmosphere to share each other's culture in fun and happy light, no? The dupatta seems like a winner all round

I definitely feel waaaay less worried about all this now thanks to all your replies everyone!