What to Wear in India..Helpful Hints for Women

Nice to see a female friendly thread, indeed.

From perhaps the only Indian lady posting here: *please* leave the flip-flops at home. Here in India, they are called "bathroom slippers", for a reason - for the most part, they are only worn inside the house and specifically to the bathroom, when bathing (with the bucket and mug).

Can't tell you how many times we have shuddered at Western visitors who come to dinner wearing flip flops a k a "hawaii's" . It's the equivalent of an Indian wearing a bathrobe to dinner in a Westerm household!

Wear tevas, trainers, closed toe, open toe pumps, anything. Not them darn hawaii's! Ouch!

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Wearing a saree: yes, unless you have had plenty of practice, a 'salwar kameez' is advised over a saree while travelling. Some Indian accesories - bangles, light jewelry around the neck completes the look, Indian outfits are meant to be accesorised well.

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A string of flowers in the hair is ok. One single flower - esp. a red flower! - is not ok.

That's excellent advice HumanBean - something a westerner might never guess at (the flip-flops). Do you have any more tips? What else do we "get wrong"?

A U.S. size 9 is the largest women's shoe size I saw when I lived in Delhi, and even then whether it was truly a size 9 was doubtful. It was very, very narrow.

I still recommend a closed-toe sandal. Do not underestimate the dirt and muck that your feet will pick up. Take a good nail brush and pumice stone and plan for a little soak at the end of each day. If your feet are used to closed shoes, being exposed most of the time is going to be a bit of a shock. Check your feet daily for cuts and cracks, which some plentiful and opportunistic germs will use to gain access to your body. Take or buy some Neosporin and use it. Also Krack cream, available in any chemist's, will help keep your feet from splitting and cracking.

I hope by this you meant "don't wear flip-flops in public" not, "don't bother bringing them on your trip" as I had intended to bathe at some point during my trip.

I would also be interested in any more helpful tips. I think the majority of us know we're going to look silly at some point, but would like to keep the screw-ups to a minimum.

personally I don't like closed-toe sandals. I wore open sandals and flipflops for 5 months last year during my trip in Thailand. Yes, my feet got dusty and dirty but I can live with that. I just can stand closed shoes or closed-toe sandals on my feet when it's so hot.
Does anybody know if you can get those chappals I mentioned before made by a shoemaker or so?
And thanks HumanBean, it's good to know I shouldn't wear those rubber flipflops in public.

I wore men's Bata chappals, available almost anywhere.

Tracey, what do those look like? I'm a (U.S) size 10 women's, so I'm thinking my shoe buying opportunities are limited!

They're similar to this but without the ornamentation. They have almost zero padding, so it's rather like walking on concrete all day. I wore them for kicking around but not for extended tourist-type walking.

Hi, sorry took some time to get this reply posted.

Isn’t it a sad reflection that women have to be so careful about their travel wear – should be ‘whatever makes you feel comfortable’ - when it’s the MEN who ogle/grope/lech who should be getting blindfolded ?!

* Yes – do carry your flip-flops ( or buy them at Bata!) and use them inside your room/ bathroom – just not in public…

* It’s hard to generalize about what a traveler may get “wrong” – but I’d suggest – accept anything ( food, darshan at temples…gifts, shopping) with your right hand only, or with both hands; never the left, if you can remember to

I saw an English girl on TV, who was traveling through Kerela on an elephant – she had her arms draped over the mahouts’ shoulders; something which would have delighted them – and shocked many onlookers! Hard to decide on the do’s and don’ts as they can be highly subjective, in her case I’d have said – avoid.


Foreigners are considered strange in their habits – true - so it’s not as if you’ll offend intentionally. No cleavage – at all – t-shirts and capris/long pants or salwar kameezes may be the most comfortable. If you want to look hip in an urban environment, wear pants with a short kurti ( short sparkly loose shirt) with dangly earrings and the Indian sequined slippers called ‘joothis’. That would be considered hip in any major world metro! If you really want to please your host / colleagues here, wear a saree at least once. It really pleases most Indian hosts and families.

Enjoy your travels Ine B, Lily b and Torryquine – and all of you lady travellers

Now we’d like to hear from the men reading this thread

I wear salwar/churidar kameez about every other day, even here at home in the USA. Can't be beat for comfort! I wear sarees too but mainly for special occasions since more work goes into getting dressed!

For women not familiar with Indian clothes, I definitely recommend a Punjabi suit or salwar kameez since these will feel most like the typical Western shirt and pants. Tempting as it might be to leave off the dupatta or the long scarf, don't. You will look incomplete without it. If you find that it gets in your way, just tie the two ends together and sling it over one or both shoulders.

When getting your kameezes stitched, see if you can get more than one stitching line placed at the side seams. That way, if you gain weight, you only have to remove the innermost seam line on each side and presto, the garment is now one size bigger!

Now maybe I should start a new thread for the 101 Uses of a Dupatta!

I discovered one on Saturday night! In preparation for India, I wore the ghaghari choli (sp?) set that I bought on eBay to a dinner party. It was rather cold in the house, but I discovered the dupatta could be used to keep ones arms warm.

one of the best uses I found was using it to cover my mouth while sitting in a bus at the bus station - the diesel fumes are unbelievable (not to mention dust, etc...) I traveled in August and September and found a salwar kameez great all-around travel wear, especially because I could rinse it out with soap & water at night and would be dry enough to wear next morning because the cotton material was so thin...

Hello Fellow Women Travellers

I have a dilmena. I live in North Queensland Australia where it is really hot so I own nothing that is decent enough to wear in India everything I own would be regarded as far to skimpy. So I have to get some new clothes....but I have been debating what to get as I will be romping around on trains a lot and going on a camel safari I figure that jeans and a kaftan would be good.

My dilemna is deciding what I need to guard myself against the cold in India's North (Delhi - Agra - Varanasi - Jaipur - Jaisalmer) in Jan -Feb but not packing too much as I am backpacking and will also be spending some time in Mumbai and Goa where I assume it will be warmer.

So should I take a thermal top and pants to wear under the jeans and under kaftan? Or is that too much? Would a t-shirt under the kaftan probably suffice. I am person that really feels the cold, and I know if I am cold I will be cranky! Also is it possible to get nice Kaftans or flowy hippy Indian embroided long sleeved tops that are appropriate to wear while travelling when I land in Delhi? As Kaftans are in fashion here at the moment that aren't exactly el cheapo so I was thinking about buying one here and then getting more in Delhi.

Also I don't own a nice enough Salwaar to wear despite being Indian but I have want to get one in Delhi as well. However I am concerned how warm they keep you. Did you ladies who have travelled in North India in Jan-Feb find them warm enough or did you have to resort to wearing thermals underneath them? Also can you wear sandals considering it is winter in India?
I originally was going to take Doc and not worry about wearing a S.K but have changed my mind after reading the posts here. However I only want to take one pair of shoes and Docs would look horrendous with a SK . What shoes did you ladies find good to wear in winter with jeans and a Salwaar?

I think you need a splendidly vertical posture to wear a Sari effectively. Very few Western women have that. Most Indian women do.

Is that always true? I'd like to dress to show and gain respect. Is there a thread on men's dress? I'd search myself but the damp bit of string connecting to the Internet is drying out!