As in any society, how you dress affects your experiences. Your fashion choices make a statement about your intentions and these statements are subject to cultural in-terpretation. Though a small segment of urban India has been exposed to and often accepted new fashion directions, most Indians hold a more conservative view.



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Dress for the culture

Many travelers dress for their fellow travellers. The logic seems to be if it is funky in New York, why not Chennai. The problem is that in Chennai, the majority of people you encounter will not have the New York perspective. Your funky outfit may come across as bizarre, comical, or overly suggestive. This is going to affect how people interact with you.

Your best guideline is to look around you, see what the locals are wearing, decide in good conscience what you would be comfortable wearing, and go from there. And adjust your dress as the situation changes. An outfit that will attract little attention on the beach at Kovalam or Goa may draw negative reactions in Hyderabad. And an urbane center like Ben- galooru will accommodate more causal dress that the temple town of Madurai.

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What men should consider

As a general rule, urban Indian men wear western dress ? some variation of long pants and a shirt. Western men wearing traditional Indian dress are quickly slotted into the ?hippie? category. Look for comfortable cotton shirts, and loose, cotton or cotton blend trousers.

What women should consider

Dressing to fit is more important for women who want to avoid unnecessary hassles. The standard advice is to cover your shoulders and your back, and avoid showing cleavage. Definitely avoid the solid colored drawstring skirts sold everywhere.

Clean & Neat

Taking the trouble to dress appropriately will be wasted if you're putting on wrinkled or grimy clothes. Indians are quite fastidious about their apparel. All but the very poorest wear freshly washed and ironed clothes.

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