Question

What efforts were made by different Indians to design a national dress?

Answer 1

As nationalist feelings swept across India by the late nineteenth century, Indians began devising cultural symbols that would express the unity of the nation. At the same time, search for a national dress was also made in order to define the cultural identity of the nation in symbolic ways. Efforts made by different Indians to design a national dress are given below:
(i) The Tagore family of Bengal experimented, beginning in the 1870s, with design, for a national dress for both men and women in India. Rabindranath Tagore suggested that instead of combining Indian and European dress, India's national dress should combine elements of Hindu and Muslim dress. Thus, the Chapkan (a lompo buttoned coat) was considered the most suitable dress for men.
(ii) There were also attempts to develop a dress style that would draw on the tradition of different regions.