Indian Vogue

Women around here have a lot of clothes. And I mean a lot. In the states, I’m used to most of the women that I know enjoying lots of different outfits and shopping for clothes. It’s only natural, and I can’t blame them for it. I’m entirely the opposite. I pride myself on having a very plain, basic wardrobe. One time I went to Express and bought a solid black t-shirt. I liked it so much that I went back the next week and bought 5 more. And that’s the way (uh-huh uh-huh) I like it.

I was reminded of the differences between me and the women here when one of the teachers with whom I’m friendly, Monica, walked into the office and we chatted for a short while. Then I realized that I can’t remember her wearing the same outfit more than once. That’s not to say that she never has, but it does mean that she, and many other women that I know here, have so many that they infrequently wear the same thing twice. They really like it. I’m also used to many of the women in my life having 2-3 outfits, t-shirts or bottoms that they really like more than others. They tend to wear them frequently. Again, not the case here.

At least clothes here are really cheap. When Agata came in January, she wanted to get some Indian clothes to fit in better, because while it is perfectly acceptable for men to wear Western clothes here, most women do not. Here, one is able to go to one store, purchase the material that they like, take it to another store for measuring, and pick up a tailor-made outfit the next day. Agata bought two of these outfits, and it cost her less than 1500 rupees (about 30 USD). Quite a steal, and she was even overpaying a bit.

I’m not saying that there aren’t any women like that in the states. In fact, if I grew up in a more “in style” place like New York or Chicago, or if I was of a different temperament and had a different set of friends, I might not even notice the difference. It just seems strange to me for all these people in a relatively poor town, leading very simple lives, to devote a comparatively large percentage of their time and income on clothing. Personally, I think there are better things on which you can spend money.

But I probably have no room to talk, seeing as I’m the guy whose spending money in India mostly goes to buying ingredients to make unusual food for Indians who have never tasted anything like it before. To each their own.