Traditional Gujarat Dresses

Traditional Gujarati men's dress includes a kedia or kurta on top and a dhoti or chorno underneath. Gujarati women wear a sari or chania chanyi. Recently they have also begun to wear salwar kameez.

Read more about Gujarat's traditional dresses.

Traditional dresses of Gujarati men

Chorn

A chorn is a type of cotton pants worn by Gujarati men, which is similar to a sewn dhoti, very loose and comfortable. Chorns have either a tie at the waist or an elastic band.

Kediyu

Kediyu is a garment worn over chorn to cover the upper body. Kediyu is a kurta type of dress with ruffles worn by men in Gujarat. It is also called the Angraha.

Dhoti

A dhoti or dhoti is a long piece of clothing that is wrapped around a man's lower body. The garment is wrapped around the waist and tucked between the legs. Gujarati men wore white or light colored dhoti.

Kurta

A kurtas is a top that covers the torso of men. Kurtas for everyday use are made of cotton. Holiday kurtas may have embroidery or drawings.

Phento

Phento is a headdress or turban worn by Gujarati men, especially in rural areas. It consists of a layered cloth wrapped around the head.

Jewelry

Young boys do not wear much jewelry. Gujarat men may wear a gold ring and chain.

Read also: 10 amazing festivals of Gujarat

Traditional dresses of Gujarati women

The traditional attire of Gujarati women is chania choli or chhagra choli. Women also carry one (dupatta or chunni) with them.

Chaniyo

Chaniyo or lehengas is a colored skirt or skirt as a garment worn by women.

Choli

Women wear a choli on top. It is an embroidered short blouse.

Chunni

Chunni, Odhni or dupatta is a stretched piece of fabric to complement a dress.

Women may also wear kurtas instead of choli, known as chabo and lehenga along with it.

Sari

A sari is a long piece of clothing wrapped around a woman's body, with the excess or end thrown over her shoulder. Nevertheless, Gujarati women wear the end of the sari in front.

Gujarati women carry their house keys tucked into a sari that wraps around their waist with a silver hook. This is because traditionally their role was to take care of the house.

Traditional jewelry of Gujarati women

A married woman in Gujarat wears the Mangal Sutra, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and nose rings. Unmarried women wear small balis (loop earrings) and may even have their noses pierced and wear nat (jewelry with spikes on the nose). Married women also wear bindi and sindur.

Dresses for special ceremonies

Raas Garba

Raas is a form of folk dance performed in pairs. It is a dance to reproduce the Raas Lila or Lord Krishna dance. The couple dances with sticks in their hands and beats each other.

Garba is a folk dance performed in a circle with a group of people following simple steps. Raas Garba is performed during Navratri, weddings and any other celebrations.

Women wear chania-choli or chhagra-choli with a kamarbandha. A kamarbandha is a colored belt. It may be made of cloth or in the form of a chain in a jewel-like fashion. The kamarbandha is worn over the chunni to keep it from flying away.

Men wear keviyah and churidars. Churidars are narrow pants. A keviya is a tight-fitting coat with long sleeves and decorated with ruffles. They are embroidered with pebbles to add a festive feel.

Marriage Encounter

Bride's Clothes

The bride wears a sari for the wedding ceremony. It can be panetar or "garhola. A panethar is a white sari with a red bandhini border. Garhola is a traditional red bandhini sari with a woven square pattern.

Groom's clothes

The groom wears a kurta with designs such as embroidery or zari and dhoti work. He may also wear a turban. Nowadays, however, grooms have begun to wear a churid under their kurtas instead of a dhoti.

Traditional Kutch Dresses

Kutch women wear a special type of choli called abha or kanjari. Abha is a long blouse that is decorated with rhinestones and gold/silver threads.

The men wear loose pants with short coats that are tied with lacing rather than buttons. They usually wear white clothing with a fent red or white on the head.

The Influence of Western Culture

Gujarat women have gone from wearing saris to salwar kameez. They also work in the cities and find it difficult to wear saris every day. Western clothing adds to their comfort and allows them to move around freely.

Men began to wear shirts and pants instead of the traditional kurta and dhoti. The younger generation, especially in the cities, is very familiar with Western culture and its fashion. Thus they found the wearing of Western clothing very comfortable.

Perhaps in some rural areas, especially in Kutch, you will see people dressed in traditional attire. In cities, people wear such outfits during marriages or Navratri.

Gujarat dresses are very colorful and festive. The clothes are heavy with many details. It is famous for its bandhani or bandhani designs, gold and zari thread embroidery, and jewelry that give the costume a finished look.