Ancient Indian Costume c8.s3.7

c8.s3.7

It would be interesting to find a satisfactory answer as to why, at this particular juncture, Indian women frequently began to clothe the top half of their bodies. For many centuries before, they had moved around unselfconsciously nude above the waist. There were probably two reasons. One was that the female attendants in the king's court, thrown into the company of beautiful foreigners who wore upper garments, must have realized that covering the bosom could be even more attractive than exposing it, and accordingly emulated the dress style of the foreigners. Also, with the impact of Buddhism, Jainism, and Christianity the belief that the body was sinful and must be concealed to avoid temptation was percolating through India. In medieval Europe, around this time, similar changes were occurring in female clothing, and women began covering themselves from head to foot.