A kurta is a loose collarless shirt or tunic worn in many regions of South Asia, (subscription required) Quote: "A loose shirt or tunic worn by men and women." Quote: "Kurta: a loose shirt without a collar, worn by women and men from South Asia" and now also worn around the world. Quote: "The kurta—the tunic—is likewise variable in its cut. It might be wide or tight, there is variety in the length and width of the sleeves, the height of the slits on either side, and especially the shape of the neck. The length of the tunic varies as well, ranging from upper-thigh to well below the knee. Like most garments of this type, worn by people in many countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, the tunic always covers the crotch area of both genders." Tracing its roots to Central Asian nomadic tunics, or upper body garments, of the late-ancient- or early-medieval era, the kurta has evolved stylistically over the centuries, especially in South Asia, as a garment for everyday wear as well as for formal occasions.
The kurta is traditionally made of cotton or silk. It is worn plain or with embroidered decoration, such as chikan; and it can be loose or tight in the torso, typically falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer. The front and back of a traditional kurta are made of rectangular pieces, and its side-seams are left open at the bottom, up to varying lengths, to enable ease of movement.
The sleeves of a traditional kurta fall to the wrist without narrowing, the ends hemmed but not cuffed; the kurta can be worn by both men and women; it is traditionally collarless, though standing collars are increasingly popular. Kurtas are traditionally worn over ordinary pajamas, loose shalwars, or churidars. Among urban youth, kurtas are being increasingly worn over jeans, not only in South Asia, but also in the South Asian diaspora, both the recently established, and the longstanding. Young women and girls in urban areas are increasingly wearing kurtis, which are short hip-length kurtas, with jeans or leggings, in addition to more traditional lower-body garments.
Etymology
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English,kurta (n): A loose collarless shirt worn by people from South Asia, usually with a salwar, churidars, or pyjama. From Urdu and Persian kurtah. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (online, subscription required),Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition. 1989. the first use of kurta in English is attributed to W.G. Lawrence in T. E. Lawrence, Home Letters, 1913, "Me in a dhoti khurta, White Indian clothes." According to Cannon and Kay's The Persian Contributions to the English Language: A Historical Dictionary, 2001, kurta, n. (Ogilby 1673: 50) Cloth., var. khurta, kurtha + 1 [Persian. a tunic, waistcoat, jacket & Hindi & Urdu ( < Persian.)] A loose shirt or tunic worn by Persian men and now esp. by Indians; a woman's dress resembling the man's kurta, popular in the West. According to Platt's A Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi, and English, 1884, online, updated 2015, (online; updated February 2015) Persian کرته kurta, s.m. A shirt worn outside the drawers; a frock, a kind of tunic; a waistcoat or jacket. According to McGregor's Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary: कुरता kurtā: (Persian. masculine), a collarless shirt According to Winer's Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago: On Historical Principles, 2009, kurti, kurtee n A traditional form of Indian woman's long loose-fitting tunic, with long sleeves. /kurti/ * Usually the Kurti was longer than men's Kurta, for sometimes it reached down [past] the knees. (Raghoo 1984:3) * She used to wear long dress and kurtee and tie a handkerchief on her head. (Deen 1994:167) According to Steingass's A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, 1892 (updated 2007) کرته kurta, A tunic, waistcoat, jacket; a long loose-skirted under-gown or shirt; a shirt. کرتی kurtī, A waistcoat for women, a short bodice reaching to the hips, with very short, if any sleeves, open under the throat; a soldier's jacket. (Updated 2007) Arabic قرطق qurt̤aq (Persian. كرته kurta), A kind of garment. Arabic قرطقة qartaqat (v.n. of قرطق), Putting the garment qurt̤aq on (any person). (Updated 2007)
History
According to author Roshen Alkazi, stitched (i.e. cut and sewn) attire came to South Asia from Central Asia. There was a trickle during the Scythian/Parthian/Kushan invasions of the late ancient period. Quote:"Taking the Kushan period as a starting point the changes that took place in Indian costume as a result of the connections with Uzbekistan in Central Asia are discussed The ordinary dress of the people of India till then had consisted usually of unstitched garments as antariya/dhoti, uttariya/dupatta and a kayabandh/cummerbund with a turban for men. With the advent of the Kushans this was extended, and the fashion of wearing sewn garments of Central Asiatic pattern seems to have made headway with many classes of Indian in North India The cut-and-sewn garments which are rarely visible in the previous Mauryan and Sunga sculptures are more commonly found in this period. The Kushans under Kanishka spread their empire over large parts of Central Asia and India. The Kushans in AD 48 entered Gandhara under Kadphises and overthrew the Greeks. Later they took the Kabul valley from the Parthians and extended their empire to cover the Punjab. Sind, northern Gujarat. and part of Central Asia. Still later they annexed Kashmir and part of Chinese Turkestan. Kanishka (AD 120–162) was their greatest ruler. Although the Kushans ruled for almost three centuries, they never looked on India as their home. Detesting the heat of the plains they retired to Kashmir or Afghanistan in the summer. They wore the clothes of Central Asia which were cut and sewn and consisted of long padded coals and riding boots with spurs and pointed caps, totally different from the draped and unstitched garments worn by the Indians. (page 465)" with Mahmud of Ghazni, the floodgates opening with the Muslim conquests of the late 12th century, until the kurta became an item of common attire during the early modern era. Quote: "This exposure to a different mode of dress for four centuries in the ancient period and for six centuries under Islamic rulers later, created the varieties of cut and sewn garments which now form and intrinsic part of what today is called Indian costume. This applies particularly to the Deccan and the Northern parts of India. The South, however, retained the earlier draped and unstitched garments of ancient India, e.g., the antariya/dhoti, the uttariya/dupatta and cummerband/waist cloth. These cut and sewn garments of the invaders underwent dramatic changes evolving from simple Central Asian nomadic costume (both Kushan and the Turk Mongol peoples were horse-riding nomads) to the highly civilized, urban and decorative costume of the Mughal court and the day-to-day comfortable and relaxed dress of the common man of today called the kurta-pyjama (page 468)" Quote: "Timur's large empire in Central Asia influenced the garments worn at all Islamic courts including India. Babur who himself came from the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan was the first of the Mughals and he and his progeny continued exercising their influence on Indian costume right till the advent of the British. The role of the Mughals in creating new and fashionable modes of dress started to percolate to the masses in the same way that British costume did in a later period. What we see today in the trousers, shirts and coats is the British influence on Indian dress, just as the kurta, pyjama, salwar, achkan is that of Central Asia ..."
According to Alkazi: ...In the Ghaznavid period, we have only one clear visual reference to their actual costume, those worn by the Mamluk (slave) palace guards of Mahmud of Ghazni, in the wall paintings of Lashkari Bazaar in Afghanistan. They wear the qaba made of rich patterned textiles. This was a mid-calf length tunic with long narrow sleeves and tiraz. The opening is from right to left and has a small loop for closing it higher at the left shoulder. This closing at the left shoulder was one of the earliest forms of neck closing and a relic of this is still seen in the Russian tunic and in the contemporary kurtas used in certain parts of India, both of which close at the left shoulder. (p 467)
Styles
A traditional kurta is composed of rectangular fabric pieces with perhaps a few gusset inserts, and is cut so as to leave no waste fabric. The cut is usually simple, although decorative treatments can be elaborate.
The sleeves of a traditional kurta fall straight to the wrist; they do not narrow, as do many Western-cut sleeves. Sleeves are not cuffed, just hemmed and decorated.
The front and back pieces of a simple kurta are also rectangular. The side seams are left open for 6-12 inches above the hem, also referred to as the chāk, which gives the wearer some ease of movement. (Note: chāk derives from the Persian "چاك ćāk, Fissure, cleft, rent, slit, a narrow opening intentionally left in clothes)." (online; updated February 2015)
The kurta usually opens in the front; some styles, however, button at the shoulder seam. The front opening is often a hemmed slit in the fabric, tied or buttoned at the top; some kurtas, however, have plackets rather than slits. The opening may be centered on the chest, or positioned off center.
A traditional kurta does not have a collar. Modern variants may feature stand-up collars of the type known to tailors and seamstresses as "mandarin" collars. These are the same sort of collars seen on achkans, sherwanis, and Nehru jackets.
Material
Kurtas worn in the summer months are usually made of thin silk or cotton fabrics; winter season kurtas are made of thicker fabric such as wool or "Khadi silk", a thick, coarse, handspun and handwoven silk that may be mixed with other fibers. A very common fabric for the kurta pajama is linen, or a linen-cotton mix ideal for both summers and winters.
Kurtas are typically fastened with tasselled ties, cloth balls, and loops, or buttons. Buttons are often wood or plastic. Kurtas worn on formal occasions might feature decorative metal buttons, which are not sewn to the fabric, but, like cufflinks, are fastened into the cloth when needed. Such buttons can be decorated with jewels, enameling, and other traditional jewelers' techniques.
Decoration Tailors from the South Asia command a vast repertoire of methods, traditional and modern, for decorating fabric. It is likely that all of them have been used, at one time or another, to decorate kurtas. However, the most common decoration is embroidery. Many light summer kurtas feature Chikan embroidery, a specialty of Lucknow, around the hems and front opening. This embroidery is typically executed on light, semi-transparent fabric in a matching thread.
Regional variants