JOIN USFunctional fashion is an oxymoron. Matron fashion designer is another. But I am a hopeless optimist who wants to pull off both.
What got me started were the regular, newspaper reports on the incidents of chain snatching. For every one that gets reported I was sure there are two that weren’t. After all chain snatching is like a pick-pocketing. The onus of guarding ones possession lay with the victim. You got to take care of yourself.
Now with the price of gold soaring by the day, even a daily wear light chain is too expensive to lose. It’s time we had a plan in place to outwit the snatchers.
Grandma's advice has been simple. Cover up. Cover the neck with the saree ‘pallu’, my mother would remind me every time I stepped out of home. No one can argue on the effectiveness of this plan.
But this simple solution seldom gets implemented. Like the helmet on the head, the drape is a weight to carry around on the neck. It feels bulky and in a short while you feel hot and suffocated. It also crumples and ruins a neatly ironed saree. And, last but not the least objection is that it doesn’t look one bit elegant.
So here is an idea I place in the public forum. How about inducting a scarf, a neck scarf, into our desi dress code?
The primary purpose of the scarf would be to cover the chain under. Made of fine cotton or silk, the scarf would outweigh the weighty disadvantages of a pallu. It certainly would be a breeze to wear a light scarf and walk carefree on the road.
Aside serving the utility purpose, the scarf, could become a fashion accessory to brighten up the dress. Matching scarves, four piece salwar suits, sarees ‘with blouse piece and scarf’ – I can see a range of commercial opportunities opening up here! A fringe benefit would be that the neck would remain protected from suntan.
How should one wear the scarf? Here the humble matron moves over clearing the stage for ‘authentic’ fashion designers. Any takers for this exciting, socio-business opportunity?