Dear All,

Probably few people in Pakistan today remember one particular fashion craze of the late 1970s: the awami suit, which was worn by both men and women. The awami suit was just that­ –awami: the garb of the people, the outfit of the ordinary man (yes, man - the template was of male clothing).The awami suit was your basic mono-coloured shalwar kamees with collar, cuffs and pockets, so it was both simple and practical.

The awami suit craze caught on at a time when the then prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was preaching socialism and equality. The adoption of the awami suit reflected a certain level of democratisation, it wasn’t just working-class men or tribal leaders who wore this, it began to have a certain acceptability across the social strata: Bhutto, a politician from a Sindhi feudal background was a well-dressed man who had initially cut a dapper figure in his well-tailored Western suits and flamboyant ties but after his party’s version of the Mao suit, and in the latter part of his tenure as PM, he increasingly began to address rallies wearing this outfit. The most interesting part of this sartorial trend was that it extended to women, the awami suit was unisex clothing. To an extent it was a liberating factor for women in Pakistani society.

Although young women in the late 1970s eagerly adopted this fashion, very little visual evidence of this remains. I was astonished that I could not find any group photos showing women in awami suits but I do remember that we liked the idea and enthusiastically used the template, with its collar and back yoke and its front as well as side pockets, often without the need for a dupatta. The women who did have dupattas tended to wear them like scarves, falling forward, tucked under the collar.

Basically, in an awami suit you could blend in – or not. Women would use the basic darker block colours to generally blend in with the populace. Else, they could use brighter fabrics to liven things up and to stand out. They could create variations on the theme. I personally remember having an awami suit tailored in candy pink and another made up from green striped sussi. These also had front pockets, which were practical not just because of their storage capacity but also because for women they added an extra layer of cloth at chest level (eliminating transparency and cling issues).

The awami suit offered a sort of egalitarianism: it could be a uniform of sorts as men and women worked together for social change, it eliminated gender stereotyping as well as other differences and was an indigenous version of a functional collar, cuffs and pockets outfit.

Basically, in an awami suit you could blend in – or not. Women would use the basic darker block colours to generally blend in with the populace or they could use brighter fabrics to liven things up and to stand out, they could create variations on the theme.

As I reflect on this sartorial and social phase in Pakistan’s history what is striking is how starkly different it is from today’s reality where excessive embellishment is the norm – and the aspiration. You could argue that this was to be expected in this part of the world because of our design aesthetic– which is vibrant and highly decorative and rooted in local arts, crafts and architecture – but I disagree, my view is that it is due to a change in both our socio-economic reality and our value system.

Now, women’s clothing (especially wedding wear) is excessively ornamental. This ornamentation can be either printed onto the fabric, embroidered or added as a trimming. ‘Less is more’ is definitely not the prevailing trend. At weddings, people are proud to acquire bridal outfits that are as garish as an overdecorated Christmas tree (or perhaps as blinding as a highly illuminated mosque on Eid). Ornamentation is expensive so it is also an indicator of wealth and here is the key issue: people want to be recognised as wealthy/ superior through their clothes. They no longer want to wear the same style of clothes as their drivers or chowkidars(the lower income groups who actually continue to wear the awami suit).

The wealthy males who now wear this outfit may don it but they ensure that the provenance of their versions is distinguishable – visibly from a certain designer or superior in some other way. And, of course, the richer wearers will add Gucci loafers and flashy watches to signal their superior status.

I know there are people who insist that the rise of designer fashion and couture in Pakistan indicates great progress as well as some sort of an advancement in the cultural field. Well maybe, but what sort of advancement is it that industries catering to the rich and their weddings are thriving while we remain unable to even manufacture a fridge compressor or a car engine?

Today the idea of the unisex awami suit is as outdated and as scoffed at as the idea of an egalitarian society. Now Pakistan is gripped by a capitalist, greed-oriented ethos which co-exists, strangley enough, with a deep religiosity. Both these systems ensure that women remain dif, ‘the other’, either pious as dictated by religion or desirable hot/ modern as per Western standards. The unisex awami suit may not necessarily have been very ‘feminine’ but as a concept it was definitely feminist.

Best wishes.

Umber Khairi