A kurta (Persian/Urdu: کرتا, Hindi: कुरता, (or kurti, for a shorter version of the kurta) is a traditional item of clothing worn in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. It is a loose shirt falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer, and is worn by both men and women. It can be worn with either loose salwar pants, churidar pants, as well as Jeans a tight-fitting variant of the salwar. Kurtas are worn both as casual everyday wear and as formal dress.
Western women often wear inexpensive imported kurtas as blouses, usually over jeans. These kurtas are typically much shorter than the traditional garments and made with a lighter materials, like those used in sewing kameez. Imported kurtas were fashionable in the 1960s and 1970s, as an element of hippie fashion, fell from favor briefly, and are now again fashionable. South Asian women may also wear this Western adaptation of South Asian fashion.
Formal kurtas are usually custom-made by South Asian tailors, who work with the fabric their customers bring them. South Asians overseas, and Westerners, can buy them at South Asian clothing stores or order them from web retailers.
transformed from an everyday garment worn by immigrant South Asian women from the Punjab region to one with mainstream, and even high-fashion, appeal.
