Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Shalwar kameez" in English language version.
kurta.
For example, many politicians will wear suits while in Kabul, but change into shalwar kemeez, a traditional costume of loose pants and a tunic, when returning to their home provinces to emphasize their local connections.
Salwar/Shalwar: A pair of light, loose, pleated trousers, usually tapering to a tight fit around the ankles, worn by women from South Asia typically with a kameez (the two together being a salwar kameez). Origin From Persian.
... wearing shalwar qameez, Pakistan's national dress of baggy trousers and loose knee-length shirt.
shalwar qameez (Pakistani clothes)
Other compounds are, for instance, ... salwar-kameez. ... It may also be described as an internationalism given its origin (Urdu). This word-formation process is based on the combination of two elements which are two garments (baggy pants and a tunic or shirt) and constitute an outfit typical of South and Central Asia.
A 'Shalwar Kameez' is a form of dress worn by both men and women in South and Central Asia, combining a long shirt worn over loose fitting tapered trousers.
Kameez: A long tunic worn by many people from South Asia, typically with a salwar or churidars. Origin: From Arabic qamīṣ, perhaps from late Latin camisia (see chemise).
You can buy an entire three-piece salwar suit, or a two-piece suit that consists of either a readymade kurta or a kurta cloth piece, each with a matching dupatta. For these, you must have the salwar pants stitched from cloth you buy separately. A third option would be to buy a two-piece ensemble, consisting of the top and pants, leaving you the task of buying an appropriate dupatta, or using one you already own, or buying a strip of cloth and having it dyed to your desire. The end result will always be a three-piece ensemble, but a customer may start with one piece (only the kurta) or two pieces (kurta and pants, or kurta and dupatta), and exercise her creativity and fashion sense to end up with the complete salwar kurta outfit.
The salwar-kameez is a form of dress that has been adopted widely in Punjab and is now known in English as the Punjabi suit; J. P. S. Uberoi suggests that the salwar-kameez is an Afghani import to Punjab (1998 personal communication). Punjabi forms of dress are therefore constructs or inventions of tradition rather than having historical veracity.
The comparatively limited range of stitched clothes available in pre-medieval India was, however, greatly expanded during the Sultanate and Moghul periods when various types of trousers, robes and tunics gained in popularity (Chaudhuri 1976: 51). ... Muslim women generally wore a veil (dupata), a long tunic (kamiz) with trousers (shalwar) or the wide flared skirt-like trouser (gharara). Following the Muslim conquest of northern India, many Hindu women gradually adopted such dress, eventually making it the regional style for parts of Northern India.
The shalwar kamiz, though introduced to India by Muslims, has been worn for centuries by both Hindus and Muslims in parts of northern India (see chapter 2). It has recently become the acceptable garb of female college students of all religions throughout the subcontinent. However, once married, Hindu women often revert to saris unless they either live in the far northern states or belong to a cosmopolitan urban elite. In most rural areas, the shalwar kamiz has retained its Islamic associations more strongly than in cities and is worn only by the educated few.
Much of traditional Indian women's clothing changed in the 12th century, when Muslims conquered north and central India. New dress styles were developed to cover the body as much as possible, befitting Islamic preferences. One option was a costume of wide-legged trousers (salwar) snugly fitted around the calves, worn with a long tunic (kameez) and short, fitted jacket.
The shalwar kamiz was worn traditionally by Muslim women and gradually adopted by many Hindu women following the Muslim conquest of northern India. Eventually, it became the regional style for parts of northern India, as in Punjab where it has been worn for centuries.
The salwar kameez entered India (when Pakistan, Bangladesh, and current-day India together made up India or the British Raj) as early as 12th century through Mughal (Muslim) invasions from Central and West Asia. India and Pakistan have a strong Persian influence. Until before India's independence from the British, it is Muslim women (and men) in the then British Raj (the term used to refer to India before independence) who primarily wore the salwar kameez, although there were gender and regional variations in style. After Pakistan/Indian independence from the British, the salwar kameez became an everyday clothing item especially for North Indian women (including Sikh women, although Sikhs are not Muslims) and Pakistani women because the influence of Muslim culture was the strongest in Pakistan and North India around the time of independence.
The village's men and boys largely dress in sombre colours in the loose trousers and long shirt (shalwar kameez) worn across Pakistan. Older men often wear woollen Chitrali caps (pakol), waistcoats and long coats (chugha), made by Chitrali tailors (darzi) who skills are renowned across Pakistan.
the shalwar kameez happens to be worn by just about everyone in Pakistan, including in all of Gilgit-Baltistan.
What is common in all the cases is the wearing of shalwar, kameez, and dupatta, the national dress of Pakistan.
The leaflet shows an Afghan maile dressed in usual attire—a shalwar kameez and woolen hat, or pakol.
Even highly educated women pursuing careers continue to wear traditional dress in urban India, although men of similar status long ago adopted Western attire. The forms of dress most popular with urban Indian women are the sari, the long wrapped and draped dress-like garment, worn throughout India, and the salwar-kameez or kurta-pyjama, a two-piece suit garment, sometimes also called Punjabi because of its region of origin. Whereas the sari can be considered the national dress of Indian women, the salwar-kameez, though originally from the north, has been adopted all over India as more comfortable attire than the sari.
The women's form of Shalwar Kameez is usually accompanied by a scarf or 'dupatta' which can be worn around the neck, covering the chest area for 'modesty' or over the hair as a head covering.
a dupatta is a long, wide piece of cloth measuring approximately 2-2.5 meters long and 1 meter wide.
Muslim and Punjabi women—whether Muslim, Sikh, or Hindu—often wear the dupatta over the head to create a modest look while framing the face with colour. When entering a temple, Hindu women might comparably use their dupattas to cover their heads. Though the dupatta is often made of flimsy cloth and does not actually cover the body, its presence implies modesty, like many of the outer garments worn by Muslim women that do not cover much but do provide a symbolic extra layer, ...
The Pakistani National dress worn by women is Shalwar Kameez. This consists of a long tunic (Kameez) teamed with a wide legged trouser (Shalwar) that skims in at the bottom accompanied by a duppata, which is a less stringent alternative to the burqa. Modern versions of this National dress have evolved into less modest versions. Shalwar have become more low cut so that the hips are visible and are worn with a shorter length of Kameez which has high splits and may have a lowcut neckline and backline as well as being sleeveless or having cropped sleeves.
{{cite book}}: |last3= has generic name (help)loose trousers which are narrow at the bottom and a long loose shirt, worn by some South Asian women and, in some countries, men.