Clothing

"Thongs aren't any worse than full-coverage underwear as far as promoting or decreasing the chance of infection or irritation—as with other styles, it's ultimately the materials that matter. Still, if you opt for a thong, go for one that fits properly and has a cotton crotch panel, as a too-tight thong can lead to chafing, particularly if it's a G-string style."

"If Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé and Hailey Bieber can rock a G-string bikini with unparalleled confidence, then why the hell can't the rest of us? Our bums are as worthy of soaking up the sun as any other part of the body. Get those peaches out!"

"I've never been a fan of a G-string, I only ever wore one out of necessity on the red carpet or on photoshoots. Although what I wore was so revealing, I'm not sure you could call it a thong, perhaps just a piece of string."

"Stay, stay, O daughter-in-law - do not cover your face with a veil. In the end, this shall not bring you even half a shell. The one before you used to veil her face; do not follow in her footsteps. The only merit in veiling your face is that for a few days, people will say, "What a noble bride has come". Your veil shall be true only if you skip, dance and sing the Glorious Praises of the Lord. Says Kabeer, the soul-bride shall win, only if she passes her life singing the Lord's Praises."

"The veil is a political symbol and has nothing to do with Islam...They are using women as a political tool in a political game. Many people are aware of that, but the educational system puts a veil on the mind. The veiling of the mind is more serious. Our slogan at the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association is "Unveil the Mind.""

"My shyness and hesitation have died and gone, and I walk with my face unveiled. The confusion and doubt from my crazy, insane mother-in-law has been removed from over my head. My Beloved has summoned me with joyful caresses; my mind is filled with the bliss of the Shabad. Imbued with the Love of my Beloved, I have become Gurmukh, and carefree."

"The Hindu women never go veiled, and never affect concealment, either at home or abroad."

"Who does not know that veiled beauty is more seductive than visible beauty?"

"Veiling and nakedness, they are two faces of the same kind. To see a woman naked, that does not mean she is liberated. It means the woman is just a body, not a mind. Traditional education, even postmodern education, veils the mind; the media veils the mind."

"The dress of the people, both male and female, commonly consists of a long loose wrapper and trowsers, the former of woollen cloth. As a further protection against the cold in winter the Kashmirians usually carry under their tunic an earthen pot with a small quantity of live charcoal, a practice that invariably discolours and sears the skin, and not unfrequently occasions palsy. ....The Hindu women never go veiled, and never affect concealment, either at home or abroad."

"They are hardy, stout men, particularly those of the Catteywar and Cutch districts. Their usual dress is a petticoat round the waist, like that of the Bheels, and a cotton cloth wrapped round their heads and shoulders, which, when they wish to be smart, they gather up into a very large white turban. In cold weather, or when drest, they add a quilted cotton kirtle, or “lebada,” over which they wear a shirt of mail, with vant-braces and gauntlets, and never consider themselves as fit to go abroad without a sword, buckler, bow and arrows, to which their horsemen add a long spear and battle-axe. The cotton lebada is generally stained and iron-moulded by the mail shirt, and, as might be expected, these marks, being tokens of their martial occupation, are reckoned honourable, insomuch that their young warriors often counterfeit them with oil or soot, and do their best to get rid as soon as possible of the burgher-like whiteness of a new dress. This is said to be the real origin of the story told by Hamilton, that the Coolies despise and revile all cleanly and decent clothing as base and effeminate. In other respects they are found of finery; their shields are often very handsome, with silver bosses, and composed of rhinoceros-hide; their battle-axes richly inlaid, and their spears surrounded with many successive rings of silver. Their bows are like those of the Bheels, but stronger, and in better order; and their arrows are carried in a quiver of red and embroidered leather."

"The dress of the Kashmirians consists of a large turban, awkwardly put on; a great woolen vest, with wide sleeves; and a sack, wrapped in many folds round the middle; under the vest, which may be properly called a wrapper, the higher class of people wear a pirahun, or shirt, and drawers; but the lower order have no under garment, nor do they even gird up their loins… The dress of the women is no less aukward than that of the men, and is ill adapted to display the beauties they naturally possess. Their outward, and, often, only garment, is of cotton, and shaped like a long loose shirt. Over the hair, which falls in a single braid, they wear a close cap, usually of a woollen cloth, of a crimson colour; and to the hinder part of it is attached a triangular piece of the same stuff, which, falling on the back, conceals much of the hair. Around the lower edge of the cap is rolled a small turban, fastened behind with a short knot, which seemed to me the only artificial ornament about them. You will be pleased to notice, that I speak of the dress of the ordinary women, such only being permitted to appear in public. The women of the higher classes are never seen abroad; nor is it consistent with the usage of any Mahometan nation, even to speak of the female part of a family."

"In November 2017, New York Times painted India’s decision to promote its indigenous textile industry as an obstacle in country’s growth. “Since the Bharatiya Janata Party formed a national government in 2014, the Indian fashion industry has been pressed to aggressively promote traditional attire and bypass Western styles” (Qadri, 2017, para, 3). It's ignorance to attack the promotion of local industries of Saree, which has been women’s attire in the Indian subcontinent since Indus valley civilisation and continues to be so today as well. “During his campaign, Mr. Modi had promised to revive the tradition of the Banarasi Saree and to help its weavers, a significant percentage of the constituency’s electorate. The weavers, who are mostly Muslim and following a family trade, largely live in poverty” (Qadri, 2017, para. 14). To prove its point, New York Times goes on to falsely claim that clothing choices are being imposed upon people. “Mr. Modi has made traditional dress a priority and, as many in the country want to please him, the fashion industry has followed along”."

"The Mahratta dress consists only of two garments, which are a tight body to the waist, with sleeves tight to the elbow; a piece of silk, some twenty yards or more in length, which they wind around them as a petticoat, and then, taking a part of it, draw it between the limb and fasten it behind in a manner that gives it the effect both of petticoat and trousers; this is the whole dress unless, at times, they substitute angiyas, with short sleeves, for the tight long-sleeved body."

"The want of raiment is scarce an inconvenience; and the most wealthy remain by choice almost naked, when in their own families and free from the intercourse of strangers; so that all the manufacturers of cloth, for which India is so famous, derive more from the decency of their character; the luxurious taste of a rich and enervated people; and from the spirit of commerce which has prevailed among them from time immemorial; than from wants really felt; and if the manufacture of a piece of cloth was not the least laborious task in which a man can be employed in India, it is probable that the whole nation would at this day be as naked as their Gymnosophists, of which the ancients say so much and knew so little."

"The women wore a flowing robe—colorful silk sari, or homespun khaddar—which passed over both shoulders, clasped the waist tightly, and then fell to the feet; often a few inches of bronze flesh were left bare below the breast. Hair was oiled to guard it against the desiccating sun; men divided theirs in the center and drew it together into a tuft behind the left ear; women coiled a part of theirs upon their heads, but let the rest hang free, often decorating it with flowers, or covering it with a scarf. The men were handsome, the young women were beautiful and all presented a magnificent carriage; an ordinary Hindu in a loin cloth often had more dignity than a European diplomat completely equipped. Pierre Loti thought it “incontestable that the beauty of the Aryan race reaches its highest development of perfection and refinement among the upper class” in India. Both sexes were adept in cosmetics, and the women felt naked without jewelry. A ring in the left nostril denoted marriage. On the forehead, in most cases, was a painted symbol of religious faith."

"The growing of cotton appears earlier in India than elsewhere; apparently it was used for cloth in Mohenjo-daro.15 In our oldest classical reference to cotton Herodotus says, with pleasing ignorance: “Certain wild trees there bear wool instead of fruit, which in beauty and quality excels that of sheep; and the Indians make their clothing from these trees.”16 It was their wars in the Near East that acquainted the Romans with this tree-grown “wool.”17 Arabian travelers in ninth-century India reported that “in this country they make garments of such extraordinary perfection that nowhere else is their like to be seen—sewed and woven to such a degree of fineness, they may be drawn through a ring of moderate size.”18 The medieval Arabs took over the art from India, and their word quttan gave us our word cotton.19 The name muslin was originally applied to fine cotton weaves made in Mosul from Indian models; calico was so called because it came (first in 1631) from Calicut, on the southwestern shores of India. “Embroidery,” says Marco Polo, speaking of Gujarat in 1293 A.D., “is here performed with more delicacy than in any other part of the world.”20 The shawls of Kashmir and the rugs of India bear witness even today to the excellence of Indian weaving in texture and design.IV But weaving was only one of the many handicrafts of India, and the weavers were only one of the many craft and merchant guilds that organized and regulated the industry of India."

"Textiles were woven with an artistry never since excelled; from the days of Cæsar to our own the fabrics of India have been prized by all the world, Sometimes, by the subtlest and most painstaking of precalculated measurements, every thread of warp and woof was dyed before being placed upon the loom; the design appeared as the weaving progressed, and was identical on either side. From homespun khaddar to complex brocades flaming with gold, from picturesque pyjamas to the invisibly-seamed shawls of Kashmir, every garment woven in India has a beauty that comes only of a very ancient, and now almost instinctive, art."

"On that occasion I gave a mantra, ‘Before Independence, Khadi was for the nation; after Independence, let Khadi be used for fashion.’ But I don’t insist people to become khadidhari—that is, wear only Khadi and nothing else. My appeal is that if you have numerous varieties of fabrics in your home, why not make it a point to ensure that Khadi is one of them? Just make it a point to buy Khadi products whenever you can. This campaign is carried out all over the state. As a result, we have witnessed a 40 per cent increase in the sale of Khadi in that one week of Gandhi Jayanti. I also introduced this tradition of offering a Khadi handkerchief and a book instead of offering a bouquet of flowers to dignitaries. I tell people if you give somebody flowers, within a day or two they will land in a pile of garbage. But if you give a book, it can pass on from person to person. So in every aspect of my social reform efforts, you will see the imprint of Gandhi."

"Upper Assam, Jan. 15th [1836] – We arrived at Kujoo, a rather large village of Singfos, and within half a day’s journey of which the tea is found in its native state…The people themselves are fair, much like the Burmese, but still quite distinct. The male dress resembles the Burmese much; the females is more distinct, consisting chiefly of a sort of gown; and whilst tattooing is confined to the males in Burma, it here appears to be indulged in chiefly by the ladies; all the legs I saw during the day, being ornamented with rings of tattoo. The men are a stout, rather fine race; free, easy, and independent, and great admirers of grog in every form."

"Here is no part of the costume where the natives shew such variety of taste as in the arranging of the hair. And this does not as far as I can see depend on religious distinction. Some cover the head with a load of folded cloth, others wear no covering on it, and have the hair cropped close. Some wear little caps and the hair reaching down to the shoulders, where it is cut square across. Others have a broad line shaven from the forehead to the nape of the neck, and others cut off the hair above the forehead from ear to ear. And it is not uncommon to see the whole head shaven except one long tuft on the crown. The Mussulmanns have generally fine beards. But the Hindoos almost always shave theirs."

"The colours used by the Indian craftsmen for their textiles, writes Robinson, were not only brilliant and of great variety, they were also often exceedingly subtle and particularly so in their tonal qualities: Their colours seem to contain hidden qualities and effects that only appear in differing lights. The pagris or headwear produces in Rajasthan (originally Rajputana), Kotah and Alwar contained two slightly differing shades which produced a constantly changing colour pattern as the fabric rippled."

"It's not that the woman adjusts to the sari; rather the sari adjusts to the woman. The sari is just a strip of fabric without form; it's the Sari's wearer to give it a shape."

"The turban is not a symbol of Islam. If you had done your homework you would have discovered that, far from defining it as an "Islamic garment", all dictionaries and encyclopaedias define it as "Oriental or women's head-dress". And the Orient, thank God, is not composed of Muslim countries only. It includes India, for instance, which despite Muslim invasions has always managed to remain Hindu. In India the turban was used a long time before Prophet Mohammed. Think of the black turban of the gurus, of the jewelled turban of the maharajas, of the red turban of the Sikhs who by the way are the most unbending enemies of Islam."

"Then, as always, when Indian and European women meet, the conversation turned to the sari, this beautiful piece of clothing ... next to which each model dress of Chanel or Dior looks ridiculous, clumsy and graceless."

"Because my pockets is broke my friend; that's why I've got to do you in."

"And as the French we conquer'd once, Now give us laws for pantaloons, The length of breeches and the gathers, Port-cannons, periwigs, and feathers."

"People putting their clothes on backwards. Isn't that a sign of something going on wrong? Are you not paying attention? People with their hat on backwards, pants down around the crack. Isn't that a sign of something or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up?"

"PANTALOONS, n. A nether habiliment of the adult civilized male. The garment is tubular and unprovided with hinges at the points of flexion. Supposed to have been invented by a humorist. Called "trousers" by the enlightened and "pants" by the unworthy."

"If you wish,"

"The use of gloves as a fashion accessory appears to have begun in Europe around the thirteenth century."

"For the true Sloane Ranger, the scarf must be designed by Hermès and tied beneath the chin like a guardsman's chinstrap."

"The belt makers' trade originated in the craft of saddlery as do its sister industries, the luggage trade and the handbag manufacturer."

"Behind masks of smiles, some faces have buried their pain, while others have hidden almost their entirety."

"Where you going for tomorrow, where're you going with the mask I found?"

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth."

"You can't wear a mask Clark. When people see you and can see the things you can do, the power you have, they'll be terrified. They need to be able to look into your eyes, see your face, so that they can see the decency and kindness that's always there and know they have nothing to be afraid of."

"Truth is naked. Truth was, is, and will ever be. But we humans like to wear masks."

"To perceive pure love that is God, you have to unmask your heart, unmask your soul, unmask the purity of your being."

"There are days when I am overwhelmed with grief and rage at the regressive attitudes toward public health and disabled people. In my opinion, the ableist, fascistic, and eugenic nature of proposed mask bans under consideration in New York City and Los Angeles is bleak. But what is happening now is not new or surprising; the hate is more explicit, that’s all."

"Though wearing a mask makes the villains scarier, it would also make them far less efficient killers — especially, if, like Jason Vorhees, your face and eyes are disfigured to begin with. It's amazing he can see at all, much less hurl hatchets through the air, striking his terrified prey in near-darkness with deadly accuracy. It should be easy for the scared teens in slasher films to stay alive, all they'd have to do is stay in the masked slasher's obstructed peripheral vision — that, and don't go in the dark room to see what that noise is! Why are masks so menacing? It has to do with psychology and the fear of anonymous death. For many people, the idea of being murdered by an unidentifiable stranger for no reason is more terrifying than being killed by someone you do know, and for some good reason."

"It's a terrible thing to be alone — yes it is — it is — but don't lower your mask until you have another mask prepared beneath — as terrible as you like — but a mask."

"All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event — in the living act, the undoubted deed — there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask."

"I'm not questioning your powers of observation, I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is."

"Your occupation consists in preserving your hiding-place, and that you succeed in doing, for your mask is the most enigmatical of all. In fact you are nothing; you are merely a relation to others, and what you are you are by virtue of this relation. To a fond shepherdess you hold out a languishing hand, and instantly you are masked in all possible bucolic sentimentality. A reverend spiritual father you deceive with a brotherly kiss, etc. You yourself are nothing, an enigmatic figure on whose brow is inscribed Either/or – “For this,” you say, “is my motto, and these words are not, as the grammarians believe, disjunctive conjunctions; no, they belong inseparably together and therefore ought to be written as one word…""

"If you have abandoned one faith, do not abandon all faith. There is always an alternative to the faith we lose. Or is it the same faith under another mask?"

"Today, the mask is the unsightly marker of deviant individuals: the sick, the immunocompromised, the disabled, and the protester who wishes to keep their identity anonymous. (Many demonstrators at pro-Palestine marches have worn medical masks or other face coverings, both to protect their identity from authorities and to protect their health in large crowds.) We’re told such masked individuals threaten the moral order of society, and these bans are meant to keep the public “safe.”"

"A few years ago, very few teenagers wore masks. But many wear them today and the numbers are increasingly very rapidly. The reason is that these teenagers are looking for something to hide behind. They are constantly having to communicate with friends via SMS and emails and this is making them so tired that it is a relief to wear a masks. It is a way to hide their feelings."

"Beneath this mask there is more than flesh... beneath this mask there is an idea, Mr. Creedy... and ideas are bulletproof."

"Young people, who are still uncertain of their identity, often try on a succession of masks in the hope of finding the one which suits them — the one, in fact, which is not a mask."