Undergarments of Kerala - Traditional and Modern.
കേരളീയ ഉള്വസ്ത്രങ്ങള് - പാരമ്പര്യവും ആധുനികവും
Kerala lingerie, Malayalee lingerie, Mallu traditional
The source for Onnaramundu at Trivandrum is "KaRaalkada". This shop deals with traditional Travancore costumes. However, Onnaramundu also are available. Please try with them. Please also visit them at www.karalkada.com/
The locational details of this shop are available with the following blogsite :
{ In the meantime, I shall probe for other sources in Trivandrum }
Kasavukada is another textiles shop claiming to deal with traditional garments. However, they do not have any of this article. You may visit them at : www.kasavukadaonline.com
Thank yu respected Menon Sir for a prompt response;we were introduced to the
ritual cloths like onnara when we had a darsan at Guruvayur a few months back.My
aunt who was leading our pilgrim team insisted us to compulsorily wear onnara
while entering the temple as the dress had some base in thanthrasasthra and the
related concepts.And we followed that old tradition and felt a definite bhava or
concentration of mind during worship.After that we are of opinion that onnara is
a befitting ritual cloth;both for worship and it brings in confidence in women
irrespective of their age;but the problem is that many new generation girls are
quite unaware of the advantages of that dress;and they are not properly trained
by the elders to practise it.It is also learnt that the ban of churidhar inside
the temple was mainly due to to the inconvenience caused by it to accommadate
our riual onnara;if possible let us follow the traditional clothing during
temple worship.Valuable comment on the matter are expected........praying for
the blessings of Lord Krishna to all our beloved devotees......
………………….
What about Men ?
Has anyone thought of the men's attire in those bygone days ?
It was a common sight in those days to observe older men working in the paddy
fields or harvesting the crops, clad in what is called a Langoti. Another verson
of the Langoti is a Konakam, a strip of cloth about 4 " wide and about 3 - 4 feet
in length, one end hung from a waist cord and the other pulled tight and
inserted into the back portion of the waist band. To protect them from the
sun's rays they often wore a crude, home- made hat fashioned out of the outer
covering of the araecaunut leaf.
It WAS CUSTOMARY for men to have a white Thorthu, a small mundu of knee-length
, to wrap around the waist.
Often the rear end of the konakam would hang down all the way down to knee level
portruding from under the Thorthu.
WE used to describe this as " Sunday is longer than Monday . "
Small boys often wore multi-colored Konakams.
A more sophiscated way of dress style was to wear a Mundu over the under pant.
They had a second short mundu ( Randamundu ) thrown over the shoulder but
seldom wore a shirt.
…………………..
There is a very valid point in what Reganeeji has just mentioned. We should
congratulate her aunt for introducing the Onnara concept to her group to make
them understand and appreciate the old cultural values and their importance. I
wish we had many more aunts like her in our community ! When the ancients
introduced onnara it had a definite purpose and that was what Rejanee
experienced after trying it on , that is, " The Bhava or poisture when
worshiping and the self confidence " a woman feels in that attire.
The gurudevas , including myself who commented on this subject earler had
overlooked to emphasise this very important aspect of this age old traditonal
dress style.
……………………….
Dear all,Radhe Krishna!Interestingly, Pujya Chirattapuram's discussion has shifted from worship to work!... That is a good sign, especially when most of us Keralites believe in the dictum, " Work is worship! "
Many of the senior citizens in the group may nostalgically remember their boyhood days in the early part of the last century----at least I do---- when we were running about bare-footed and wearing only a koupeenam (the Sanskrit name for Konakam)!.... And lo! Guruvayoorappan Himself is pleased if we present Him with a red Pattu-konakam!, as though He was one among us in those days!
…………..
കുഴപ്പം പിടിച്ച വസ്ത്രധാരണത്തിന്റെ കുഴപ്പങ്ങള് ഇവിടെ കാണാം. മലയാളി മങ്കമാര് ഇത് ശ്രദ്ധിക്കുമെന്ന് ഞാന് പ്രതീക്ഷിക്കുന്നു.
"
Sometimes it is better to be asexual
Wed, Jul 7 03:30 PM
As I watched my friend walk up the road to where I stood, I couldn't help but take note of the vivid blue sari she was wearing and accessories that matched. There's nothing exceptional about a woman dressing up, except that most successful female professionals I've known wear clothes that they are sure will not draw attention to themselves. And at a time when the spotlight is on 'distracting' female attire, thanks to Debrahlee Lorenzana's claim that she got fired from Citibank because of her bodacious clothes, these professionals do seem justified in 'dressing-down'. My friend was a contrarian in that sense - just in her early thirties, she is hugely successful professionally and already the branch head of her company in Delhi. And she's anything but coy about her looks - she candidly admits that she gets a 'high' looking at herself in the mirror after she dresses up for work. "And if I feel good about myself, I'm confident and I know my day will go well," she said.
I couldn't help wondering how she managed to ward off unwanted attention with her stunning looks. With tales of sexual harassment spilling out of staid corporate offices, how did a head-turner like her manage in her dealings with politicians, industrialists and lawyers? "At work, I'm a completely asexual person," she said. I knew what she meant - for all her good looks, any expression of warmth on her face was reserved only for people she liked a great deal.
But even that ploy doesn't work always. Many successful women complain they can't go networking over beer in a bar, it just seemed to give out the wrong ideas.
My friend is lucky that her husband moves in the same professional circles, so they can do the beer thing together in a bar. "And once when I had an old fogey trying to flirt with me, I called out to my husband who was there and asked, "Hey, why don't you talk to me like that anymore?" The gentleman got the idea," she recalls.
But unlike my friend, attracting attention or being distracting - now that's something most women who want to make a mark professionally steer clear of. In a way, they try to be asexual too, especially in sectors which are very male-dominated and don't have women in the core areas. Only they don't describe it as being 'asexual'. An acquaintance, who is a consultant, remarked how she chose to wear only black silks with different-coloured borders to work. "I want the focus directed towards my presentations and so I avoid clothes that distract. However, I wear a sari and not business suits even when I attend conferences abroad because I like to draw attention to my nationality," she says.
Ask a senior woman executive on general tips for the female workforce and you can be sure there will be some advice on 'sensible clothes' too. There's something to be said in favour of these tips, perhaps.
Earlier, a law firm in the UK had tried to ban fishnet stockings to work because they were "distracting" - the ban was never enforced after a female employee blew the whistle on the proposal and invited a flood of furious protests. Would items from a man's wardrobe be banned too if the women found them distracting, they demanded to know. But till there's a sartorial revolution in the workplace, the most sensible of the lot will stick to being 'asexual', perhaps. Guess what? A UK law firm once tried to ban fishnet stockings because it 'distracted'. But it failed to do so
Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.
'Well-dressed staff score @WORK'
Tue, May 18 03:57 PM
Turning out well dressed at work could automatically mean half your battle won, going by a survey which indicates that employees who dress well are taken seriously at work than those that pay scant attention to those crumpled sleeves and faded collars.
Nearly 89 per cent of respondents of a survey conducted by Team Lease, a leading staffing company, feel that style of dressing has a long-term impact on the overall image of an individual. Three fourth of the respondents felt that well dressed people are taken more seriously at work place.
Sixty nine per cent of respondents, both male and female, felt attire has a direct impact on sexual harassment faced by women at the work place.
72 per cent respondents feel that focus shifts from work when women frequently wear skirts and tops at workplace. But only 53 percent of respondents in Bangalore felt that way but over 80 percent agreed to it in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
Breaking the myth of female vanity, the survey revealed that 74 per cent felt men spend as much time, if not more, focussing on grooming as women.
Coming to implementing a dress code at work place, 47 per cent felt it was necessary. More than half the respondents in Kolkata and Pune opined that it enhanced work productivity.
In IT domain, 53 per cent considered implementing dress code is strict but necessary.
Overall 44 percent respondents' organisations have a strict dress code. Sixty six per cent of organisations in Chennai and 59 per cent in Mumbai have a strict dress code.
Overall 54 percent respondents feel that incompetent/average performer cover up with meticulous dressing and accessories.
Overall 44 percent felt that formal dressing applied to only senior manager and client interfacing employees.
The respondents included employees across cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune between the age group of 21-45 years across industries.
Woman fired by Citi for being 'hot'!
Thu, Jun 3 02:12 PM
Sexist mindset still rules even the biggest corporates in the world. A female employee of Citibank was apparently fired from her job because her male colleagues found her 'too distracting'.
Debrahlee Lorenzana said that despite her turnout being professional, her male bosses and co-workers still found her too hot be around their cold cash.
"Shortly after the commencement of her employment, branch manager Craig Fisher and assistant branch manager Peter Claibourne began articulating inappropriate and sexist comments concerning plaintiff''s clothing and appearance," The New York Post quoted her court filings as saying.
"The improper comments made to plaintiff by Fisher and Claibourne included, but were not limited to, advising her that she must refrain from wearing certain items of clothing, in particular, turtleneck tops, pencil skirts, fitted business suits, or other properly tailored clothing.
"In blatantly discriminatory fashion, plaintiff was advised that as a result of the shape of her figure, such clothes were purportedly ''too distracting'' for her male colleagues and supervisors to bear."
The filing also read, "In a regressive response more suitable for reality television than a white-shoe corporation in the 21st century, plaintiff was advised that these other comparator females may wear what they like, as their general unattractiveness rendered moot their sartorial choices, unlike plaintiff, whose shapeliness could not be heightened by beautifully tailored clothing."
After rejecting a complaint and an application to be transferred, she was eventually moved to a new branch, she was reprimanded for failing to recruit new customers.
"The purported reasons for plaintiff''s termination included that she failed to meet the required new account opening quotas, in addition to the credulity-straining assertion that her clothing choices were ''inappropriate,''" the suit said.
"Are you saying that just because I look this way genetically, that this should be a curse for me?" she told the Village Voice, which first reported her case.
In a statement, Citibank said, "We believe this lawsuit is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously."
Citibank has not commented for reasons of employee privacy but added that the bank has "a strong commitment to diversity and we do not condone, or tolerate, discrimination within our business for any reason."
