Sherwani

sSherwani, the oriental long coat has a very long history in South Asia, since it has been originated here. It has long been treated as the dress of nobility, and even the great many political leaders have used it throughout their lives, like; M.A.Jinnah, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Nawab Mosin ul Mulk, Nawab Waqar ul Mulk, Sardar Abdul Rub Nashtar, Liaqat Ali Khan, Allama Iqbal, and many more, perhaps there is not a single example without it. Due to its frequent use by M.A.Jinnah sherwani entered as a national dress of Pakistan.

India and Pakistan, being the warm regions sherwani is used in winter mostly in formal gatherings. There is some wide difference between sherwani and achkan. One is, that sherwani is of heavier and stiffer material than achkan, and the other difference is that sherwani is of Muslim origin whereas achkan has mostly been used by the hindu nobility and thus of Hindu origin. Sherwani is a bit flaired at the hips. Achkan’s one off shoot is Nehru Jacket, quite famous in India and now in the other parts of the world too. Nawab of Hyderabad’s constant use further added to its lasing fame, thus the hyderabadi sherwani is quite famous.

Sherwani and achkan with some heavy embroidery is mostly used by groom, and thus became a popular wedding dress. It adds to the grace of groom. In the wedding ceremonies the most colours used golden, black, sky blue and white. It is some thing disquieting that the vogue of sherwani is mostly overtaken by kurta, but still it stands somewhere.