Appropriate dress
 

My wife (caucasian about 60) and step daughter(about 30) are accompanying men a trip to India (Rajasthan, Rishikesh). I am of Indian origin but left Chennai over 45 years back. They are concerned about what kind of clothing would be appropriate to wear. The trip includes both an official business function as well as sightseeing/yoga trip. Any suggestions or pictures?

Maybe check on the India forum. I'm assuming that there is one.

Exactly what I was going to suggest. It's right here.

Or, ask a moderator to move this thread to there.

Or both.

In my limited experience, the conservative side of standard Western dress is fine. They'll probably be stared at anyway - don't assume it's because of the clothes, they're just something out of the ordinary.

I wasn't really focused on people, but here's an idea of typical dress at a tourist site. The obviously-Western women in the top right, seemingly with a tour guide, are representative of what I recall. You can also see a mix of what others wear.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bb204e3309.jpg

Also - typical "heading to office work" dress, I suspect


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d899e082c4.jpg

Agreed.

I went over for a few weeks last year with a female co-worker and we'd randomly get stopped for a hand shake or even a picture in a lot of places. We just stood out like a sore thumb.

While there I got invited into many an arm wrestling match and a impromptu push-up contest (I'm big/athletic guy)
*I didn't lose any arm wrestling but only got 86 pushups so was bested there. If only I'd have known, I'd have spent a week or two getting that number up to 100 ;)

This thread prompted me to look through some pictures of my trip to India. At the Taj Mahal I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I recall that at a few temples they required more than shorts, but they had a wrap for your legs. I might have worn jeans one day, but definitely regretted it.
The temperatures when I was there (mid-September) were very warm and very humid (and very crowded practically everywhere). Well Jaipur wasn't as humid, but it was even warmer than New Delhi or Agra (similar climate as Phoenix I'd say).
For touring, I'd recommending dressing for comfort.

Even though it's hot nobody wears shorts. They think it looks like you're walking around in your underwear. I figured, I don't care because it's 90+ degrees out, so I wanted to be comfortable.

Indian kids under 12 wear shorts. If jeans are too hot for you buy some thinner cloth trousers.

as a big kid in his 40's, i often wear shorts on weekends in the summer....:p

i wouldn't wear them while going to tourist sites but i find them perfectly acceptable while going to the play ground with my kids, or the mall or local marketplace....

pretty much any type of clothing would be appropriate....i have friends, family, colleagues & clients visiting india all the time....some are here for business, some visiting family & some for sightseeing....most of the women like to buy indian clothes (mostly shalwar kameez) while they are here since its something new/different & wear them during their trip....others wear jeans, pants, shorts, t-shirts, skirts, dresses, etc....normal stuff....

at religious sites i would suggest they cover up as much as possible but the rest of the time they can wear what they want....the more skin you show, the more you are likely to get stared at so avoid mini skirts & tank tops....pretty much anything else is appropriate....

I also wear shorts in my leisure especially when its 30-40+°C. But would not advise any business or tourist traveller from abroad to do the same. The obsession in the western world to wear shorts where a quarter of you butt cheek is visible most of the time is thankfully not shared by the south asians. :D

ah yes, the infamous butt cheek shorts....i wouldn't advise anyone to wear those here as well but regular shorts would do quite nicely....