American Businesswomen goes to India- What do I wear?
 

going to Mumbai & Delhi. Representing my company at a trade show. Several customer visits. Some in offices, some in their factories. In the US my industry (industrial packaging) is used to "business casual", company shirt or polo, kakis. in the UK i mostly wear a suit, company shirt, perhaps nice slacks.

what do I wear?

I visited India last fall and wore long sleeve button down shirts or twinsets and trousers (a little nicer than khakis). The Indian women I met with at work were similarly attired, or wearing traditional sari outfits. Our company's executive women have generally worn pant suits and button down shirts from what I've seen and heard. Some additional guidance I received was to avoid anything too tight and not wear anything that shows your shoulders (outside of hotel spa/fitness centers).

That said, khakis and polo shirts are generally fine for weekends and lounging around at the hotel.

Good luck!

Most everything which you wear for work in the UK, for meetings and plant visits as appropriate, would be ok at the same places in India. I'd tend to suggest looser fitting clothes but besides that you should be fine with the same. Depending on what time of the year you are going to DEL, plan on heat. For BOM plan on heat and humidity nearly year-round when doing the clothes planning.

Clothes, obviously. :D They'd frown upon nudity. :D Just joking. :D I think loose fitting clothes and fairly demure clothing would be good. I'd stay away from tight-fitting or revealing clothing.

For an average US`women you will need a major lesson how to talk quiet and then how stop people thinking that you think you rule the world regardless of the facts and then you might want to consider the average amount of food an American eats in one day is about a the same as an rural dweller will eat in a month. Dont mean to sound too harsh but recent experiences and talking to Indian Natioanlas I am simply relaying what they see and feel

A little harsh, don't you think -- esp since the OP was just looking for advice on what to wear (and since the question indicates a lack of boorishness on her part, I would think).

meggles, as an Indian brought up in US, I am very comfortable wearing slacks, short-sleeve shirts, etc to work here, but I tend to be more conservative in India. I generally wear longer (below the knee) skirts or dresses. I have no issue wearing short-sleeve shirts since sari blouses and many salwars are short-sleeved, but agree that sleeveless shirts are a no-no.

That said, you are probably find in bigger cities wearing pants and the like. I am usually in India with my non-working and much older relatives. A decidedly more conservative group. :)

:rolleyes:

And now to answer your actual question. I am an American woman who's been traveling to India for work for the last 8 years. Anything you'd wear to an office in the US will be fine for an Indian work environment. Indian professional women tend to wear salwar kameez (long, loose tunics with matching pants) or, less frequently, saris to work. You will be just fine in a blouse and pants or a skirt--just keep it on the modest side, nothing tight/revealing and skirts at knee-length or longer.

Off duty, the only thing to remember is that no women in India (outside haute Bombay) show their legs, or their shoulders. So even though it's hot, you can't wear shorts, and tank tops aren't a great idea either. Loose-fitting pants/skirts are your best bet. T-shirts are fine but keep them on the loose side.

Both Bombay and Delhi are huge, cosmopolitan cities that are well used to foreign tourists and businesspeople. You won't be stared at or harassed in these places unless you really go wild (leave the Lycra bike shorts at home! :) ).

thanks everyone...
i'm in the SAS lounge in LHR waiting for flight (horrible schedule this time... lhr-cph-vie-bom) (the LHR-cph is the end of a *Artw, and the Cph-vie-BOM is a new *Artw).

i packed what you all said. one light grey skirt suit, a few loose fitting short sleeve blouses, nice/work kakis dress pants. should be quite fine.

tired already. all my boxes for this trade show are stuck in indian customs. hopefully this will magically turn on next week. one can hope, eh?

I think you've got it down perfectly.

About the customs clearance question posted above, there's no guarantee with Indian customs. Although it's far more reliable this year than say 7 or 8 years ago (or even two years ago), there's still a lot of mess-ups and too much pilferage for my comfort. While odds are in your favor that it'll probably clear, I've learned to bet carefully when it comes to unescorted clearing of Indian customs.

here's an idea
 

@:-) meggles, while you're in India, why don't you buy a salwar for yourself? They are appropriately conservative, much much much more comfortable than anything you would probably wear to the office in the US, and it would be a nice souvenir to take back with you. You should also buy bangles and a diamond set to go with it... but that's more just for you. :)

I was about to suggest the salwar- I have 3 of them! Interestingly, most of the ladies in my office in Gurgaon (suburb of Delhi) wear "business casual" now, but I love salwars because they're pretty and as comfortable as walking around in pajamas. The long tunic part hides a multitude of figure faults. The locals appreciate it, too- they always note happily that I'm wearing a salwar. I wear them to church here in Kansas once in awhile, and they blend in pretty well.

And, if you're a jewelry connoisseur, definitely check out the jewelry. My colleagues took me to Mehrason's in Delhi and they charge about 20% over the intrinsic value of the gold for bangles, and the workmanship is beautiful. The place is jammed with women buying wedding jewelry. I'm going back in May and buying more!

Foreign business professionals wearing any of a variety of national outfits there (including kameez salwar/salwar kameez) isn't something I'd necessarily suggest for wearing to work .... unless a long-time, repeat visitor there.

Did you go to the Mehrasons in Connaught Place, Karol Bagh, or South Extension? May is going to be boiling hot month ... but at least then it won't be as busy and the A/C stores will be a nice break from the heat. Certainly, Mehrasons is traditionally the jeweller of choice for the Delhi establishment. Some things never change. :)

I think you've covered all the based. Also for the hot summer days,
light colored cotton clothes work well.

GUWonder, I went to the South Extension store. I'm likely to visit Delhi again in May and I'll be back to Mehrason's, too.

Generally, I'm cautious about trying to dress like the natives, but before my first trip, in 2004, I did a lot of reading on the Lonely Planet site and the posters there said that the natives actually liked it when a Western woman dressed in a salwar kameez. I realize that the Lonely Planet group is generally tourists and generally younger, but when I showed up at the office in a salwar, several of my co-workers remarked approvingly. I told them they were just as comfortable as business casual and a lot prettier!

I agree that if you're attending a trade show and/or trying to sell goods or services to the locals, you're better off erring on the side of caution and wearing conservative traditional Western business clothes. My situation is probably different because I was meeting with our team of analysts, all of them younger than I am, and I was there for mentoring and training them.

One other thing I wanted to mention to the OP- if you're going to be sightseeing, bring a large silk scarf with you. Some places (such as Humayun's tomb) are religious sites and require you to cover your hair. Mine came in handy when I visited a Sikh gurudwara with my colleagues.