On Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 7:07 AM, ss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The British saw Indians as "half naked" at least partly because laborers were > literally half naked. > > Male workers were bare chested and bare-legged - wearing only a loincloth. > Their children were naked. The women had their chests covered and their legs > showed less. Climate and poverty played a role, because the wealthier people > had better ability to cover themselves. Here again - women covered more than > men but being bare chested for men was normal and had little to do with > poverty.
In Kerala, at least, traditionally both men and women were bare chested. This continued to be fairly common till about the early 1900s. I vaguely remember reading that dress was caste related and that certain castes (and religions) dressed differently. -- b
