Kerala Dressing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmQ0LvK5qnc
One of the most beautiful aspects of a Keralite is their traditional dressing.Christian men wear White Dhoti and white shirt with a cover called 'Neyriyathu'.Christian ladies in those days used to wear white Blouse called 'Chatta' and white 'Mundu'.The 'Mundu is worn in a traditional manner with a fan like fold at the back.'Chata'is covered with off white 'Kavini' and a 'Broach'is fixed on the top Left hand side.The value of 'Broach' almost determine the social status of the christian lady.Ornaments worn by Christian ladies are essentially of 22 carat gold.If rich even the 'Broach'is of gold.Ear rings used to be as big as bangles but much thicker and definitely made of Gold.
Girls after puberty in those days use to wear 'Half sari'.It is a long skirt with blouse and a small sari like cloth but not fully sari.It showed full beauty of a teen aged girl.However now it had been replaced by north Indian chudidhar.One of the advantages of chudidar is a girl can be very Fat but if covered under Chudidar no one will probably know how fat the girl is.However 'Half sari' still seems to be very sexy for me.
Probably keralites used to wear such dresses because of the climate.Hot Humid Climate followed by unpredictable rain might have made people dress in white and off white colors.Another aspect was every keralite always carried an umbrella either to protect from Sun or from rain.Either of them are for sure.