Sep 28,1998
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LIFESTYLE: FASHION Day of the JACKET With a few exceptions, leaders of the ruling coalition are a
media-savvy By Saba Naqvi Bhaumik
These jackets and waistcoats have long been on the Delhi fashion scene. But as well-known fashion designer Ritu Beri puts it: "The only new thing is that politicians have now discovered them and insist on wearing them even in hot weather." Still, in a world of badly dressed politicos, she considers Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as one of the more savvy figures, sartorially speaking. Vajpayee is finicky -- his clothes are immaculately cut with just the right hint of shirt collar peeking out from under his jacket. It's not surprising then that he owns over a dozen sleeveless jackets -- in silk, cotton and suit fabric. Since most politicians -- they are a vain lot -- love to see themselves on the tube, attire matters a great deal. Besides, bright colours and contrasts come off far better than plain white on TV. Fashion designers like Suneet Verma seem to agree. "The world over, a third piece gives an outfit a formal look," he says. But, he hastens to add in a low whisper, most politicians' jackets are badly cut. Certainly not Vajpayee's who believes in different shades for different strokes: a pale beige silk jacket matching the shade of his kurta for a formal event; a deep blue jacket to meet South African President Nelson Mandela; a striped one for a public rally ... Taking the cue from the prime minister are other BJP leaders who are donning the jacket as well. Home Minister L.K. Advani's collection may not exactly match the prime minister's but he too wears sleeveless numbers, his favoured colours being navy blue and maroon. Some partymen claim he took to wearing jackets to camouflage the bullet-proof vest he was forced to wear after the Ram rath yatra. Personal secretary Deepak Chopra, however, is thoroughly indignant: "He's not changed his dress because of television or anything else." Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Gopinath Munde did, however, start wearing jackets to hide the bulk of the bullet proof vest he had to wear after the Mumbai riots. Casual dressers like Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and Civil Aviation Minister Ananth Kumar have also taken to sleeveless jackets, to look more appropriately dressed for high office. In the past, both men could be seen loitering around the BJP headquarters in kurta-pyjamas. Today, Sinha in particular wouldn't even think of appearing on television without a jacket over his kurta. Family members feel the need to justify this desire to look fashionable. Says one such member of Vajpayee's adopted family: "Baapji also wears jackets because he works in an air-conditioned office for several hours." But on hot sultry days when he has to be outdoors, the jackets are done away with. During a recent visit to Madhya Pradesh, for instance, Vajpayee abandoned his jacket for an angavastram over his shoulders. Angavastrams had been a part of Vajpayee's wardrobe since his days in the Jan Sangh. Party hands joke that he switched to jackets once angavastrams became identified with Murli Manohar Joshi's attire. Laughs an MP: "The story goes that Atalji gave a suitcase full of angavastrams away!" One who does not mind the cold is Pramod Mahajan with his short kurtas -- from plain khadi to expensive tussar silk -- and pyjamas. Mahajan does not wear anything warm even on the chilliest winter day. No jackets, sweaters or shawls for this Mumbai politician. "He's too active to feel cold," jokes an aide. The arrival of the BJP on the political centrestage has also marked the return of the resplendent dhoti after Jawaharlal Nehru's elegance had made the achkan-churidar the formal dress of the Indian diplomatic corps. After all, the achkan-churidar was representative of the composite culture of the Nehruvian era. It's not just the clothes, even the styles matter. Both Vajpayee and Joshi tie their dhotis in a similar fashion, an elaborate style associated with the northern and eastern parts of the country. This is distinct from the dhoti patronised by the RSS-BJP, a no-frills style of tying the garment, at times referred to as the talwar chaap dhoti. It is the style patronised by Advani and Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Yet, as designer Ravi Bajaj laments, "It's hugely depressing to see the BJP guys wear shoes and socks under their dhotis. Dhotis must be worn with chappals." Never mind the fashion goof-ups, at least they make the effort. And then there are the "suitable" boys. There may not be two individuals more incongruent than Jaswant Singh and Madan Lal Khurana, but both favour with a passion, the safari suit. Khurana, in fact, says he's one of the first politicians to have started wearing safari suits and bandhgallas. "I have worn the same clothes for 20 years," he says proudly. Jaswant sticks to the old-fashioned bush wear patented by Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere and still favoured by those who shop at Holland & Holland in London. For his high-powered diplomatic forays, Jaswant's distinct broad-collared bandhgallas are stitched by a particular tailor in Jodhpur. The one politico who resists all attempts to go in for a sartorial makeover is BJP President Kushabhau Thakre. Amid the hues and cry, he prefers to stick to the monastic ways of the rss wholetimer. Along with General Secretary K.N. Govindacharya, he has to be the most blandly dressed BJP leader. Thakre is the proud possessor of precisely two dhotis and two kurtas, a pale lavender and a pale green khadi, both washed out of shape and shade. When he was invited to appear on Star TV's Janata ki Adalat, the producers requested him to come in a sleeveless jacket or in a bright shirt or kurta. Thakre refused point blank and asked an aide: "Do they want me or my clothes?" The producers had to settle for Thakre. The party president -- who auctioned off his huge collection of shawls recently -- clearly does not believe in the dictum that clothes make the man. |
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Politicians and crumpled plain white kurta-pyjamas? Until recently,
the two seemed to go together. But not any more. Today's netas, with a few exceptions, are
not the netas of yesteryear. This is the age of television, of course, and suddenly it
seems like clothes make the politician. Politics may have had its colourful moments ever
since the Congress set the tone but it's always been conducted in the blandest of colours.
Political gatherings meant a sea of white khadi kurta-pyjamas. The BJP, contrarily, takes
its colourful ideology rather seriously -- its leaders have discarded the khaki shorts and
saffron robes long associated with the party and replaced them with the more low-key
sleeveless jacket worn over a kurta -- to add just that right touch of formality and
distinction to the politician's attire. 
