Rising heat is undressing Amdavad’s wardrobe
Posted by Administrator on Nov 30, 2009
Ahmedabad: So you thought climate change was only mumbo jumbo that would never affect you? Those who were dehydrated during this year’s unusually hot Navratri and wistfully remembered the chilly garba of the last decade will tell you that the globe is indeed heating up. And more evidence of the phenomenon is lining the December wardrobes of the party-loving Amdavadis.
As climatologists across the world haw about global warming, the hemlines of the Amdavad smart-set are being forced upwards by the ever-ascending temperatures, even in December! For instance, Bijal Haria, 32, a city-based landscapist, will rock in graceful frocks at night parties this month. Her decision to avoid long, formal, and thickly layered gown-and-jacket ensembles was spurred not only by fashion trends but also by climate change!
Ahmedabad has all but lost the shivers and chills that once came with December, bringing about a change in the dress code for New Year celebrations. Similarly, this year’s Navratri was so inordinately hot that few garba enthusiasts donned the full array of the heavy traditional attire. Many garba events failed to pull crowds; few, it seems, liked swirling when sweaty.
A change in the dress code is inevitable because it changes with climate. As for fashion trends, Viral Parikh, a young city designer whose works were showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week and the Wills India Fashion Week, said that climate change was redefining the idea of chic. “This is probably the first December in five years that we have not made a single party dress with sleeves,” Parikh said. “The fashion trend for December has changed. Halter necks and tube tops, which were never in vogue during winters in the city, are now in demand.”
Jalpa Patel from ‘Ritu Kumar’, Ahmedabad, said, “Earlier, we used to launch thickly layered clothing with jackets during this season. But this time, we have launched a new series of sleeveless Indo-western collection for December.”So is the climate really changing? The data collected by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Ahmedabad, over a five-year period confirms that the heat is indeed on. The average temperature of December 2005 was 29 degrees Celsius; but by 2008, December’s average rose to 31 degrees Celsius.
