I understood then that she was referring to my dress which to me has always been a shalwar kameez, our national dress, worn by both men and women from Peshawar to Karachi. I was soon to learn that in Delhi it was also called a 'Pathani', 'Pathan suit', or 'Khan suit' when worn by men. The shalwar kameez came to the Subcontinent with the Central Asian invaders who introduced stitched clothing to this region. Indeed, one hilarious view is that the invaders' success was partly due to the fact that the people of the Subcontinent had to hold on to their un-stitched garb with one hand, thus having to defend their land unidexterously. Its modern version is more streamlined and is usually worn with a knee-length top or kameez.
Women wear it with a scarf called dupatta or chunni or chader , which can vary in length and width.
This dress possesses great versatility and lends itself extensively to designing while retaining a basic recognisable form. In Pakistan, among the smart set, the sari had ruled the formal social scene for decades. It was not until the 1980s that the shalwar kameez really came into its own, increasingly replacing the sari as formal wear. Already the national dress, this outfit rapidly evolved towards greater elegance of material, cut, design and embroidery and came to be considered absolutely adequate for even the most formal of occasions, including weddings. A diplomat's wife recalls returning from a Europe posting in 1984 and attending a cousin's wedding in Lahore, dressed in her most ornate sari.