After we booked our trip to India last Summer, I started anticipating potential items I might need in terms of my trip wardrobe since this trip was different than most of our others. I wanted to make sure I was dressed conservatively throughout our time in the country, both for safety purposes and to be understanding toward local religious views. India is a conservative country and it was important for me to show respect and dress conservatively while there, much like I do when traveling to Muslim countries, such as Morocco.
I kept an eye out for items last Summer (especially as the Summer sales started) that might work for our trip, knowing I’d put them away for the Winter and have some nice new items for our trip when it rolled around in February. I’m so glad I did, because the items I did pick up, I wore a lot during our time in India. I happened to grab a maxi skirt at Old Navy on sale for something like $9.99 as well as a Gap cotton maxi dress that I have worn a ton since I got it last Summer on sale, and was perfect for our trip. I also rewore many of the long dresses I had bought for our Morocco trip, which turned out to be both perfect for the weather while we were there (60’s and 70’s) as well as for the conservative dress code.
Scarves also played a huge role in my trip wardrobe (and normally do in my day to day wardrobe as well), as they can serve so many purposes from covering skin to covering hair if needed, to just tying an outfit together. I also wore cross body purses throughout our time in India and wore loafers when we were out and about, so that my feet didn’t get too dirty.
I wanted my wardrobe for India to be full of bright colors to mimic the local way of dress. Women tend to cover themselves in India with gorgeous bright sari’s in all ranges of colors. I also shifted from wearing jackets over my maxi dresses to just wrapping in scarves as we were out and about.
I bought this orange and pink maxi dress for our trip to Morocco a couple years ago and it’s come in so handy for this trip as well. It’s a light material and works so well for days out and about. I wore this outfit into town in Udaipur and it was so comfortable to walk around in it. I also have invested in some small cross body purses over the years and this orange Ralph Lauren one is one of my favorites, it fits just enough but not too much to make it heavy. It’s perfect with my Lumix camera swing over the top of it.
I bought this Gap maxi dress at the end of last Summer and have worn it a ton already for travel. It’s cotton, so it’s so comfortable, doesn’t wrinkle and has a gorgeous pattern. I wore it many days on our trip, but especially on days when were were traveling in car or on plane for hours at a time.
When we did our elephant rides, I wanted to be more comfortable and be in pants. I had bought these Gap men’s cargo pants last Fall for our Cambodia days, but they came in so handy for this as well. I couldn’t find any women’s options so I finally just bought the men’s and they worked out great!
I wore this outfit for our visit to the Taj Mahal and it ended up being perfect as the skirt didn’t skim the ground like some of my others. That morning it was quite wet from the rain the night before and this turned out perfect for the weather and the length meant it didn’t get wet!
Traveling to India?
See all of my posts on the country here!