What is the best to wear at a Diwali party High Latitude Style

When you are invited to a Diwali party or bought tickets to attend a Diwali celebration for the first time, you wonder about what to wear to a Diwali event and whether there is a dress code. This post adresses these questions for Diwali parties or celebrations in US college towns.

Contents

Dress up for Diwali
- What to wear at Diwali as a men
- What to wear at Diwali as a women
When in doubt, wear something new
Be creative to make it work
Can I wear black on Diwali?

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.

Dress up for Diwali

Indians are known for being very fashionable and up-to-date on the newest trends. Thus, when celebrating the Festival of Lights, it’s a great opportunity to dress up in the newest trend. This means that you can do just that, dress up. However, when there is still time enough to order something special, checkout the latest designs and styles. Sure, shararas and gararas are the only things in Indian traditional fashion that can never go out of fashion.

What to wear at Diwali as a men

At Diwali parties in college towns, most men wear casual party outfits. However, you can see Indian men or men married with an Indian woman wearing everything from a plain western jeans and shirt look over Indo Western outfits to traditional Indian looks from various regions. You can see men in sherwani, kurta pajamas or a Jodhpuri suit, and occassionally a Nehru jacket.

“MENS KURTA” by TMSart Bazaar is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

“Best Jodhpuri Suits Available Online In 2019” by Vicky Shukla is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Man wearing a sherwani. “Majestic” by Drkangeltex is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

My friends and I in traditional clothing

Women outfits celebrating the festival of lights

What to wear at Diwali as a women

Most Indian women wear sarees. Only a few of them dress in kurtis, salwar kameez, anarkali suit or lehengas. It’s rare to see one of them wearing a head-to-toe western outfit. Non-Indian women wear something along the lines of a fancy dinner party or an upscale restaurtant. Some wear traditional Indian clothes mixed with western items like a global trend inspired Indian embroidered blouse with skinnie outfit or wear a fancy panjeree. Once in a while you see one in a saree.

Woman in traditional clothes Women in embroidered sarees

style blogger in black sequin embroidered saree with accessories

Munaz style wrapped black embroidered saree accessorized with Indian style belt, pendant necklace, short necklace, three multi-color bangles on each wrist, multi-color earrings (all own), and glamorous statement necklace c/o Happiness Boutique

Burgundy silk with gold hand painted embellishment panjeree

traditional clothes three women in lehengas — Young women in colorful lehengas

young dancers in traditional gowns — Another region’s traditional dance presented by young Fairbanksans in bold color lehengas and sherwani

When in doubt, wear something new

It’s a tradition to wear something new. Doing so is related to Diwali indicating the beginning of a new year. Thus, you don’t want to wear something that has old (painful) memories of the past. In other words dressing in new clothing has some symbolic. It’s a nice gesture to commemorate this tradition when you attend Diwali. When you follow my blog already for a while, this tradition once stressed me out what to wear for Diwali. I had nothing new and my friends expected me to attend in traditional clothing.

Note you can wear festive western clothing as well. Again, best wear something new that your friends haven’t seen before.

See the celebration party below. The majority of the attendees wear Fairbanks Formal.

guests in the ballroom waiting for the show of lights to start — Guests in the University of Alaska Fairbanks Carol Brown Ballroom chatting while waiting for the event to start. In the background, the stage can be seen.

Be creative to make it work

Sarees are always appropriate and you can find affordable silk sarees in fashion colors even in the US. Alternatively ou can easily buy 6 yards of sari fabric and hem the sides. When you can’t sew a blouse, wear a croped top or halftee underneath (see photos). Since it was a cold day, I wore my halftee with long sleeves underneath instead of a matching blouse. If you want to sew a matching traditional blouse, here is an easy-to-make sewing pattern I have used. Use an A-line maxi skirt as base to wrap the saree. Then accessorize with necklaces and bangles. Make two big arm parties of pieces (favorably in gold hues) that match with the outfit.

I styled the look with a statement belt and ethnic style jewelry. I added my metal bag that was a find on a market in Morocco in the late 80s. You have seen this bag already in many posts here on the blog. It sort of goes with everything.

#Diwalistyle mature woman in Indian look and jewelry at a Diwali party — Embroidered sari, statement belt, Hermes collier de chien bangle, Ivanka Trump pearl embellished heels, amber and onyx necklace, ethnic necklaces (all own), and halftee c/o Halftee

Can I wear black on Diwali?

Diwali is about fun and happiness. Thus, would it be inappropriate to wear black, which is associated with mourning in many western cultures? Diwali is a special, auspicious event. Black is a special festive color. Go for traditional wear, if possible.

Stylist’s tip: Black is the most suitable color to wear on Diwali.

Happy Diwali!

Don’t let the right outfit be a random thing. Wear the right look in every situation by looking up what to wear when in How to Dress for Success in Midlife. Buy my book now.

P.S. Like these outfit ideas? If so, please feel free to pin them to your own Pinterest board.

Are you registered for my Newsletter to let you know about new posts, how tos and special style subjects? I’d highly appreciate it if you take the time to sign up and ask your friends to sign up too!!

Photos of me: G. Kramm