Farshi Pajama
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Farshi Pajama is a dress that was commonly worn between late 17th and early 20th century by Muslim ladies from privileged classes of Uttar Pradesh (formerly United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in North India.) Modeled after the flowing ball gowns worn by British women, the complete outfit consists of three basic parts - The Kurta or a long shirt, the dupatta or the long stole which is an essential piece of cloth in traditional indian wear covering the head and bossom, and the third and most important, the farshi pajama, which is a flowing two legged skirt held by drawstrings. It flares from under the knees (or even lower, depending upon era and fashion) and trails onto the floor. The farshi pajama, in this era is often called farshi gharara, a term not used before mid 20th century and is considered an incorrect modification.
Farshi means anything that is associated with the 'farsh' or floor (for example farshi baithak which is associated with sitting on the floor). When combined with the word Pajama, the term evolves to mean a Pajama-like dress that falls generously on the floor, and trails as one walks, however in reality, during walking, the dress is correctly held in such a way, that it hardly trails, hence the large quantity (historically, 9-15 yards) of expensive cloth, embroidered using the art of goldwork (embroidery) and sterling silver wire threads (Karchob/Zari/Zardozi etc), used to make a farshi pajama mainly suggests grandeur and extravagance.
Modified, smaller-length versions are still, but rarely, worn by women in weddings in India and Pakistan.
Movies such as Umrao Jaan (1981) that depict Muslim culture of 19th century Lucknow show women wearing farshi pajamas.
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