Hot and Heavy No More! Egypt, Indonesia & India — Masters of Fabric

The Story of how 3 cultures tackled hot weather in 3 unique ways

Crusty eyes open to the blazing sun of the Sahara, its punishing glare beating down on you, white-hot and unrelenting.

Good thing you have your trusty linen kalasiris and shawl to protect you from the heat.

That is, until starvation kills you instead.

Traditional Egyptian clothing like the linen kalasiris, a thobe-like ankle-length robe, was designed to cater to the country’s intolerable weather.

But Egypt wasn’t the only place where fashion had to meet function.

Along with heat in the Sahara, two other countries rise to present three unique case studies on how the world adapted to hot weather. With varying geographical constraints, humans evolved their wardrobes to keep cool using the resources they had at hand. In today’s globalised economy, a plethora of options are just an Amazon delivery away. But back in the day, people relied on whatever nature handed them — and made it work brilliantly. Let’s see how linen, cotton and khadi emerged as perfect solutions to beat the heat in Egypt, Indonesia and India.

Traditional Egyptian clothes, kalasiris, as depicted in art.

Linen in Egypt

Linen, fibre spun from the stems of flax plants, was abundantly available along the silt-rich banks of the Nile. One of the strongest fabrics till date, it’s durability made it the preferred fabric against the pelting sands of the Sahara dunes. Naturally lustrous, its reflective property was an added benefit to repel the sun. Egyptians artisans were skilled at spinning and weaving linen into thin layers of fabric, allowing the wealthy to layer themselves with multiple pieces of flowy, elegant cloth. Even today, layering and covering your skin works well to protect your skin against the sun, and in accordance with Islamic culture of pardo.

Linen also dries fast, while being absorbent. Its tight weave allows evaporative cooling to occur from sweat drying off your body — exactly what you want in the arid climates of the Middle East.

Long-lasting and durable, linen was the perfect solution to beat the heat in Egypt.

Pick and drop that linen across the Indian Ocean to Indonesia and you’ll boil in an insulated hell of your own making. Indonesia’s tropical climate requires clothing that is absorbent, yet breathable. The high humidity won’t allow for sweat to evaporate off the body like in Egypt, so you’d need another way to get that ickiness off your skin.

Cotton was the answer.

Batik and ikat prints on cotton, traditional printing methods found in Southeast & South Asia.

Cotton in Indonesia

Breathable and light, cotton’s moisture-wicking property helped keep the sticky feeling off the skin. One of the softest fabrics worldwide and heavily dependent on water, cotton is best grown in river-fed plains like those found in the Sumatra.

Lightweight and gentle on your skin, cotton was a staple in regions all over Southeast Asia.

Jump over left to the Indian sub-continent and you’ll find the same cotton being processed in a very different manner.

Khadi in India

Khadi, the practice of hand-spinning and hand-weaving cloth, was not only a quiet resistance in the Independence movement in India, but also an effective solution to combat the heat.

Flowy and porous from a loose weave, khadi’s irregular weave structure facilitated quick drying and a breathable fabric all round.

Khadi was ideal for the decentralised production process all over India, where labouring artisan groups used locally sourced materials to make fabrics that suited their regional microclimates. Woollen khadi for colder regions in the north like Himachal Pradesh, silk khadi along the North eastern states like West Bengal with fertile soil, and cotton khadi sourced from semi-arid states like Rajasthan.

Handloom displaying the khadi process using jute.

Each of the three materials encased a specific characteristic that rendered them perfect for their regions — linen, for strength and durability to withstand sand, cotton, as a light fabric ideal for humidity, and khadi, a loose weave for breathability.

Each of the three also came to be culturally relevant in their respective regions. Linen was easy to layer, aligning with Islamic practices of pardo. Cotton was absorbent, easy to dye using methods like batik, ikat and block printing that allowed Southeast Asian printing techniques to flourish. Khadi helped Indians escape the inflated rates of re-imported cotton under the British raj, and eventually led the path to independence.

In a sense, hot weather becomes an ideological construct of autonomy, innovation and cultural celebration. In a lot of literature I have come across (read: Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs, and Steel”), the reverse is claimed for regions in warmer climates.

Bluntly put — that because these regions enjoyed warm weather, they never had to fight much to survive. I hope this blog post gives an insight into a discourse that counters this narrative, and informs the reader of another perspective.

Oh, and the next time you’re planning a trip to these locations, let this post inform your choice of wardrobe too :)