The Nehru jacket is a hip-length tailored coat for men or women, with a

mandarin collar A mandarin collar, standing collar, band collar or choker collar is a short unfolded stand-up collar style on a shirt or jacket. The style derives its Western name from the mandarin bureaucrats in Qing-era China that employed it as part of th ...

, and with its front modelled on the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

achkan Achkan ( ur, اچکن, hi, अचकन) also known as ''Baghal bandi'' is a knee length jacket worn by men in the Indian subcontinent much like the Angarkha. History Achkan evolved from Chapkan, a dress which earlier formed the costume of the ...

sherwani Sherwani is a long-sleeved outer coat worn by men in South Asia. Like the Western frock coat it is fitted, with some waist suppression; it falls to below the knees and is buttoned down the front. It can be collarless, have a shirt-style collar, ...

, a garment worn by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

from 1947 to 1964.

History

Jawaharlal Nehru on horseback in Achkan and chooridar

The Nehru jacket is a variation of the

Jodhpuri A Jodhpuri suit or Bandhgala (lit. closed neck) suit, is a formal suit from India. It originated in the Jodhpur State, and was popularized during mid 19th - mid 20th century in India. It consists of a coat and trousers, sometimes accompanie ...

where the material is often

khadi Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Mahatma Gandhi as ''swadeshi'' (self-sufficiency) for the freedom struggle of the Indian subcontinent, and the term is used throughout India, Pakistan ...

(hand-woven cloth). The

itself is an evolution from the

Angarkha Angarkha is an outer robe with long sleeves which was worn by men in South Asia. By the 19th-century it had become the generally accepted attire of an educated man in public. It had evolved from the Persian cape ''balaba'' or ''chapkan'' as a ...

. Popularized during the terms of Jawaharlal Nehru, these distinct Bandhgalas made from khadi remain popular to this day.

Style

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh meeting former Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff

Unlike the achkan, which falls somewhere below the knees of the wearer, the Nehru jacket is shorter. Jawaharlal Nehru, notably, never wore this type of Nehru jacket.

Popularity

The jacket began to be marketed as the ''Nehru jacket'' in Europe and America in the mid 1960s. It was briefly popular there in the late 1960s and early 1970s, its popularity spurred by the aspirational class' growing awareness of foreign cultures, by the

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

of the Mod lifestyle and, in particular, by

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Some were also worn by

Roger Delgado Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (1 March 1918 – 18 June 1973) was a British actor. He played many roles on television, radio and in films, and had "a long history of playing minor villains" before becoming ...

's version of the renegade

Time Lord The Time Lords are a fictional ancient race of extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial people in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', of which the series' main protagonist, The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, is a memb ...

known as the Master on the science fiction ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. Charles Barron,

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

are among the politicians who frequently wear Nehru suits. In 2012, Nehru jacket was listed among the ''Top 10 Political Fashion Statements'' by Jared T. Miller in the ''

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...

''.

References

Notes

Citations