The Wisdom of the Nehru Jacket
by Tyler Woods on Jul. 27, 2010, under Life
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I was looking at some old pictures of me when I was about 11 or 12 years-old and some of the outfits I had cracked me up a bit. I tried to follow some fads, and was torn between being the good little church going child and the young child hippy that I would sell my church going soul to fight against the establishment. Now remember, I did not know what that establishment was, but I was willing to fight it. Looking at the pictures I saw one in particular that brought back a great deal of memories and it got me thinking…
The 60s produced a great deal of clothing fads. We had mini skirts, hot pants, go-go boots, polyester pants suits, turtlenecks, jeans, bellbottoms, leather sandals, (we called them Roman sandals as kids) peasant skirts and shirts, bellbottom sleeves, hip huggers, Paisley shirts, velvet trousers, tie dye, brightly colored fabrics with unusual styles and patterns; long flared skirts, Halter tops and of course my very favorite, the Nehru shirts and jacket.
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The Nehru was a very cool shirt or coat which did not have a collar and lapels and normally had a smooth and sleek front. If you had a flair for fashion and being hip, then you had one of these shirts or coats. This clothing fad got its name from Jawaharlal Nehru who at the time was the Prime Minister of independent India.
As I sat and looked at the picture with me and my home made Nehru outfit, I could not help but think what it meant to me as a kid. I believe in my mind, the Beatles made the Nehru jacket and outfits rather popular when they began wearing Eastern-inspired clothing. I wanted what they had. I was raised in a fundamentalist religion and was not allowed to even so much as look at Eastern philosophies but as a young hippy in the making, I knew this fashion meant you could get in touch with your inner self and be at peace with some sort of high spiritual power. It was the wisdom of the Nehru jacket. (come on I was an 11 –year-old)
If you wanted to tune in, chill out, mediate and get in touch with your inner self, then the Nehru style was one sure way to get there. If you were hip like The Doors, The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, Iron Butterfly, Procal Harum, and of course the Beatles, then you wore these groovy threads. Well, that is what I thought as a child. As an adult, I still think the fashion is wonderful, sheik, in style and we should bring it back. I believe I own a few collarless shirts somewhere in my closet as a reminder of the spiffy Nehru fashion of the 60s.
I think we all need to think about bringing some fun style back into our lives. What do you think?
July 29th, 2010 on 9:01 am
I really, really, really wanted a Nehru jacket for about three days way back in 8th grade. I think it was the realization of just how dorky it would make me look that brought me to my senses.
July 31st, 2010 on 8:36 am
I did too and so I had one made…it was orange
August 2nd, 2010 on 2:47 pm
One great thing about the “Good Old Days” of fashion was that the fads were just that, fads. Something that was fun and exciting and if you didn’t join in right away you missed out because they went away about as quickly as they came in – but you could get ready for the next one and fun was had by all.
Now, fads never seem to leave. I mean how much longer do we have to see: baseball caps on backwards or sideways; “high water” trousers, too many of which are below one’s butt crack; other pants also below one’s derriere that make a person look as though they’re standing on an accordion; a woman’s thongs higher than the waist level of her low hip hugging jeans – against a background of car stereos bumping bass that simulate earthquakes and would awaken a dead person who was deaf when they died?
October 17th, 2010 on 5:01 pm
I have about 6 of them, two are full suits I bought on a trip to London a few years ago, the others are new old stock.
I wear them often and always get compliments, great with paisley shirts and Beatle boots, which I am also wearing now.
Last chance for a mid life crisis I guess but who cares, I know they are hip.
Remember, Sammy Davis had about a thousand in his closet and he was one c o o l kat!
Of course, I don’t do the love beads!