OLDEN-DAYS CLOTHING IN GOA � �KASHTTI� � Part 2

[domnic fernandes]

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OLDEN-DAYS CLOTHING IN GOA – “KASHTTI” – Part 2

In Konkani, “roup” means clothes/clothing/wardrobe: example – “Aiz ami 
kazaracho roup kaddunk Mapxeam voitanv.”  (Today, we are going to Mapusa to 
purchase wedding clothing).

Unlike today, most clothes in the past were made to order.  A tailor was 
hired and clothes were stitched at home.

Boys' daily clothing consisted of a cotton “chad’di” (short pant) and a 
banian (vest) with pockets on both sides, which we filled with nuts like 
“bazlele chonnem” (fried grams), “bazleleo kazumcheo bieo” (fried cashew 
seeds), “bazlele chinchre” (fried tamarind seeds), etc. when we went to 
play.  Children didn’t carry handkerchiefs.  Whenever they had a running 
nose, they blew it, reached the banian and wiped for it.

Very few boys belonging to well-to-do and up-coming families wore a 
“chad’di”; most wore a kashtti.  The chad’di was stitched with elastic on 
the waist.  As a prank, while at play, senior boys would pull down junior 
boys’ chad’di and make them feel embarrassed; practically nobody wore 
underwear.

Boys wore short pants even for Sunday Mass and occasions.  School going 
boys/teenagers imitated Paklo’s (Portuguese soldier’s) skin-tight short 
pant.  The length of a short pant was never more than one foot.  If anyone 
wore Bermuda-type shorts, he was laughed at.  However, the elderly wore 
knee-length Bermuda-type shorts.  My father wore striped shorts made from 
night dress or sleeping suit cloth and so did most other Gulfees.

In those days, long pants were occasionally worn by adults.  Teenagers, who 
wore long pants, mostly wore a short pant under it, especially if they were 
thin.  It served as padding and filled up loose space around their waists.  
Some wore even two short pants to make them look fat – that was in addition 
to the underwear!  How suffocating it must have been, especially in the hot 
summer?

For the elite, long pants was daily wear.

Children and even teenagers were not allowed to wear bright-colored clothes.

When I grew up, wear of white shirt and black pant was common.  Starched 
shirts were in fashion, especially white-starched shirts.  In those days, 
there were hardly any laundries.  People washed their clothes at home or 
gave them for washing to a “moddvoll/dhobi” (washer-man), who starched their 
shirts as required.  Some of us starched our shirts at home by using 
“pejecho nis” (canji water).  We would add a pinch of blue powder to give a 
white shirt that whitening effect.  Many Indian politicians use starched 
shirts and bush-shirts till today; one of them is Sharad Pawar, the 
politician and President of the BCCI.

Very few wore leather shoes.  The canvas shoes that were bought for the 
first Holy Communion/Chrism would be worn until they could no longer fit.  
For many, it was the only pair of shoes they would have worn during their 
entire childhood/teenage life.

In the Sixties, Jeetendra wore all-white shirts, trousers and shoes, which 
was why he was nick-named as Mr. Goody White!  He popularized the wear of 
white shoes during the decade.

Some poor boys, who could not afford to purchase shoes, would bandage the 
toes on one of the feet, two days before a feast or wedding to make it look 
like it was injured, when in fact it was a fabricated excuse not to wear 
shoes.  They looked at others’ dress and shoes and envied them.

In the Fifties, our favorite hair cut was ‘crew cut’.  There was only one 
barber, Mablo, in the whole of Anjuna.  He also performed ‘bloody cupping’ – 
a process in which the skin is scratched with a sterilized lancet before the 
cups are applied.  Mablo later trained his son, Vishnu, who was known to all 
as “Cheddo” (Boy).  Whenever we went to him for a hair cut, he would ask us 
whether we wanted a ‘crew cut’ or ‘American cut’.  Despite telling him that 
we wanted the latter, we would end up with the former!  Sometimes, the hair 
cut was so bad that people would remark:  “Niden astannam undran kens 
chanchoilet kitem!”  (Did rats nibble your hair in your sleep?)

When I attended Escola Tecnica in Mapusa in the late Fifties, if anyone 
didn’t have a proper hair cut, his friends would ask him if rats had nibbled 
his hair in his sleep or if he had a haircut under the water tank.  
Obviously, there was a water tank located at far end corner of the south 
wing of the then newly built Mapusa Municipal market.  A barber sat under 
the water tank with a chair and gave a hair cut/shave.  Anyone who could not 
afford to have a hair cut in a saloon went for it under the tank, which 
obviously was cheaper but not the best!

The days of the Fifties’ crew cut gradually came to an end.  During the 
Sixties men became more concerned about having a neat, well-styled haircut. 
Instead of the cheap trim on the back and the sides at the local barbershop, 
many youngsters began to go to salons in towns.

In the Fifties and Sixties, ‘Dev-Anand-puff-hair-style’ was very common with 
young and old alike.  In those days we groomed our hair with oil; some 
applied hair cream or Vaseline.  Hair was neatly combed, often parted on the 
side, and a stylish puff formed.  Boys/young men hardly ever left the house 
without combs in their pockets.  Usually, a wallet was placed in right back 
pocket and a comb and handkerchief in the left back pocket.

Girls followed ‘Sadhna hair cut’ style after the then famous Miss Sadhna, 
Hindi film heroine.

Although the world was experiencing improved dresses in the form of fashion, 
Goans were still following the restricted dress code under the Portuguese 
regime, but the moment we were freed from the colonial clutches on December 
19, 1961, we gained not only freedom of speech and movement but also freedom 
of fashion.  Thus, the decade of the Sixties was not only the decade of 
Goa’s Liberation but also the decade of youth’s liberation.  Yes, the dress 
fashion began to catch up with the tiny Union Territory then, now a state, 
until it reached its height, presently that is.

The 20th century brought freedom to the woman.  Similarly, the teenagers who 
were controlled by their parents until the Fifties became freer in the 
Sixties and opted for clothing of their choice, rather than their parents’!

In the early Sixties, we proudly wore skin-tight pants, which were also 
called ‘piping’ because legs, when fitted into them, looked liked pipes, 
especially if one was a thin person.  From mid-Sixties through the late 
Sixties, we wore single-pleat pants followed by double and treble-pleats.

By the late Sixties and early Seventies, bell-bottom pants, which were also 
known as elephant legs became the wear of the time.  During the same period, 
safari suit occupied a prominent place in the society, especially among the 
elite and upcoming families, including Gulfees and Shippies.

Music plays a vital role in our lives.  It is somehow connected with 
fashion.  Fashion is meant to be displayed at functions/occasions.  The only 
occasions at which Goan youth could show off their clothing was at weddings 
and feasts; that’s all; there was no further exposure.  However, with the 
introduction of various musical groups in the late Sixties, parties, jam 
sessions and dances became popular and with that came the change in 
youngsters’ clothing.

The decade of the Sixties was a continuation of the Rock-n-Roll followed by 
Twist and of course, the Beatles’ era.  The Beatles, who were instrumental 
in introducing various clothes styles, also introduced 
straight-across-the-front fringe ‘Beatle hair cut’, and Beatle shoes.

We, the teenagers, immediately followed the megastars’ hair style and made 
sure that we got a pair of Beatles shoes.  The Beatles also introduced the 
turtle neck or Polo collar pullovers, which we made part of our on-going 
fashion.  I had a Beatle hair cut for around two years after which I grew 
tired and wanted to get rid of it; I felt as if I was carrying a load on my 
head.

One fine day, I went to my barber in one of the hair cutting salons in the 
New Municipal market and told him I wanted a clean shave.  He couldn’t 
believe me.  He asked me several times if I knew what I was asking him to 
do.  I said ‘yes’.  He then asked me if I had taken permission from my 
parents.  I told him there was no need.  Reluctantly, he applied water and 
shaving soap to my head, held the razor in his hand and said:  “Polle, tuji 
tokli tasunk suru kortam!”  (Look, I am going to start to shave your head!)  
I said:  Go ahead.

For the last two decades, I have been shaving my head every summer – I had a 
clean shave last month.  It gives me a cool feeling; it also saves falling 
hair – maybe that’s why I still have some hair left on my head!  In the 
country where I am employed, the moment they see my shaven head, they wish 
me ‘Umra Maqbula’ (May your visit to Mecca be accepted by Allah) or ‘Haj 
Mabroor’ (May Allah accept your sacrifices) thinking that I had been to 
Mecca to perform Umra or Haj.

During the Sixties, bearded hippies with long hair descended on Goan soil.  
Many young men wore their hair longer, influenced by the back-to-nature 
sentiments of the flower children.

Hippies moved about in scanty clothes.  While most male hippies draped a 
transparent piece of muslin cloth around their waist over their underwear, 
others chose to wear Goan kashtti because it suited their style; they didn’t 
wear anything on top.  Women, too, draped a muslin cloth over their panties 
and covered their breasts with a loose brassiere.

‘Ozran’ in Anjuna became the nude abode for hippies and their families.  
Men, women and children lived here like Adam and Eve – the hippies had 
brought the Garden of Eden to Anjuna.  Initially, seeing the bearded hippies 
with long hair, the elderly in Anjuna thought Jesus was on a visit to our 
forgotten village in a foreigner’s disguise, but they soon realized the 
truth.

Their scanty dress initially created a great furor with Anjunkars but we 
gradually got used to their style so much so that now we don’t bother even 
if they pass by us nude!

However, the Indian tourists will do anything and pay any amount of money to 
get to Anjuna beach in order to have a glimpse of bathing beauties on our 
shores.  What they don’t realize is that the best time to visit the beach is 
in the afternoon and not late evening when one finds only clad locals on the 
shore.  Sometimes their buses arrive past seven in the evening when they can 
neither see the mermaids nor sea waves due to darkness.  Thus, their mission 
remains incomplete and they return home disappointed.

The hippie cult was hostile to fashion and chose to wear cheap ethnic type 
garments and second hand clothing.  Colors were bright and varied.  A 
multitude of man-made fibers became available.  These offered great 
variation in price, texture and properties such as sharp permanent plats, 
shiny PVC and comfortable stretch Crimplene.  But these clothes also brought 
their problems such as poor absorption, snagging and pilling.

The hippies made sure that they passed on their fashion to Goans and overall 
to Indians by introducing ‘the Flea Market’ in Anjuna, which takes place 
every Wednesday until today from October to March.  I say overall Indians 
because people from every corner of India visit the Flea Market at least 
once.

It had a small beginning in foreigners getting rid of their unwanted baggage 
before heading home.  Today it is a giant cauldron of sorts – food from 
every place on the globe, clothes, trance music, books, facials, massage, 
tattoos, and haircut – for foreigners by the foreigners.  There is probably 
no more most-visited and very crowded place than Anjuna’s Flea Market in 
Goa.  It takes quite a doing to reach the long rows of stalls maneuvering 
through an ever-shifting long maze of vehicles of every sort.  What was 
disgusting was that they sold used panties and people bought them without 
any hesitation!

Trousers as women’s wear were accepted by the late Sixties and became a 
common wear in the form of pants suits, hipsters, sportswear and flowing 
skirt-like casual clothing.

Maxi and midi garments were also fashionable for a short period though Maxi 
dress continues to be worn by many at functions.  Maxis are called gowns 
nowadays and it is a must ‘formal’ wear for weddings, etc.

Denim was in vogue particularly for teen wear, designer jeans and corduroy 
being the rage by the end of the Seventies.

School/College-going boys wore their hair long in copying the Beatles and 
hippies making it difficult to figure out from the rear whether it was a 
male or a female!

During the same time, girls who generally grew long hair, opted to cut it 
and go for a ‘Tom-boy-cut’, which again made it difficult to differentiate 
between a girl and a boy, especially from behind.

Konkani stage actors presented many comedy skids in tiatros on boys and 
girls with pants and long hair as mistaken identities.

Side-by-side, growing of long side-locks became the fashion for men at the 
time.

A working class person in Goa during the Portuguese regime wore a pair of 
Gabardine trousers, a Terylene shirt and a hat.  He wore gumboots during the 
monsoon, a German make rubber raincoat and a beige plastic hat with a black 
ribbon around it.  Women wore “khaddaiyeo” (wooden sole slippers) during the 
monsoon.

The advantage of a Terylene shirt was that one could wash and dry it within 
less than an hour.  In the summer, half an hour was more than sufficient to 
dry the shirt – the only part which took time to dry was its collar.

Speaking of hat, if a Basurkar (Goan employed in the Middle East) visited 
his home in September or October, he would buy a handmade hat made by 
cowherds.  Grass grows on our hills during the monsoon season.  By August, 
it is fully grown.  As soon as rain subsided, cowherds took their cows and 
buffaloes for grazing on the hills.

While their cattle grazed, they picked up thick grass, held grass blade in 
the left hand and removed fluid from it by placing it in between the index 
finger and thumb of the right hand and pressing the fluid out with the thumb 
nail.  They would first weave a round base and gradually come up with 
various items like a hat, hand bag, small basket, pencil/pen holder, etc.  
This was a small side-business for them.  As children, we joined cowherds on 
our hill and many of us learned to weave grass items through them.

The Basurkar and the Shippie introduced multi-colored umbrellas with 
different flower patterns.  Girls/women made sure they carried matching 
umbrellas to go with their dresses/saris.  A Basurkar’s wife went about in a 
colorful dress/skirt-blouse/sari, wore high heel shoes and Ray-Ban 
sunglasses and held a matching umbrella over her head; its reflection 
brightened her face.

However poor a Goan was, he owned a suit – a Cashmere suit.  He stitched it 
at his wedding.  He made its best use at every function.  He wore it at a 
feast, wedding, funeral, etc - in sweltering heat and in the monsoon.  After 
he returned home, he put it to dry on a rope line until the sweat on it 
dried completely – it was dry-cleaned!

Suits were mostly black or darkish in color.  The norm at the time was to 
wear a white shirt on any suit.

He would have attended so many functions with the suit, including his 
children’s and grandchildren’s that it came to be known as “sonstichem suit” 
(suit of generations).  When he died, he was buried with it.

During Portuguese times, the famous tailor shop in Mapusa was “Xavier 
Tailors”.  Xavier, the proprietor, was the best tailor in the whole of North 
Goa in those days; he was specialized in suits. He was probably in his mid 
sixties; he was already grooming his sons at the job. He was quite a tall 
man; a soft-spoken person. He wore spectacles low on his nose.  He had a 
little hunch on his upper back. He was always well-dressed.  He wore a pair 
of trousers and a white long-sleeved shirt; a tape measure tape always hung 
on his shoulders.

I knew him very well because my father stitched me three suits through him. 
I got my first suit at the age of 9; the second at the age of 11 and the 
third at the age of 14. Actually, I told my father I did not want a suit 
because all of my friends were poor, but my father insisted and took me to 
the shop.

One was required to come back for a trial in a week's time. His stitching 
was so perfect that a second trial was rarely required. If you wanted 100% 
attention, you had to avoid visiting on a Friday which was the busiest day 
for him, as most people scheduled their visits to the shop along with their 
Friday market trip.

The suit fashion in the Fifties was to have a single-button/single-breasted 
coat with skin-tight fitting pant.  By the late Fifties and early Sixties, 
the fashion was double-button/double-breasted coat with a single pleat pant. 
 By the mid-Sixties, the fashion was either three-button coat with 
two-pleat pant or double-breasted coat with two or three-pleat pant.  The 
Seventies introduced 3-piece suits.  The same fashion has continued from 
then until now.  For a brief period, collarless coats also became a fashion.

A gentleman always wore a tie.  Not everyone knew how to tie the knot of a 
tie but anyone who knew would help others.  A knot tied once would not be 
undone sometimes for years.  When I grew up, the fashion was to have a thin 
tie - ties became narrower, as did belts.  Gradually, the thickness of a tie 
increased from an inch to inch an half.  As time went by, the width kept on 
increasing and finally there was ‘broad-tie’ fashion.

During the same period, broad collar or elephant ears came to be the 
fashion.

One interesting character, Bautis (Baptist) D’Souza, a gent’s tailor by 
profession, who had lived most part of his life in Karachi, Pakistan and who 
was nick-named “Purtugez” because of his obsession for return of the 
Portuguese to Goa, had this to say in the mid-Sixties:  “Every fashion that 
you see took place some years ago.  I say this because what I stitch today, 
I had stitched a couple of decades ago.”  Come to think of it, he was damn 
right.  This is exactly what we see today.  And, with the scantiness of 
dresses that we see, we might even return to the original fashion of Adam 
and Eve!

Since leather was available in plentiful in Goa, men used a leather belt, 
but if one was not available, the elderly used an old tie for a belt – it 
didn’t really matter as long as the tie held the pant in place.

As a fashion, youngsters rolled up long sleeves of shirts, and even of 
bush-shirts, especially those who had well-developed biceps.  Rolling up of 
sleeves was a good way to show off their biceps.

After a shirt was tucked-in, it was pulled out a bit all around and a fold 
was created. One passed his hand around every now and then to make sure the 
fold was evenly distributed.

Clothes Fashion at Christmas was not on anyone’s mind in those days.  We 
didn’t receive clothes at every occasion or birthday but we got them once a 
year at Christmas and that was a great thing for us.

Boys received a new pair of short pants (only grown up boys received a pair 
of long trousers), a long-sleeved shirt, a pair of shoes and socks.

Girls received a new dress along with a petticoat, a pair of shoes and socks 
and a beautiful “veu” (veil) – the two shops “Mapxenkar” and “Calangutkar” 
in Mapusa stored a variety of veils with them.

Yes, in those days a veil was a must without which one could not go to 
church.  Most girls wore a “vistid” (frock/dress) or a “gagro-buluz” (skirt 
and blouse).  The length of the dress had to be at least one foot below the 
knee.  The collar had to be round or square around the neck, without any 
cleavage.  The midi dress was very much in fashion at the time.

Women, who wore sari, placed “paluv” (top end of the sari) on their heads.  
Most elderly women wore a “vol-kapodd” (pair of dress sheets which covers a 
woman from head to ankle – only face, hands and feet could be seen).  Other 
elderly women wore a “kapodd ani lamb hatanchi cholli” (cotton sari and a 
long-sleeved bodice).

Women wore a “dubji” (a woman’s under garment) under a sari/kapodd.  The 
elderly women, especially the widows, wore subdued colors; they walked 
barefoot.

Speaking of subdued colors, in the past black clothes were worn only 
whenever a family member passed away.  Until the beginning of the Eighties, 
if anyone was seen wearing black, people would stop and question:  
“Baba/baie, tumcho konn bhair poddla?” (My dear, who have you lost?)

The next of kin mourned and wore black clothes for one year - men wore black 
shirt and pant; girls wore full black dress and women wore black sari and 
blouse.  Children were usually exempted but some parents would make them 
wear as well.

A black cloth band attached to the left sleeve of a white shirt meant a 
close relative had expired.  A small piece of black cloth tucked on to a 
shirt button signified that a distant relative had died.

When a husband died, wife would cover her “kansulam” (temples) as well as 
head and ears with a black cloth/scarf.  She would not step out of the house 
without covering her head at least for one year.  She would attend weddings 
but would not dance.  For her, fun-filled life was over the moment her 
husband expired.

Nowadays, hardly anyone wears black clothes as a sign of mourning, but black 
wear has now become the leading fashion.

Speaking of black as fashion, don’t forget to watch the first Konkani 
e-cinema by Kuwait-based T-Bush, titled: ‘BLACK Nhesop Atanchem Fashion’, 
which was released in Kuwait on August 10, 2007!

A “beatin” (pious maid) wore a nun’s habit.  In Gaumvaddy, we had beatin 
Basu bai, Ven. Agnelo’s first cousin, who lived behind St. John’s chapel.

        To be continued ……………………

Moi-mogan,

Domnic Fernandes:  Author of 'Domnic’s Goa – A nostalgic romp through a 
bygone era'
Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA
Tel: (966 3) 877-2744; Home: (966 3) 876-2676; Mobile: (966 5) 0281-9101

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