Pheran " A Kashmiri dress in winter"

Pheran.

Well this cozy garment worn by men woman and children of Kashmir is our only answer to the harsh winter. There has been little changes in pheran over the years but the basic model of Pheran is same. At one stage in Kashmir it became too much in vogue amongst young girls or working ladies. Embroidery of pheran at neck and sleeves was worn by almost all females of Kashmir and it could be used on all occasions ,with pheran a matching shalwar embroidered at bottom had become a good fashion statement amongst ladies. It was a good development as ladies would save money on costly coats and jackets.
This embroidered pheran had become very popular outside Kashmiir also and still we see lot of fashionable ladies and designers using this style of embroidery on the shalwar suits.
Kashmi Girl carries a specially made tilee wala pheran (pheran with costly golden embroidery) with her dowry paraphernalia when she gets married , i guess modern young girls of Kashmir rarely use that costly tilee wala pheran later.
Elderly ladies use a tille wala pheran on social occasions and in personal use also. I dont know why young girls hesitate to wear it.
In rural areas of Kashmir pheran is worn by ladies through out the year. They have a pheran for summer which is made of summer cloth and they have a pheran for winter made of heavy winter cloth.
There is a little difference between the Pheran worn by city males and the Pheran worn by males of other districts or village males. In rural areas Pheran is bigger in dimension and the wideth of sleeves is also bigger. In rural areas a pheran which is less in width or length is considered feminine .
Our Pandith brothers used to wear a Pheran with white inner ( Pooch) and they would keep a fold of two inches just below the middle of the Pheran. It is called Bata pheran.
Our maulana shabhis of Kashmir used to wear a pheran withour collar, it was and is still in vouge with them. They also keep two inch fold below the middle of pheran.
In rural areas men wear pheran in summer also as villages are not too hot in summer in kashmir, they take it to the fields also and after lunch when they take a nap under tree they just spread this pheran on grass and sleep.

Some men like to wear a pheran with collar and some prefer it with a small one inch wide chinees type collar. Some wear a pheran with pockets on the left and right side. Generally the design of Pheran has been same since decades in Kasmir.