Nehru

[el Mongoose]

My apologies if a thread similiar to this already exists. I did not see one.

I have a Nehru suit I bought for a costume (Roger Delgado's character from Doctor Who). I imagine many have strong negative opinions in regard to the Nehru look, but I would just assume use the suit on occassion.

What I want to know is, what sort of shirt am I supposed to wear with a Nehru jacket?

Thanks for your input.

 

[David V]

From my personal observations at the time I recall that a turtle neck was often worn back in the 15 minutes that the Nehru jacket was popular.

 

[el Mongoose]

I'll give that a try. Thank you David.

 

[BoDiddly]

I wear Nerhu jackets often, as long as you have a little bit of shirt collar poking out the top like a rim, anything will work.

 

[el Mongoose]

Thanks Bo. So you think an Oxford style shirt works OK?

 

[BoDiddly]

Yes. Do a google image search on 'nehru collar suit' or 'mandarin collar suit' for examples.

It is a fun to wear suit - always gets attention (from "I haven't seen that since Sgt. Pepper", "Dr Evil" references). Oxfords work fine - any any dress shirt will likely work, either with or without a tie depending on the height of your jacket collar and whether or not you button the jacket all the way up like the Delgado Master (undisputed BEST Master in the series IMHO) or Dr. Evil, or open a few like the plethora of images from the web, or all wide open - which kinda destroys the clean appearance of the jacket and makes it look more like your afraid to wear an alternative jacket for real.

In this day and age when almost everyone looks like a slob, the Nehru jacket is an oddity beyond what most people will know how to interpret: is it hip? is it formal? is it suave? It's definitely not for anyone trying to cultivate a formal English gentleman look, and not appropriate for business meetings (although engineers and artists can probably pull it off depending on their work). But it is a fun an interesting look.

Just my $.02

 

[el Mongoose]

Thanks for the input Bo. Glad to take fashion advice from a Whovian! Where in New England do you reside? There is a lot of beauty in that part of the world. I'm currently obsessed with the midcoast of ME, but have enjoyed visits to NH, VT and MA in the past.

-Andy

 

[BoDiddly]

I'm in the south of the great state of New Hampshire. Lot's trees, small towns, and fair weather. Vermont is also quite beautiful - but I couldn't imagine living there seeing that there is a mountain between everything. Maine is quite nice, especially the coast near Bar Harbor. Massachusetts (state motto "California junior") however, is one gigantic suburban wasteland which is apparently causing problems for New Jersey who has held the title of 'the state you never want to live in' for so many years. ;-)

If there is one complaint about New Hampshire it is the Anheuser-Busch political machine has influenced the laws so that getting smaller brewery beers here is quite difficult. (AB has a large plant here, and employs a LOT of people.) It is difficult enough that many small breweries from Maine can't afford to have product in New Hampshire because of the introduction cost. Shame really - plenty of good brew in Maine.

 

[Foofoogal]

Did someone say Nehru? I thought I was so cool. My poor mom.

 

[el Mongoose]

The yarn headband completes the look.

 

[carldelo]

Did someone say Nehru? I thought I was so cool. My poor mom.

Ditto on the headband - the shirt and the yarn are awesome - I'm sure we must have gone to the same middle school together...

 

[Story]

Floating this to the top, but does anyone out there have an idea where to source a Nehru suit (or just the jacket) in the US?

I'd think there'd be some stores that cater specifically to SWAsian clientele.

 

[Chasseur]

If you want a traditional jacket the easiest would be to find your local South Asian neighborhood and find a store that sells kurta pajamas (the Punjabi long shirt and loose pants that have become the default South Asian outfit for men), bundis (the Nehru collared waistcoat that many Northern South Asian men wear), and Sherwanis (the long formal Indian jacket with the Nehru collar). However if you wanted a more modern jacket with Nehru collar you might not find it at a South Asia store. They do go in and out of fashion so it'd probably be easy to find one on ebay. Ebay also works well for finding the traditional garments quite cheap. I buy mine in India from the chain Khadi which has a good balance of price to quality.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

From my 'Nehru' period, c.1969 ≈

-dixon cannon

 

[Story]

Thanks, Chasseur

 

[Chasseur]

Thanks, Chasseur

For something different I should post some photos of my kurtas and bundis on here sometime.