Singer Ali Sethi who blazed a trail in the Pakistani music scene with his contemporary style renditions of old ghazals, has also been pushing boundaries when it comes to men’s fashion. Recently, its been the singer’s Mughal style Angarkha which has stirred debate about our ancestors and their clothing.
From dying his hair blonde in Rung, to wearing tribal necklaces in Ishq and now rocking a Mughal Angarkha for his performance at American music festival ‘Coachella’, Sethi is redefining standards of art and style in men’s fashion– which has been restricted to a fairly limited range over the past hundred years or so.
However, there is always that fraction of the audiences who is not always ready for change & innovation. And so, Ali Sethi’s coachella lewk also created a stir as some netizens questioned his clothes for not being “manly” enough, as it challenged their set notions of how men must remain restricted to a typical and plain style.
What the fuck is he even wearing tho pic.twitter.com/ItkMxX8sAa
— fatima (@fatimasherazii) April 24, 2023
Sethi’s fans were quick to respond with a short but loaded history lesson schooling trolls on how our ancestors dressed before they were colonized.
our ancestors before the british colonized us btw. https://t.co/I1lLO2w7Wq pic.twitter.com/fskOJbiTe5
— ♄ agha (@gas1ighter) April 24, 2023
And looking back at our heritage, we cannot help but admit that our Mughal ancestors really did take a keen interest in what they wore and how they dressed- from fabric, textiles, cuts and embellishments. And turns out -Ali Sethi’s Angarkha was the main garment worn by all our male ancestors. Seems like it’s really time to rethink what a ‘man’ should or will look like, calling for a full-blown revolution in men’s fashion!
