Retracing the history and meaning of the Maxi

Remember Neetu Singh singing Pehle Pehle Pyar Ki Mulakatein Yaad Hai and cavorting with Amitabh Bachchan in Rome in the 1979 hit, The Great Gambler, wearing a white printed Maxi dress? And who can forget Zeenat Aman looking svelte and feminine in a shimmering turquoise silk ankle-length dress in Don (1978)?

The Maxi, along with the wide-flaring bell-bottom trousers, was the defining attire for fashionable females in the 1970s. Everyone wore those floor-sweepers — I have black-and-white family photographs of birthdays and picnics in which several of my mothers' friends are dressed in maxis, accessorised with a large bloom peeping out from behind the ear, a bold line of black kajal drawn over the upper lids and curling over the corner of the eye, and a dot bindi high on the forehead. They were, perhaps, following in the fashion steps of Bollywood heroines of the day — as young women will do even today.

Or maybe, the Maxi represented a degree of liberty for these middle class women, whose families were fairly conservative — for whom choice of attire was hitherto limited to the sari and salwar kameez. Also, unlike the flared pants, midis (mid-calf length skirts — another 70s phenomenon) — or minis that were also in vogue then, the Maxi was sedateness personified — it covered every part of your body.

As trends go, however, the Maxi wasn't very flattering to most Indian women who had heavier frames — often what looked flirty and feminine on leaner Bollywood heroines ended up being downright dowdy when worn by your mom or the buxom aunty next door. Blame it, also, on the limited skills of the neighbourhood darzis and the limited range of fabrics available in license-raj India — where would you get the wonderful silks or chiffons to stitch flowing garments. No wonder what passed for a maxi was often just a glorified house-dress. Nevertheless, it didn't stop Indian women of all sizes and shapes back then from wearing these high-waisted drapes in cheerful prints, multicoloured stripes or polka dots, with pretty period details like butterfly collars, smocked accents on the front panel, long bell sleeves gathered at the wrists, and —most important — sashes made of the same cloth as the Maxi tied behind the waist or on the side in a limp bow.

The Maxi has retro written all over it and takes a feat of canny styling to carry off. Which is why it's quite surprising to find that globally, and in India too, the Maxi has made something of a comeback in recent years. But it's the Maxi, thankfully, in a very different avatar, that of the gown, which is more streamlined and better fitted around the waist and hips. Or perhaps, Indian women are thinner now and carry them off better.