Dhanteras: What People Buy, and What to Wear

Dhanteras is today, and it is the day the country buys — metal, gold, a new vessel, something for the house. The tradition is about bringing something new in, which is also why so much clothes shopping happens on exactly this date.

What it asks you to wear

This is a daytime occasion and mostly a moving one: the market, the jeweller, a temple, somebody's house. It is the wrong day for anything heavy, and the right day for the piece that is festive but easy.

A cotton or linen saree, a light Katan silk, or a salwar suit that will survive a car, a queue and a flight of temple stairs. Save the tissue and the organza for Sunday evening.

If you are buying clothes today

Two practical things, both learned the hard way:

• The blouse. A saree bought today needs a tailor, and the tailor has a queue. If it is for Sunday, either buy something ready to wear or buy a saree you can wear with a blouse you already own.
• The men. Today is the day they will actually do it. A kurta pajama set or a Nehru jacket takes ten minutes and covers the rest of the week.

The buying-new tradition, used properly

There is a version of this where the new thing is bought in a rush and worn once. The better version is buying the piece that will still be earning its place in February — which, in this season, means something that works at a wedding as well as at a festival.

The luxury collection and the 15–20,000 band are where those pieces mostly sit. A saree bought today that gets worn to three weddings is a better Dhanteras purchase than a lighter one worn on Sunday and never again.

The children

Kids ethnic wear, and buy it today rather than Saturday — a child's outfit that arrives on the day and does not fit is the one avoidable disaster of the week.

Tomorrow: the night before Diwali. The whole calendar is in the six-week plan.