Clothing is worn to keep the body warm and dry, to protect it against great heat or cold and against injury, disease and dirt.

In most parts of India during the greater part of the year the heat is so intense that the majority of the inhabitants wear clothing merely for the sake of decency. Much of the clothing used in most countries serves only the purpose of personal adornment.

Materials for Clothing:

In cold countries thick warm woolen material and in hot countries white cotton is chiefly used. Clothing which does not conduct heart readily and thus does not allow heat to escape easily from the-body is the warmest. Fur is the best in this respect but is used only in very cold countries.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Waterproof materials, such as oil skin, tarred cloth or cloth covered with Indian rubber may be useful for sometime or temporarily, but it is injuri­ous for health. If stops the vaporization of the body and checks heat. Woolen material of light weight, light in color and porous is the most suitable material-for clothes in all climates, especially in countries with great daily and seasonal variations of temperature. As far as possible, many clothes that are flammable should be avoided. Such clothes are all the more risky for persons who are likely to come greater contact with fire or such other things.

Clothing should be made to fit comfortably. Clothes should be clean, frequently exposed to the sunlight, fit comfortably and adopted in thickness of texture to the season of the year. Dirty clothes cause disease of the skin. The exposure of infants to cold is extremely dangerous and especially during cold weather they should be thickly clad.

In order to protect the feet, shoes and shocks have to be put on. But shoes should be so designed that they may not retard the growth of the feet. When the shoes are laced, the laces should not become very tight and there should be space inside shoes for free movement of the toes, but every care should be taken to see that the shoes and the shocks do not get wet and not spoil the health of feet.