Costumes of Sri Lanka by K D G Wimalaratne & Dian Gomes

The scope of this book is the evolution of Sri Lankan costumes spanning from around the 6th century B.C. with the first available records of the Island’s dress form, to the post-independence era. This broad time span begins with hints of a pre-Vijayan culture of costumes and textiles and ends in post-independence politics and its relationship to dress both in prescription and practice. Sculptures, graffiti, paintings, literature and photographs in the book provide an engrossing glimpse of the traditions of clothing on this multi-cultural island.

This book looks at the multiple determiners that dictated dress forms at different periods in Sri Lanka's history; the mutual adaptation of dress styles among ethnic communities. as well as between cast and west. It looks at the impact of colonial dress forms in transforming Lankan identities and at the politics of such adaptation.

 Hard Cover. Self Published.