Sikh threads
"The Sikh look," Amrita Hanjrah says, "goes back to the concept of authentic living. It's an expression of one's being." While most Sikhs wear a dastar (or turban) and keep their hair long, Hanjrah and her husband, Shinda Singh, say their religion isn't all that strict about appearance. "Strictness is provoked out of fear and control," Hanjrah says. "What you can and cannot wear is not decided by another but oneself. The key question one must ask themselves is, 'Is this my authentic self or it it a facade?" explains Hanjrah, an artist and court liaison. "Who we are inside and out should be connected seamslessly," says Singh, a musician and health-care consultant. "True fashion is the reflection of one's true self. At the end of the day if it doesn't tell your story, it's not fashion."
Originally published in the Chicago Reader.
