Fashion Merchandising instructor Angie Dowell displays some of the colorful fabrics she brought back from a recent trip to India.

Trip to India inspires teacher

When Angie Dowell arrived home from her five-week trip to India earlier this semester, she came back to a world that didn’t seem so familiar anymore.

“I was headfirst in a culture so different from our own,” said Dowell, a fashion merchandising instructor in the Department of Family and Consumer Science. “Literally from waking up to going to bed, everything was different. When I came back it was almost culture shock again. It’s still hard to find my place again. I still don’t feel like the old Angie.”

And she thought she’d only have to worry about jet lag.

But she’s finding ways to integrate her India experience into life back here at home. Now in her fifth year at Pittsburg State University, Dowell is a leader in fashion education. Working with students and teaching fashion courses, she always had an interest in studying the discipline globally.

“If you’re interested in high fashion, you might want to go to France or Italy,” she said. “But if you’re interested in the textile industry, or culturally specific types of clothing, then India is of great importance and interest. The tide is turning and India is really coming in.”

The clothes on her back prove it. Sitting in her office on this warm morning, Dowell is draped in a sheer white kurta – a dressing gown commonly worn by men and women – and her wrist jingles with fuchsia bangles. The rest of her, however, is modern American – blue jeans and pointed heels. She holds up various Indian articles: men’s drawstring pajamas, a Himachali cap, hand-stitched shawls. She leans forward, pointing to the tiny stitches on the backside of the garment. “This is how you can tell it’s handmade,” she says in a conspiratorial tone. “This was the equivalent of $22, and it would have cost hundreds here. You can’t conceive of the costs until you’ve seen it. People are sitting on the floors of these factories hand-stitching these garments and I’d walk down the street and pay $20 for it.”

Preparing for the trip, which was sponsored through Rotary International’s annual cultural exchange program, was a bit of a whirlwind. Dowell first applied for the fellowship in September, and was approved and packing her bags by Christmas. And although there were some not-so-pleasant surprises (the booming population means utilities cut in and out, leaving Dowell to sleep most cold nights fully dressed and to take cold showers), there were also experiences that made her feel as though she had stumbled into a world she’d always longed for.

“I became spoiled with the familial elements,” she said. “Things move much more slowly. I realized what warm and kind people they are. I’m attracted to their culture’s emphasis on tradition, the idea that a country that has seen such vast change can maintain their ties to tradition.

“I feel like it was such a significant part of my life. I have to figure out how to take my experiences there and incorporate them into my life here.”

What was most revealing, more than the amazing fashions and the chance to leave behind the frenzied pace of the U.S., was her quick understanding of the working culture. Spending long hours hand-stitching the garments, the workers at many factories sat on concrete floors. Some wore no shoes. Factories were poorly lit, and some worked on rooftops.

Although she was initially shocked at the conditions, Dowell surprised herself at how quickly she accepted this. “I expected myself to be very uncomfortable seeing those things. But the approaches to work suddenly made sense to me,” she said. “You cannot look through an American lens at the Indian culture.”

Although she’s ready for her next trip, she’s back in the classroom for now. Next semester she’ll be teaching “Dress and Culture,” and plans to incorporate the experience into her class. And although she’s still adjusting to life back at home, there’s always the kurtas hanging in her closet.

“When I first got back, I wore something from there everyday,” she says. “Now I’m down to just a few times a week.”

---Pitt State--