V&A: Man's jama

Firstly: Downton 3 will air on PBS starting 6 January 2013. That's less than six months away, I can make it! I can make it!

Secondly: Friend Jack and I have been planning summer funtimes projects. I'm sure a new party dress will be in order. I'm also dying to make a Russian peasant smock.

Thirdly: One of my single favorite pieces in all of the Victoria and Albert is their white man's jama, which of course I want to make a modern version of!

The jama's description online which is almost verbatim what its plaque says: 

 "This man's robe is of the type called a jama, which crosses over the chest and fastens at the side. This example is exceptional in the amount of cloth used for its gathered skirt: it has a circumference at the hem of 65 metres of cloth, and the skirt is made up of 277 triangular panels. It was given to the India Museum (which was amalgamated into the South Kensington Museum, later the V&A) by the Maharaja of Bharatpur in Rajasthan in 1855."

The plaque for the Mughal costumes says:
"Men's costume of the Mughal court was based on the jama, a tailored gown tied at the side, and the paijama, tapering trousers which were loose at the top and close-fitting at the lower leg...Fine Kashmir wool shawls were often draped over the shoulder, sometimes in pairs: a fashion started by the Emperor Akbar."

Another plaque in the Indian portion explains that Muslims tended to tie their jamas on the right, and Hindus on the left.

I want one! Ok, here are mor pictures of the white jama.

 

And here's an 18th century jama

Don't they just look so comfy and elegant and wonderful? I want one real bad!