GIRLS AT SCHOOLA GUARD OF NORTH WEST FRONTIERHEAD TABLE SERVANT OF THE VICEROYVILLAGE BOYSON THE DOCKS INDIAN RATING SENDING MESSAGE BY SEMAPHORE A TOCHI SCOUT WITH HIS SCOUT PRINCIPAL, INDIAN GIRLS SCHOOLYOUNG INDIA
In 1945, in one of its more inspired moments, the British Ministry of Information dispatched Cecil Beaton; chosen photographer to royalty, darling photographer to the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Greta Garbo and later the world-famous designer of My Fair Lady and Gigi, to the Far East to take pictures of the British Empire and its allies at war. The result was not only a superb collection of photographs but a breathtakingly vivid written portrait of India, Burma, and China at a historic turning-point in their histories. 

Beaton was a great observer and, perhaps unexpectedly, a great describer. In remarkably few words, he can make you see, hear, smell, almost touch the dusty Indian countryside, the shimmering, casual magnificence of a Bombay virtually untouched by war. 
He was an acute observer of people, too. Here are scans of some of my favourite images from his body of work that concentrate more on Vintage Indian Fashion. The diversity of our traditional attire observed by Beaton across the country, varying in form and function while always simple and chic - never ceases to amaze me.