Gandhi desired to identify himself with the poor masses of India. He had been contemplating about it for some time. It was in the city of Madurai on the 22nd of September 1921, that he finally took the decision to adopt the dhoti worn by the poor peasants of India. This was only four inches wide, nearly as many feet long and covered the waist up to the knees. The western media used the word 'loin-cloth' to refer to Gandhi's dhoti, which became a prevalent term for his attire. Gandhi even gave up his cap (topi) and vest and wore a shawl (chaddar) whenever he it found necessary for the protection of the body.
He made his first public appearance in his new attire in Madurai. That place is today called Gandhi Pottal, which now has a statue of Gandhi. The place where Gandhi was staying belonged to one of his followers and was house No. 251 on West Masi Street in Madurai, which is now occupied by the Khadi Emporium.
Gandhi did not want his followers to adopt the loincloth, but only wanted them to realize the meaning of boycott of foreign cloth and, and to get khadi manufactured.
Gandhi’s attire led to some interesting moments in his life. Once when Gandhi and all Indian delegates to the Round Table Conference were invited to afternoon tea at Buckingham Palace by King George V, Gandhi pre-announced that he would not re-clothe even to meet the King. He wanted to make a statement about the poverty of the Indian masses is due to the British rule.
Later, when asked if he was not wearing enough clothes to meet the King, Gandhi is reported to have famously remarked,
“The king had enough on for both of us”.
The Prime Minister Winston Churchill remarked: "It is [...] alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a seditious middle temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Vice-regal palace, while he is still organizing and conducting a defiant campaign of civil disobedience, to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor.”
