Abstract
This paper focuses on a study of the multi-functional trouser-cord (that ties traditional Pakistani trousers) and its connotations within the Islamic dress tradition as well as local concepts of the body. Comparable to the importance of belts and loincloths in other cultures of the Muslim, Christian, and Hindu world, the apparently simple and unpretentious drawstring plays a central role in the Pakistani discourse of chastity and desire. On the one hand the tying of the trouser-cord stands for the Muslim ideals of modesty and body control, but on the other the untying of the string refers to the dimension of emotion and sexuality where it can be strategically deployed as a medium of erotic play, allurement, and sensuousness. Thus, the trouser-cord is an item of clothing carrying ambiguous meanings, reflecting the tension and moral polarity between ‘nomos’ and ‘eros’.
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