Swadeshi movement was initiated in opposition to the partition of Bengal. Although the sense of nationalism was working behind this but the actual reason was the politics of clothing.
Initially people were appealed that they must boycot every foreign product and the start their own industries for the manufacture of goods such as matchboxes and cigrettes. People of the movement vowed to cleanse themselves of the colonial rule. The use of Khadi was made a patriotic duty. Women were urged to throw away their silk and glass bangles and wear simple shell bangles. Rough homespun was glorified in songs and poems to popularise it. The change of dress appealed largely to the upper castes as poor people could not afford the new products. After 15 years, many among the upper classes also returned to wearing European dress. Its major reason was that it was almost impossible for the Indian goods to compete with the cheap British goods.
Despite its limitations, the experiment with Swadeshi gave Mahatma Gandhi important ideas about using cloth as a symbolic weapon against the British rule.
