The Muslim Lifestyle Show 2016

I was lucky enough to get two tickets to the Muslim Lifestyle Show a couple of weeks ago, so attended with my sister to check out the exhibitions and shows.

We managed to spend a few hours at the Muslim Lifestyle Show, and managed to see plenty of outfits, abayahs, scarves, books, desserts, nuts, dates, various halal food companies, household goods and fittings as well as have fun with photobooths!

A rickshaw with a photobooth inside!

There were plenty of things to see, so I won't bombard you with too many images, but here's a few of the fun things I remember from the Muslim Lifestyle Show below.

Fashion & Shopping
One of the main reasons my sister and I wanted to attend the show was to see the different clothes and outfits available for sale - there were a lot of beautiful outfits on display from boutiques, and modesty-wear brands being promoted. I managed to spot designer Farrah Naaz at the show with a stand (the picture on the bottom right), and also found a range of beautiful abayahs and maxi dresses from a lot of brands who usually sell online.

Food
I'm sure you can imagine that my sister and I headed straight for the sweet stuff, and sampled lots of goodies before buying a bunch of dates, cookies and brownies. I loved The Datery, which sells hand-made chocolate-covered dates, and Mubarak, which specialises in "little boxes of treats" from chocolates to scents and candles.

Of course we had to also stop to buy some halal sweets (or five) for ourselves and family, as you can imagine, these were popular stands!

Catwalk Show
I didn't get to see a lot of the fashion show as I got to the stage a little late, but I did snap a few outfits and thought these ones by Gulshaan boutique were lovely!

Jewellery and Perfumes
We also saw a range of halal perfumes, which were presented in gorgeous bottles, and in a range of colours and scents. I also liked a group of rings being sold by one company (I forget the name!) which had beautiful chunky precious-gems in clusters of twos and threes, lovely statement pieces (third pic below).

There were people getting their henna done on hands, as well as make-up artists promoting their work - below is the amazing makeup work done by the team of bridal makeup-artist Lubna Rafiq, complete with bridal dresses from Khans of London.

There were also men's products being promoted, which was probably useful as there were a lot of family men walking around with their wives and children! I loved this t-shirt below which I wanted for my husband, as well as the beard oils bottles being sold, which was a popular item.

My sister and I also liked that there were plenty of stands raising awareness for charities and education - this stand called Let's Educated Pakistan aimed to get people to sponsor children in Pakistan to be able to go to schools, and had already set up two schools of their own.

There was also plenty of homeware and decoration available - such as these beautiful, bespoke pieces of wall art, and very pretty coasters on the right which I wanted to buy (but didn't because they don't match anything in my house!)

All in all we had a really fun time at the show, and even managed to catch a show with singer Sami Yusuf who did a series of lovely songs with a group of schoolchildren. I also managed to bump into a few other fashion bloggers that I'm friends which, who were helping out backstage at the fashion show doing hijab styling and makeup, which also made my day.

I'll be sure to look out for similar events - and there will be plenty for Eid! - and post any that I know are coming up. I thought this was a great way to bring together new products for young Muslims who want something new, as well as showcasing a range of fashion, food and charity causes to be interested in : )

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Royal Blue RDC Maxi Dress

This is an outfit I wore for a valima/reception last month, which was a pretty bright royal blue maxi dress from local store RDC London, which I bought a few months ago. As much as I love my Pakistani fashion and I pretty much immerse myself in it, every now and then I want something a little Westernised or fusion-y, which still remains modest, and dresses like this are pretty ideal.

I don't usually go for net dresses like this one but in this case, it added a lot of shape of the skirt of the dress so that it balanced out the bling on the bodice. I also kept this simple by matching lots of gold and blue accessories, as you can see below!

This is the outfit on me, which I thought looked really flattering (my sister and I sneaked off during the dinner to go to the private garden next to the hall and take pictures!). I loved how feminine this outfit felt one, and how easy it was to wear. I also thought the shade of blue was really nice for a daytime event without being too bright, and looked pretty striking.

Outfit - RDC London

Heels - Carvela

Clutch bag - Lovetobag

Ring - Touch (Green Street jewellery store)

Bangles - Bees

I loved the fit of this outfit, and thought it was a pretty good buy (especially as I picked this up on sale!). I do love my maxi dresses and as much as I don't shop in the local high street as much as I used to, it is handy to find outfits that are a little different from the usual in my wardrobe.

I also think that blue and gold are just a classic colour combination which you can't go wrong with, which is great for me because it's easy to find plenty accessories to match!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Karma Summer Mehndi Outfit

I've posted about my experience with Karma, when ordering an outfit, which I bought for a close family wedding, and thought I'd show how it looked when I got to wear it for the actual big day.

The outfit itself was pretty dressy, and I loved that the splashes of hot pink and rich aqua brightened up the outfit, which made it a lot easier to accessorise. The outfit itself came with hot pink churidar pants, which I chose rather than embellished pants because they would be easier to move around in, but on the actual day I decided to go for a dressier look and added a silk champagne coloured skirt (from Zara, of all places!) to go for a lengha look.

I was given this cream and gold clutch bag below from my in-laws, and it was perfect with this outfit, but the bangles I got mixed from bangle magicians Bees, and the rings I picked out from my jewellery box, which I thought went really well with my outfit. I also had some hot pink shoes to go with my outfit as well to give it a funkier look than the usual gold sparkly heels!

I went for a hot pink lipstick to finish off this look, and kept my eyemakeup simple rather than striking, mainly because I didn't want to over-do it (although there may have been a lot of gold highligher involved!)

This is how the outfit looked on me, the lengha really made the outfit look flowy and was really flattering on my figure, and really made the pink and green accents pop! I've also included a shot of my arm-candy as well to show how well the jewellery went with the outfit, which didn't feel overly-blingy at all.

Outfit - Karma

Bangles - Bees

Double ring - Bees

Kundan ring - Indian Hanger

Court Shoes - Kurt Geiger

Clutch bag - Green Street (no idea which shop!)

I loved how elegant this outfit look, and I got a lot of compliments from family and friends at the wedding. My sister and I had been asked to do some of the photography for the event (more of this, later!) and I wanted to make-sure that I could move around quickly (it can be hard work to rush around and make sure you capture all the important moments!) and this was pretty comfortable, the outfit didn't hinder my movements at all and the most I had to do was keep handing my clutch bag to my mum to look after!

The biggest bonus was the quality of the material and the work, aside from a couple of stones which came look (because they were glued on rather than stitched on), there were no fabric pulls at all, and the outfit stayed in immaculate condition.

I love how pretty this outfit look, and it's definitely a classic one from me. While the outfit wasn't cheap, I can see the difference in quality between this outfit and a cheaper-costing one, and this would certainly last me longer!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Black, Gold and Hot Pink Lakhany Outfit

This is something I wore this weekend, a Lakhani embroidered cotton outfit I bought more than a year ago, and haven't gotten a lot of wear out of. The outfit itself is from the 2012-2013 collection range, and while I can see fashion trends are changing, this one still feels very wearable because of how well-stitched it is and the flattering shape of it. I got this stitched as a long kameez as per the trends at the time I bought it, with straight pants and churidar/long sleeves which creased up at the wrists.

I've worn this outfit a couple of times before, but wanted to get more wear out of it this summer, so pulled it out this weekend while the sun was shining. The dupatta/scarf for this outfit is beautiful, I know the white version of this outfit comes with a yellow, grey, white and black scarf, but I love the vibrant summery colours of this scarf, which really sparks up the outfit.

I chose to wear the outfit with gold heels and my kundan ring from my mehndi day (which also has a matching tikka, but I didn't wear that!).

I kept this look simple this time, mainly because the outfit was quite heavily embroidered, and I also didn't want to over-bling the outfit. I love how flattering the lines of this outfit was on me, and the fact that even though it was quite long, it elongated my figure and was very comfortable. This is me wearing it, making the most of the sun and doing my usual posey poses!

 

Outfit - LSM via PakLinks

Shoes - Carvela

Ring - Gul Mohar

I took a lot more silly photos with this, and had a lot of fun in my back garden enjoying the sun and the grass under my feet (and ignoring my neighbours pretending not to see me). It makes for a perfect outfit for a dawati (dinner, usually at friend's/relatives houses) and also feel very modest on. It was quite easy to match a hot pink hijab to it (I would have worn hot pink shoes but I don't have hot pink, only coral pink!), although I can imagine this with a matte gold or even a black hijab for a different look.

I'm hoping to get more wear out of this during the summer, I have a couple of mehndis coming up I could wear this to (or dholkis!), although my wardrobe is probably big enough that I have other outfits to get wear out of!

My Blogging Year...A Look back at 2014!

2014 was a very eventful year for me, especially as I had a lot of personal events happening in one go! I wanted to do a quick re-cap of a few things I have blogged about in my year, in case you missed some of them!

I got engaged - I was lucky enough to have my wedding fixed with my husband (at the time, to-be-husband) and started the mad flurry of wedding outfit designing, finding venues, caterers, and looking for all the various wedding things that comes up!

I had two new baby nieces born - to two of my older sisters (and both of them are now smiley little pixies!). They were both a beautiful blessing to their parents and to us, their aunties (and their cousins!), and have spent the last six months making us giggle.

I got married in a beautiful and crazy series of functions which almost passed in a blur! I had an amazing series of events, which made me feel pretty amazing and also gave me an opportunity to not behave so bridezilla-ish, and spend time with my family! Here's some of the outfits I wore during the wedding, I don't have a favourite because I loved them all!

I moved into my new house with my husband, and now have a huge wardrobe. Seriously, it actually fits all of my beautiful Asian clothes. Having said that, the look on my husband's face when he saw them all is something else.

I went on my honeymoon to the amazing Istanbul, and had some amazing food and saw some amazing sights. It's put the travel bug in me already, and I'm sure I'll be going somewhere again very soon!

There were several other things which happened this year, but these were the highlights of the year for me. I don't expect 2015 to be as stressful as 2014 was, but I do hope it's as fun! I've had plenty of dawats (dinners with family, friends' and relatives) which aren't quite done yet, and lots of opportunities to meet some lovely people, and find beautiful clothes, lipsticks and food.

Having said that, I don't really have any new year resolutions, but I am looking forward to the next year because I think it will be a new challenge, and it'll be especially fun to learn new things (like cooking!) and spend time with my husband and my family!

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: The Double Ring from the Bees Aariya Collection

I recently had the chance to go to the wonderful Bees store a few days ago, and thought I'd check out their newest jewellery collection, a 'lifestyle collection' entitled Aariya. I thought this collection was doubly special because the pieces have been promoted by my beautiful friends at The Twindividual Diaries, who styled and did a photo shoot for this collection (and whose photo shoot currently is displayed at the store as well!)

The unique thing about this collection is that it's more carefree, light-weight and less traditional - the style is more Western and easier to combine with Asian and Western outfits. Rather than the usual heavy bling which comes with kundan jewellery and bridal sets, this is more casual and easier to wear, and more in-line with current fashion trends.

I thought I'd check this collection out (and introduce myself to some of the Bees staff!) while I was browsing, and really liked the variety that was available - most of the jewellery pieces were available in silver and gold colours with a flower-motif running through each piece.

I decided to buy one of the double-chain rings from the collection, which made a nice change from all of the giant rings that I have! This one was very easy to wear and felt very pretty on, without feeling fussy.

I wore this to work the day after I bought the ring (I like to wear my new things straightaway!) and got a lot of compliments for it, it certainly caught my colleague's eyes and my sisters and sister-in-law also loved the ring. It took me a while to get used to the chains dangling on my hand, but it felt very feminine wearing it, and added a little sparkle to my hands. I also liked the fact that I could wear the rings on different fingers, and vary the look of it.

I'll be sure to check out some more pieces from this collection, the matha-patti, for example looked gorgeous but I didn't think I would get to wear it anytime soon (unless I style it over my hijab) so I thought I would wait before I pick one.

What do you think of this collection? What piece would you choose?