BOMBAY ISTYLE: Jazz and Glam in Bombay Velvet Niharika Khan

I recently watched Bombay Velvet, featuring Ranbir Kapoor as a mafia-wannabe and Anushka Sharma as a jazz singer, set in a fictionalised 60s' India where jazz music meets Prohibition, tommy guns and Bollywood jazz. Although there were scenes in the movie which weren't quite credible of Indian culture at this time, I loved this mish-mash of film-noir meets the ganster life and Roaring Twenties - basically a lot of themes I like!

Costumes designer by Niharika Khan took inspiration from the 40s, 50s and 60s for the outfits of this film, and it really shows - the pearls, feathers, elaborate headpieces and retro dresses are all beautifull made - such as the white pearl and feather dress below, whcih looks pretty fab.

The other outfit which was really striking is this emerald green maxi dress, which apparently weighed a staggering 35 kilos! Again, this is another outfit which reminds me of shimmering 60s dresses, jazz-lounge-singers-style, and Anushka pulls its off well.

Another outfit which struck my eye is this purple floral and ruffle dress, which has a lot of details and bolumous skirt - and completd by a matching floral head band.

The other extravagant piece which was made for this film is this one for Raveena Tandon in her cameo song as a sultry jazz singer. This is a very extravagant outfit, and one which must have taken the designer a while to create, as it's painstakingly made with peacock feathers and beading on a sumptious gown which really looks dramatic. Raveena really made this look her own, with her sultry poses and deep red lipstick!

I also really liked this black and white stripey dress worn by Anushka to the races in one scene, it's very 'Ascot' in its own way and very striking. There's also an echo of an Audrey Hepburn style to it, complete with the big sunglasses, which I quite liked!

There's also this outfit, a red and white floral dress which is a lot more girly and feels inspired from a later era - while I didn't love the dress, I liked the red floral hair piece!

I also noticed this beaded burgundy dress, which is not as extravagant as the feathered-and-pearls outfits from before but still works because it gives a very sultry style.

I also liked some of Rosie's more day-to-day outfits,which are a lot less glamorous but a little more sweeter, from the polka-dot flats and floral headband to the floral earrings, something I've seen from the 60s and looks very sweet on Anushka.

Another more casual piece was this outfit, I couldn't get a picture of the dress but it's a polka dot halter neck dress with a matching hairband, which Anushka finishes off with a classic beehive hairstyle and eyeliner flicks!

I thought this was a really adventurous take on the jazz-life and 60s India, with plenty of inspiration taken from different places. I also like the fact that the detail is so well done, with outfits not just limited to the women but tailored to the male characters, with double-breasted suits and broad lapels, as well as the costumes of those around them.

It's also really great to see a film which attempts to fuse Indian fashion with an older era, and for me a lot of it works because it's so well done - especially down to minor characters such as these two ladies below!

What did you think of the outfits in this film?

Images belong to producers/directors/distributors of Bombay Velvet

My 1920s-Inspired Bridal Shower

 A week before all of the wedding festivities began, my sister-in-law threw me a 1920s’-themed bridal shower, which was mainly an excuse to have one last shins-up with all the girls in my family before the real party began. It was a really fun day, with my mum, sisters (minus my eldest sister who was absent due to the birth of my newest, squishiest niece!), cousins and a couple of aunts all enjoying the dress up, good food and silly games which made us all explode in girly giggles. I thought I'd post about this first because it was the first in about a fortnight of lots of wedding events, girly fun and dressing up - I wish I had more photographs and you can also see my post here, and my sister's post here, but I didn't get a lot of chance to take my own so credits to my sister for most of the amazing photographs!

You may remember reading about my vintage, floral, polka-dot and pearls themed bridal shower which was a few weeks before, so you can say I was already feeling a little spoiled!

My sister-in-law hosted the bridal shower in her beautiful home, and it was an amazing setting for a old-style, 1920s-slash-Great-Gatsby themed bridal shower which she decorated for and made some amazing food for.  Below is just a glimpse of the table setting – we didn’t get to put the banners up which we wanted, because all of us forgot to bring blu-tack or tape, and we didn’t want to ruin the wallpaper by using anything else! We told everyone to either wear 1920s themed costumes or just red, white and/or black to keep it simpler, and it was great to see everyone stick to the theme – I loved some of the make-up styles that some of the girls did too, dark red lips, heavy rouge and smokey eyes!

The costumes everyone wore were lovely, although as usual, the babies in the family stole the show! I had a really pretty black and white striped-and-circles maxi dress which I had intended to wear, but which I couldn't squeeze my oversized which I changed my mind about, and I ended up wearing a black lacy dress with pearl beads and bracelets was pretty perfect for me! You can see what I chose below, it looks quite simple but it was very comfortable, and I made up for it with matte, dark red lips and smokey eyes, as well as a feathered mini top hat which completed the look for me!

I wish I could post some of the other girl's costumes, but my pictures aren't great and I'd like to protect their privacy, but everyone made an effort with feather headbands, feathered-print dresses and red,black and white dresses!

The food was probably the real highlight of the evening - my sister-in-law and her mother are both brilliant cooks so it was going to always end in some very full bellies! I also was lucky enough to have two cakes - my sister-in-law made a beautiful red velvet cake, and my sister made a beautiful red, white and black cake with a yummy chocolate filling.  There were also some beautiful, miniature tarts, various dishes like chicken kebabs, finger sandwiches and to add to the desi mix, good old spring rolls and samosas!

 

 
I loved the decor, and I'll admit, I didn't really help out with it at all because everyone else did such a great job, and my sister-in-law's house was pretty much a perfect backdrop anyway. My eldest sister made Art Deco style banners, another sister added small touches like beads and coloured balloons, and of course my sister-in-law did the beautiful table settings, complete with matching napkins!

 

We ended the day with lots of gossip and a raucous game of 'pin the moustache on the groom' which was a little embarrassing because of all the teasing I got, but also very fun because we blind-folded all the older women and made them join in! The bridal shower was fun, intimate and very relaxed, and also perfect to set the mood for all the wedding festivities which started a week later (especially as we all had to run around after the bridal shower to get the preps done!) I've not been to a 1920s/Great Gatsby themed party before, and it was really lovely to have one for myself, especially as it gave all of us the chance to be creative and let our inner-drama queens come out!

 The babies of the family showing off their inner (and outer) divas!

What did you think of our party - have you ever dressed up for a 1920s theme? And what did you wear if you did?

A 1920s influence by NAURATAN

I came across this photo-shoot by Pakistani brand Nauratan, which I found really interesting, as it was advertising their 'Spring Brides' collection with a different look, which was a 1920's influence in both hair and make-up. While the outfits look lovely, they didn't stand out to me as much as the styling all of these looks did, I loved the way the hair accessories, the pearl necklaces and the 1920s style dark lips all give a well-put together look, and really creates the image.

While I haven't seen a lot of era-inspired Asian outfits which have an English influence like this, I thought this would be great inspiration for brides looking for a different type of 'fusion' look, whether it's small touches like vintage hair clips or pearl necklaces, or the whole shebang for an amazing look like the ones below.

Images belong to Nauratan

FASHION'S PASSIONS & PATTERNS: The 1920s' Style Dresses by Paras & Shalini

I'm really liking Phulkari's latest addition to their collection of designers - duo Paras and Shalini, who seem to have a really different style to most things I have seen on the high street. Admittedly, I haven't heard of these two designers before, but I do like what I've seen of them so far, both online and instore at Phulkari.

I've seen the words 'vintage' and 'fusion' styles thrown around a lot when it comes to Asian fashion, but I think they would fit these designer's outfits quite well - the maxi dresses here are cut well, they look beautifully elegant, and there's something about them which have an convincing 1920s style to it which I find very refreshing. I've shown these to several friends and acquaintances of mine, and they all love these dresses - perhaps because they are so simple yet very flattering, and perhaps also because they are a nice change to the usual dresses we've seen in the high street too.

I think my favourites are the two dusky pink dresses at the top, although I've seen a few other designs in the shop which I also love, and which also have a 1920's and 30s' theme to them which I love. I like that these dresses are also very hijab friendly, it would be easy to add some longer sleeves on them and wear them as they are, as they are modest yet also have a good cut.

What do you think of this duo's designs?

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: Black & Gold Damask Clutch by River Island

I love these kinds of accessories, statement pieces which can jazz up an outfit effortlessly - this pretty gold and black clutch bag from River Island is a great example of an inexpensive buy which would look great with a lot of looks - for some reason it reminds me slightly of the vintage/1920s look. Either way, I love my damask prints and this certainly something which adds a touch of class to the classic 'little black dress'!

Image take from River Island website

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: Vintage Bridal Hair Accessories by Flo & Percy

I came across these bridal hair accessories and jewellery by English vintage bridal jewellery designer Flo and Percy while looking through an English bridal magazine, and saw some lovely hair accessories would could be worn in an Asian wedding (by the bride or the guests!) in a pretty Western-Eastern fusion twist.

According to their website, materials are sourced worldwide and come from many different time periods and uses different heirlooms to create beautiful pieces for brides to treasure. I also find it interesting that the name 'Flo and Percy' comes from the fact that married couple Florence and Percy were married for 80 years and held the record for the longest marriage in the world, which is something the company hopes to pass onto any new brides with their accessories.

Here's just a few examples of their lovely pieces from their various collections, and how they have been worn. I've noticed a strong theme of older eras, such as the 1920s look to a lot of these pieces, or themed weddings. I love for example, the Wonderland collection which has pieces named after various characters of the famous 'Alice in Wonderland' book.

The Mad Hatter Comb, taken from Brides etc magazine

A 1920's-inspired hair band/tiara from the collection 

A hair comb from the Magdalene collection 

 A beautiful tiara/hair band from the Bohemia collection

 The White Queen hairband/comb from the Wonderland Collection

Hairband from the Looking Glass collection

Although the designs and pieces are not cheap at all, being bespoke pieces and probably valuable ones too, it's a great place to look for the bride who doesn't want something too fussy, and there's plenty of inspiration to be had. Not all brides may want to wear a dupatta in their hair, and having a fresh, more relaxed look such as pretty hair and wearing hair accessories may be something which appeal to them. It's also a lovely look for those who may be looking for something different to incorporate into their style, and even for those who are going for a slightly more modern, Western/fusion look without making it too fussy.

Personally I'd even consider pinning some of these as hijab accessories, I'm always on the look-out for something different (and sparkly!) and these would give a very different look to an outfit!