Bollywood Stars at Lakme Fashion Week Autumn-Winter 2016

I do love celeb-spotting when it comes to fashion weeks, and Lakme Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2016 which took place just over a week ago was chock-full of them. I won't post all of the collections and red-carpet pictures because there's too many, so here are a few of my favourites which caught my eye on the catwalk.

You can also see more pictures of the LFW16 event here - Day One, Day Two and here, plus these gorgeous Sabyasachi outfits at the finale.

Kareena stole the show with her baby bump, wearing a beautiful Sabyasachi ensemble as the designer's showstopper. As always I love the designer's bridals pieces and this is a beautiful combo of sequinned-net and worked top.

Both Illeana D'Cruz and Shilpa wore vibrant, colourful lengha outfits - Illeana's rich purple design was by Ridhi Mehra while Shilpa's was by Anushree Reddy.

Alternatively, Karishma Kapoor went for a more contemporary look with this bright red maxi dress by Archita Narayanam, which looks like the perfect party or reception dress for brides. While I don't love the work on this, I do like the cut of the dress and Karishma carries it well.

I loved this dramatic outfit worn by Prachi Desai by SVA - I've always liked their striking designs and their fusion style, and it works here well with the draped sleeves/cape look and the flowy skirt.

Dia Mirza and Bipasha went for the traditional sari route, although I love that Bipasha had the traditional South Indian bridal style to it (by designer Sanjukta Dutta) while Dia's sari was more regal and deeper-coloured (by Tulsi Silks).

Lastly are two very different styles, but both beautifully done. On the right is Radika Apte in a heavily-worked, red Saroj Jalan bridal. I'm not a huge fan of the fishtail lengha and crop-top look because it reminds me too much of the 90s bridal look, but I love the work on this and the shape of the lengha skirt is done well. In contrast is the rich blue worn by Pooja Hegde on the left, which is a skirt and top design but looks almost like a modern jumpsuit look. I actually like the played-down dressy look this is going for and think this is quite wearable.

So far my favourite is still the ever-classic Sabysachi, although the lengha ensembles are also on my wish-list!

BOLLYWOOD ISTYLE: Bips and Karan tie the knot!

I'm a bit late to the party, but I thought I'd post this because of how fun the wedding seemed - Bipasha Basu tied the knot last week to her fiancé Karan Grover Singh, and I loved the look of the '#MonkeyWedding' (the hashtag coined by the couple!)

In true Bollywood glamous, Bipasha wore beautiful outfits for all three of her events, and I love the different styles she had for each occasion.

Mehndi - for her mehndi, Bipasha wore a pretty pink Anushree Reddy floral outfit, finished off with a pearl necklace and floral jewellery which I love - it's soft, girly and Bipasha pulled it off well. It's a great alternative to the usual yellow/green/orange colours for mehndis, and shows how you don't have to go for the usual colours for your special day.

 Wedding - for the main event, Bipasha went for a traditional Bengali bridal look, with a gorgeous red Sabyasachi bridal. I loved that she opted for something to reflect her roots, and the fact that she added some gold and green jewellery for a traditional look.

Reception - for the reception Bipasha opted for a Sabyasachi maxi dress in gold, which looked a little more contemporary than the previous bridal look. It went great with Karan's smart tuxedo and looked a little more chilled out and more of a 'fusion' look, which looked great. Again, I loved Bipasha's jewellery with this outfit, which was a pop of green against the gold.

And of course it's not a wedding without the celebrity guests! In today's day of social media, most of these are from Instagram and Twitter, and it's great to see so many celebrities attend the wedding and having fun.

 Images from here and here

I've followed a few celebrity weddings in the last few months (Preity Zinta and Urmila also tied the knot recently!) and I loved seeing all the guests with the bride and groom taking selfies, meeting friends and of course, dressed up in gorgeous outfits.

What did you think of Bipasha's outfits? Which one did you like the most?

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: The Divas of the Green Carpet at IIFA 2014

There's been a lot of publicity over the IIFA awards ceremony which took place recently, due to all of the Hollywood and Bollywood celebs who turned up, as well as the beautiful outfits which were showcase. I've been following some of the glamour and glitz on and off the carpet, and here are some of the ones which stood out for me.

I think the lovely Deepika Pudokone created the biggest stir in the fashion world, wearing gold Sabyasachi with deep red lips followed by a pretty floral red maxi dress by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad (although her hair and make-up were very similar to the previous day). I love the glamorous style Deepika has going on, and I think she pulls it off very well (I also love this vlogger's take on copying her make-up, which I really want to try as well now!)

Next is Priyanka Chopra wore a pretty, cream Monique Lhuillier gown and a Prabal Gurung pencil dress on the carpet, followed by a blingy dress during the show at the ceremony (although I'm not sure who that one is by)

 

Kareena Kapoor dressed in a risqué Giorgio Armani dress (don't worry, I think that's a panel in the middle!), followed by another Giorgio Armani two-piece outfit. I also loved the kurta-style top she wore with white trousers at the IIFA conference, particularly the sleeves with its colourful embroidery - although it did make me notice she wore a lot of black!

 

Next was Bipasha Basu in a a gold Gaurav Gupta gown, followed by a sparkly black Rocky S gown and lastly, a pretty white Sonaakshi Raaj draped sari-gown with Amrapali earring. I'm less keen on the metallic gown, but I though the black gown looked chic and the white sari looks very pretty.

Sridevi wore a glamorous number, an Oscar de la Renta gown followed by a pretty Marchesa dress which reminded me of a slightly Greek-style design.



Sonaksi Sinha wore a DKNY black dress to start with, followed by an Amit Aggarwal long gown, and lastly a Nikhil Thampi ensemble which looked slightly more smarter than her other dresses.

Next is recently-engaged Dia Mirza, one of my favourite style icons, wearing a sparkly pink and gold Sabyasachi outfit followed by a soft apricot-coloured dress by Halston Heritage.

I loved this Sabyasachi dress worn by Kalki Koechli wore a the ceremony, as well as the silvery-grey Gaurav Gupta gown she wore which really flattered her figure. The deep red turban she wore looked great with her Sabyasachi outfit, which added a quirky yet chic twist to the outfit.

Lastly, is the lovely Madhuri Dixit, who looked elegant in a pretty blue sheath by Jatin Varma, and a Sonakshi Raaj light orange sari on the carpet. I thought the two made quite different styles which left Madhuri able to go for a formal look with an updo for her dress, and a more playful look with loose curls and soft makeup with her sari.

These aren't all of the celebrities who attended the IIFA 2014 ceremony, but these are the ones which I liked or which I thought were quite striking - I'll agree with a lot of people on the blogosphere that one of my favourites was Deepika with her dark red lips and Sabyasachi.

You can see more picture of what these celebrities as well as the other Bollywood stars wore over the IIFA events here and here.

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Bipasha in Black and White Neeta & Lulla

I really like this elegant ensemble worn by Bips, designed by Indian designers Neeta and Lulla, at Aza Store launch a few months ago. It's a really ideal, flattering outfit which looks beautifully embroidered and makes for a really classic piece - I can imagine this being sold on the high street and I can certainly imagine it being worn by a lot of people I know! I also like how Bipasha also kept her style very simple, without any jewellery and a beautifully made-up face, to keep the look elegant.

Definitely a wearable look, and I imagine that it would look pretty in other colours too!

Source: A Wardrobe Affair

MAKE-UP REVIEW: Bipasha Basu's Smouldering Eyes in Barsaat

I have always loved Bipasha Basu's smouldering-eyes look and a wonderful example of this is her bridal make up at the finale of her film 'Barsaat'. I love her dramatic eye make up which is actually kept quite simple, along with beautifully nude/light lips to suit her skin tone to give a glowing look. The eye make up itself is relatively kept to dark eyeliner to shape the eye, with eyeshadows kept to a subtle light pink.

Priyanka wondered whether she should tell Bipasha about the golden monster hanging off her nose

I also love the fact that in no way does Bipasha try to play down the colour of her skin, giving it a beautiful bronzey glow which seems quite smooth and almost seamless in terms of highlights, lowlight and contouring. Coupled with her lovely jewellery set and Bipasha's gorgeous skin colouring, this is a bridal look which is very effective without loading the face with too many features.

 Images owned by Shree Krishna International

Of course in Bollywood Land factors like professional makeup artists and custom-made jewellery is more or less synonymous with Bollywood bridal looks and there's also the issue of stuff like airbrushing, heavy lighting etc., which also helps actresses look beautiful. However I do still think that this is certainly a look which many brides will love (and also non-brides!), especially those who prefer their make up to focus on the eyes, or those who don't want the usual red-lipstick look. It also shows us how effectively make-up can be matched to the skin tone without drowning it in too many colours. All in all, a very sultry look :)