Our Eid...Day #2

We spent the second day of our Eid at my mum's house - no family celebration is complete without all of us converging at my mum's house and eating her food! Some of the family members weren't able to come on the Friday because they couldn't get time off work, so it was nice to see them all on the weekend.

For the second day of Eid I was going to go for a simple printed kurta but ended up buying something very different last minute! I wore this beautiful cream brocade maxi jacket from a Malaysian brand called Aatiya London, which I saw a few months ago but only bought recently because it went on sale. The jacket came with a matching cream skirt, but I thought the skirt was too much for Eid (it felt a little bridal!) so went for a plain silk cream camisole and trousers to match instead.

As always, the food at my mum's was delicious and there was lots of it, finished off with some kheer that my mum made along with some chocolate cake!

My nieces all got plenty of party dresses this Eid, and of course showed us up as usual in their pretty dresses and party shows - perfect for the warm weather!

I do have to apologise to you guys - I don't have any good pictures of the family outfits at all! We were all too busy wandering around eating, playing games and hanging out in the kitchen, and just didn't take proper photos! (Don't worry, I'll make an effort to next time!)

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to see more pictures of our Eid on my sister's blogs here and here (when they write up their posts!) - we all had fun with the family and enjoyed a long weekend of food and a much-needed rest from work!

How was your Eid? What did you wear?

Aatiya London x Bubblegum Hijab: An Blogger London Launch Party

I was invited to a special launch party a few weeks ago, for a Malaysian brand which launched last month in London - Aatiya London. This was a pretty special blogger meet, as it involved so many women who I have become friends with over the last few years.

One of these is Bubblegum Hijab, fashion blogger and YouTuber who has some seriously cool acheivements - as well as a PR and events company, she designs clothes, makes and sells bathbombs and still has time to blog and vlog!

Bubblegum Hijab collaborated with Aatiya to design and bring a new collection to London, which was a collection to celebrate diversity and  also show her inspiration of Souh and East Asia. Her collection was inspired from a visit to Malaysia, but also to celebrate 'women of cultures' - women around the world of different background and heritage.

The launch party was held at a pretty French restaurant called Aubaine in central London, at a private room upstairs. It was set out in a really pretty, rustic way - candles, flowers and wood everywhere which looked lovely.

I absolutely LOVED the outfits of the collection - there were several bloggers who modelled a few pieces from the collection, and also a rack of dreses and jackets for us to look at. My favourites were the brocade jackets with accompanying maxi skirts, there were also some very nice pieces which wre versatile. There were a few two-piece outfits inspired by the Malaysian baju kurung, which is a top and a bottom skirt. The top is a peplum one, which is very adaptable and  can be worn together with the skirt or mixed and matched with trouser and dresses.

And of course I managed to try one of the pieces on, which was this lovely white brocade with a split. I loved how comfy and easy it was to wear, and really wanted to take one home with me!

We also stopped for a quick talk with the designer herself and a company representative, as well as a video with the collection's pieces - here's a quick snippet below!

The food itself also deserves a mention - it was delicious! Although this wasn't a halal restaurant, there were some really lovely delicacies and finger foods - my favourite was some cheesepuffs with mushroom pieces, and chunky chips with cheese and truffle oil!

There was a really great buzz to the launch party, and it was great to see old faces and meet new ones. It was also really lovely to see how many people came out to support the designer - literally with women from different cultures, in a French restaurant in London.

Aatiya London also celebrated the company's birthday, so naturally there was a lovely cake for everyone eat - I'm told this was custom-made by Eila's Cake Couture, which was a lovely fruit cake with delicate icing.

I had great fun at the event, and loved how everyone dressed up to have a fun night out. I managed to make a few new friends who I've stayed in contact with, and will be seeing them soon. I have also seen a lot of the Aatiya London pieces at expos and events, and love how popular they are getting.

We also got a lovely goody bag (or really, a box!) to take with us - inside was a pretty chiffon scarf, a purse and a Malaysian cake for us to enjoy, with a chocolate bar! The picture below isn't great because I took it at night time and then forgot to take a better one, but my favourite piece is the scarf, which I love.

The scarfI got was a pretty dusky pink colour, which I have worn at least three times already (including on Eid!) and which I have gotten compliments for every time I've worn it. I'm already considering buying myself a few more of these scarves!

You can shop the Aatiya London's pieces at their website, and also on Modestly Wrapped, which also stocks them - let me know what you think of their pieces!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Blush Pink and Jamawar Outfit

A close friend of mine got engaged a few weeks ago, and also did her nikah on the same day, so celebrated with a reception party with her family and friends. Apart from being pleased for her (which I was!) I was pretty glad because it gave me the chance to pull out an outfit I'd been wanting to wear for a while.

Below is the outfit with what I wore (which I've laid out very artfully here) - I kept it simple with the shades of pinks and silver accents. For some reason the jamawar-printed trousers look gold in all of my pictures - it was actually a very pale pink with silver print, so it did go with the outfit, not to worry!

The kameez was taken from my Eid outfit which I wore last year, and the trousers were rose pink ones which I had bought separately from a local shop, which I had not had the chance to wear yet.

I love the details which are in the outfit and the trousers - the kameez has pearl details and silver threadwork mixed with metal-work, while the trousers were a very pretty shade of pink with fine print work on it. The only thing I wish the trousers had (which it didn't) were pearl buttons on the cuff, but I can always sew these on another day!

I paired the outfit with matching pastel pink pumps and simple silver bangles from Bees, as well as a sparkly diamonte silver clutch bag, which pulled the outfit together well. I also matched a silk oyster-coloured off-white scarf to the outfit, even though the whole outfit was pink it went better with the off-white scarf, rather than clashing with a peach or coral shade.

Kameez - Designed by myself and stitched by a local tailor

Trousers - RDC London

Heels - Office

Clutch bag -  Not a clue! Bought for my brother's wedding

Bangles - Bees

Off-white hijab scarf - Inayah Collection

And of course my post wouldn't  be complete without a close up of bangles and shoes! I love my gold-coloured jewellery and kundan statement pieces, but this was more of a classic, silver look which you can't go wrong with. Simple but sparkly, perfect for an Asian wedding!

I loved wearing this outfit (even if it does look a little off in the pictures!) and was glad that I could mix'n'match something which went well together. I got a lot of compliments from friends and other wedding guest, and it was something which was very comfortable. Although I'm still getting used to the shorter hem-line look of some kameezes, I'm liking the difference in look and the fact that it's easy to move around in, looks chic and is very easy to put together.

Here's a quick picture of the bride's outfit too, I can't post the whole thing, but here's a little peek. I LOVED the colours of her outfit, which was a traditional sari in a rich blue and gold - perfect for an evening event. There was something 'Devdas' about the whole look (perhaps Aishwariya in that rich-blue sari from the film?) but it was also very classic, and went well with the gold jewellery she had on.

The main wedding event is in a couple of months so I'll be sure to post about that when it happens - but it was a lovely start to the wedding and an evening I really enjoyed!

The Dholki Nights #2: Vintage Glass and Greens

As I'm sure you've guessed, we had more than one dholki night in the run up to the wedding! It was a nice opportunity to see friends, family and neighbours, and they all rallied to bring food and join in with the songs, which were a lot of fun.

I decided to wear something simpler on this night, going with a silk jamawar print suit with paisleys all over, and some glass bangles that I've had for years (they remind me of my mum because she used to wear some similar ones, and we'd always get boxes of these bangles for years from Pakistan when we were young!)
Here's what I wore with the outfit, I kept it very simple with the bangles and some earrings, and some gold khussay (which are really old, I've had them since way back in 2000 when my eldest sister got married - perhaps time to throw them out soon!)

 

Here's how it looked on me, I loved how comfortable this suit was, and the slightly fitted look it had. There's also a small piping of purple all over the suit and on the scarf, which I liked because it gave a nice contrast without clashing with the rest of the suit, and the outfit itself was perfect for a warm  evening.

We decided to have more of a relaxed evening for this dholki, which gave everyone a chance to sit and talk, eat good food and let the children ran around, although we still managed to sing some songs and play games before everyone went home! I didn't get to take a lot of photographs in this evening, but here's some of the food and some goodies, and also of my niece dancing around the dholki drum and teaching us how to really use it!

On the Catwalk, On a Celebrity: Kangana Ranaut in Nupur Kanoi

I've been a very busy bee lately, (when haven't I been these days?) which is why I've been sporadically blogging here and there. I've been seriously bogged down with wedding preps/house-hunting/work stuff/family-time and I've barely had time to post half the things I want to (I've taken lots of pictures of the wedding stuff though, don't worry, and will post these closer to the time when it's all together for lots of pretty posts!). Most of the bigger and important wedding stuff is done and booked now (thank goodness) and things are really starting to come together. so hopefully I should have a bit more time to post.

On the catwalk
In the meantime, here's some eye candy from a designer I came across recently, Nupur Kanoi, whose designs from Lakme Fashion Week 2014 featured plenty of beautiful nude-pink and gold designs that I loved. There's very little bling here, it's all about brocade and jacquard fabrics, self prints and cuts of the dresses. I also like that the same style of fabric and colours have been interpreted into different styles, whether it is a pencil dress, a maxi dress or a jacket-style dress with trousers. There's something very elegant about these, and very feminine which looked beautifully made.

The first outfit below is quite figure-hugging, so probably suits a slimmer or curvier build, while the second two designs are more flowy around the skirt area which feel a little more accommodation. I do like each of the designs below, and the fact that they're fairly different in shape to each other.

On the celeb
Bollywood beauty Kangana Ranaut recently wore a Nupur Kanoi ensemble to a promotion for her film Queen, which I thought looked lovely, especially because it was such an understated look. Kangana is a natural beauty, and I love how the outfit, updo hair and her make-up is subtle and doesn't overpower the whole look. I also like the fact that she has no accessories on as well, and that she has simple sandals on which look casual and chic.

While the outfit looks similar on both the model on the catwalk, and on Kangana, I think it looks more appealing on Kangana because it doesn't look as overly-polished as it does on the catwalk. Rather, it looks like a summery, light semi-formal outfit which isn't too fussy and looks very pretty on - and also shows how shorter hemlines are coming back in without being too dressed up. I also like the Westernised look to this dress, it looks like it could be worn as an evening dress on its own without the churidar bottoms, and would still look great.

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Deepika's Vibrant Sarees in Chennai Express

I saw (and enjoyed!) Chennai Express recently and loved Deepika's role in the film, including not least, her beautifully colourful skirts and saris. Although I wasn't too sure how realistic her outfits were (especially as I'm not an expert when it comes to saris!) and I wasn't sure about the depiction of South Indian culture and fashion, I did really love the bright colours and simple styles uses for the saris and lengha/skirts (or perhaps lengha-saris) which were worn by Deepika's character.

There are several outfits in this move worn by Deepika (I think designed by Manish Malhotra, but I may be wrong!), all of which are colourful and look similar throughout the film, but I like this style as it looks consistent and creates a theme. Although some may find this a bit repetitive, I thought it worked, and it certainly makes for great colour inspiration!

First is this yellow, orange and green number worn by Deepika, which is a beautiful skirt draped with her green dupatta - this same draping is used for most of Deepika's skirts and saris in this film, but it's quite flattering. I love the colours in this outfit, bright but great for something like a mehndi outfit!

I also liked this pretty sky blue, hot pink and orange outfit, which is very similar in shape to the outfit above, but it's still a pretty outfit and again, these colours would look great for a mehndi outfit.

I've seen navy and pink paired together a few times with Asian outfit, and it works nicely here - I also love the fact that with each of Deepika's outfits, she accessorises with pretty earrings and bright, colourful bangles which look very striking. As with the other outfits, the draping of the dupatta is the same so that it looks more sari-like.

This was a more of an icy, light blue colour, which looks quite interesting with the yellow piping - I'm not sure whether I like this colour combination or not, but I do love Deepika's wavy hair with this outfit.

This is another outfit which caught my eye, a pink skirt with a white blouse, which gives different shades of pink and orange - of course, accessorised with red bangles.

 

I also liked this royal blue sari, which is a very flattering, rich colour and had a similar look with the banarsi edging with a hot pink sari. Again, the jasmine in her hair made a nice touch, with the simple jewellery and striking bangles.

Being a Bollywood film, there was of course, also a bridal outfit, which in this case was a red and orange brocade sari, which looked quite traditional with Deepika's jewellery and the flowers in her hair. I liked that they kept her make-up quite neutral, and the outfit itself seemed quite faithful to South Indian traditions (although I could be wrong here!)

 

Lastly, I also loved this sari, which was quirky yet really appealed to me, mostly because of the bright colour and the chequered sari. There's something about this sari which reminds me slightly of modern designers such as Masaba, where the focus is on bright colours and prints and less work or embroidery, I also really liked the coral blouse which is matched to Deepika's lipstick, which looks great on her and which adds a really pretty pop of colour.

 

All images belong to directors/producers of Chennai Express

There were a few more outfits in this film which I haven't included, which looked quite similar to the ones above (but in various different colours), and which Deepika pulled off beautifully. I found the costumes of this film a great colour inspiration - certainly I can imagine a lot of these outfits and colours as mehndi outfits or even wedding ones.

I wouldn't mind having a simple lengha-sari inspirred by one of these outfits, in a bright colour and similarly-flowey skirt, although I would probably add a fuller blouse, and perhaps three-quarter length sleeves. Overall though, I think Deepika looked great in this film, the styling was done well, and her hair and make-up are simple but effective.