RE-INVENT YOUR WARDROBE #4: Add a Shawl to your Outfit

I've already posted before about the shawl trend, and how much I love it, and it got me thinking about the different ways I've seen this being worn. I love that it's a perfect accessory - ideal in the winter months for keeping us warms, and also making an inexpensive statement piece to jazz up a simple outfit.
I thought I'd play around with the pashminas in my wardrobe to see what kind of outfits and stylings I could create (I meant to raid my mum's cupboard for this post because she has beautiful shawls, but I forgot!) I came up with a few variations and tried them out - let me know what you think of these.

So here are a few ideas on how to wear a pashmina...

1. With a jumpsuit
I love wearing jumpsuits (even if my sister does say they look like baby's onesies), and have seen a few dressy jumpsuits being worn at weddings and Eid which look incredibly stylish. I've been keeping an eye out for a jumpsuit for myself, and I don't have a dressy one yet, but I do have a few western-style ones which work just as well.

This is a wide-legged jumpsuit (I love wide-leg jumpsuits!) I styled with a colourful pashmina and a gold belt - I was initially going to try a plain shiny black belt but loved how the gold one looked. I loved this look, and think it would be perfect for summer-time too.

Jumpsuit - Aab Collection

Shawl - Charizma

Belt - Instagram seller

2. With a kameez suit
I have a lot of simple kameez outfits which are ideal for weekends and casual events, but it's always nice to add a little elegance to it. because I wear a hijab, I don't always add a dupatta to the outfit, especially if it looks more casual without it - but I love how simply adding a printed shawl to this outfit made it look so much more stylish. The shawl I added here was just a simple one I bought from a local market but it really pulled the outfit together.

Kameez suit - Pakistan

Shawl - Queens Market, Green Street

Shoes - Love Label

3. With a maxi dress or abayah
I don't wear abayas, but I thought it would look similar to an maxi dress in the length of the outfit and the shape (although maxi dresses are more fitted, of course). I tried out a colourful maxi dupatta for this outfit, from one of my heavier suits and liked the effect when I added it to a simple navy dress. I've tried it in two different ways below - one simply draped on the left, and secondly on the right a more fitted look with a belt. I think this would have worked better with a dressier maxi dress, but I liked the look, and I think both would be ideal for summer or even for an alternative outfit at a mehndi event!

Maxi dress - Notting Hill

Dupatta - RDC London (part of an unstitched suit)

Shoes - Primark

4. With a tunic shirt and jeans
I was a bit unsure on how else to style a pashmina, until it hit me that I should try it with my every day clothes - jeans and a shirt! They say the 90s and 80s are in fashion at the moment, and I definitely remember my sisters used to throw a shawl over their dresses and tops with jeans in the 90s. So I thought I'd give this a shot and see if it would still look good (hey, fashion trends are cyclical!) and mixed one of my more colourful shawls with my shirts.

I love how vibrant the shawl looks against the simple white, and it definitely gives that fusion of east-meets-west. Again, I styled this in more than one way and loved all of them (I think the middle is my favourite, though) - and looks great whether you wear a hijab or not. I think this is a nice way to make an outfit modest, as well as give it a little colour - I also like that it adds a little uniqueness to an outfit simply by making it more vibrant.

Shirt dress - Inayah Collection

Jeans - H&M

Shawl - Gul Ahmed

I had a lot of fun playing around with these shawls and outfits, and will certainly be trying more. I would loved to have tried more styles like a pashmina with a sari (which I have seen before) but I'm terrible with wearing saris so didn't try to attempt it!

Let me know what you think of these, and which one you liked best - I think I'm loving the jumpsuit style best!

On the Catwalk, On the Celeb...Shilpa Shetty in Ridhi Mehra

I haven't seen Shilpa in the news for a while but recently she's been cropping up again at the catwalks and fashion shows, and is looking good while she's doing it!

I thought I'd post a quick outfit I saw on the Bollywood star that I liked by Ridhi Mehra (makes a change from the constant Sonam-Priyanka-Deepika outfits I keep seeing, as much as I enjoy looking at them!) - let me know what you think of the outfit!

On the catwalk:
I LOVE the oxblood red colour of this outfit, and though it looked very chic on the catwalk - flowy, stylish and very fusion in style, a great balance of westernised jumpsuits and dressy asian wear. The only thing I didn't love about this outfit was the deep V-neck which seemed a little too low, and brings the effortless look of the outfit down a bit- apart from that, I love it, it reminds me of something you'd see on an Italian catwalk, particularly the cinched-in belt added in which gives it a lovely, smart look.

On the celeb:
I think what I like most about this outfit was that it looks a lot more playful on Shipa, and also more girly. She worked the V-neck pretty well here (probably because it's not so low and also looks more chic), and I also love that she accessorised with pretty gold earrings (by Valliyan) and and pretty gold stack bangles (by Prerto) for a minimal but elegant look. For some reason the outfit looks more fuschia in these pictures, but it still works well and I love that she's managed to make it a great dressed-up evening look.

I'm not sure which look I prefer more - the catwalk one is much more stylish and Westernised, but on Shilpa she carried the outfit wonderfully and looks a lot more spunky which I quite like!

So here's a random story -  did I ever tell you (readers) about the time I (kind of) met Shilpa Shetty?

It was while I was working part-time in Knightsbridge at university (I won't say when but it was nearly a decade ago!) a little while after the actress appeared in Big Brother, so she was staying around London for a little while to shop.
My job was to be a 'host' (basically a greeter) for the day at Monsoon in Knightsbridge to greet customers and show them around. In breezes in a tall, pretty brown woman with oversized sunglasses, who walked past way too fast, before I could say 'Hi! Welcome to Monsoon!' in my fake cheery voice.
So while I looked around in a baffled way about why someone had walked past so quickly, another person (later found out this was Shilpa's PR Team) stopped to tell me not to worry and leave the customer alone. I crept up to the main cash till to speak to my colleagues, and amid furious whispers we all realised the beautiful Shilpa was in our store. Unfortunately our managers also caught us whispering and warned us not to approach the actress, ask for photos or autographs (this was before the explosion of selfies, really) and basically treat her like a normal customer.

Shilpa tried on a few dresses, bought a pretty yellow number and then left, and that was the end of it -  none of us got any pictures. It was still pretty cool for the teenager I was at the time though!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: Jumpsuits and Jackets

I've been looking out for a decent jumpsuit for a little while, and while I've seen a few designer ones, some within my budget and some a bit higher, I've been wondering whether it was worth the cost of buying a whole new outfit - particularly for a fashion trend which isn't exactly a classic look the way a kameez might be.

I've been trying to avoid buying new outfits if I didn't need to, partly because I don't get to re-wear a lot of my outfits, and partly to save money/wardrobe space. I also am a big advocate of re-wearing, re-using and re-inventing outfits, and I always try to do this with my own wardrobe in a way that my outfits look a little different each time I wear them!

So naturally when I was thinking of getting a jumpsuit/jacket combination, I realised that I already had the basics in my wardrobe. Remember this jumpsuit from my hen night and the jacket from this Eid out? Well, I'd been wondering whether I could combine the two for a hijab-friendly, Pakistani style outfit, and decided to try it the next time I had an evening out.

These are the two outfits, the jacket came with an inner slip and churidar pants, from a shop in Green Street which I'll never remember the name of (and which my husband bought for me the Eid before we got married!); and the jumpsuit was just a basic black one from Zara, although I've seen cheaper ones of these in River Island, New Look and even Primark.

 

This is how I wore it, I styled it with a jewel red hijab and paired with plain red court heels. I love wearing this shade of red and never get to wear it enough (especially red scarves, which I'm a little conscious of because it's so bright and risks making my face look a bit pink!).

It's not ENTIRELY hijab-friendly because the jumpsuit was fitted, although the jacket hides the curves a little and the legs at least are baggy. I also adjusted the arms by wearing sleeves with them (they're basically fabric tubes for your arms, literally sleeves by themselves), which I always use with short-sleeved tops because it makes a difference instead of having to layer too much, or wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt underneath. Very useful for summer times!

 

Jumpsuit - Zara

Jacket - Green Street

Shoes - New Look

Hijab - Local market

I LOVED how easy this outfit was to put together, and how effective it looked. Everything I'm wearing in this outfit was something I already had, and can easily be found on the high street in some version or another. I've tried this with another hot pink jacket that I have, and it looked pretty good too (although a little bright), and it's a good way to re-use old outfits.

I also like the fusion of East-meets-West with this look as well, there's no need for a dupatta, and it's easy to glam it up a little with a statement necklace or bangles, ideal for a night out.

What do you think of this look? Would you try it out?

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: Hen Night Jumpsuit Madness

I had my hen night a few days ago (not too much depravity involved, I promise!) which was very fun, as it's been a while since I've managed to get together with all of my friends for a night out! Normally I tend to wear dresses when I go out with friends, but I wanted to go for something a little more adventurous this time, and decided to wear a jumpsuit which I blinged up by stacking some necklaces, and some new heels I bought for the day!

This is what I put together, it was very last minute because I didn't get time to go through my wardrobe properly, and I was being all girly and finding nothing to wear. I did fall in love with these beautiful neon-yellow and grey heels (they sound hideous don't they?), which were perfect, dressy and simple, and which I love as as they are not the usual type I go for - you can see what I wore below.

Here's how I wore it, because it was in the evening and it had been raining all day, I wanted to stay warm so ended up throwing a navy cardigan on top. I dressed up the jumpsuit with my jewellery (more about these in another post!) and accessorised with a plain royal blue clutch. I also was lucky enough to have a new scarf waiting to be worn which went perfectly with the outfit and brightened it up, which was an Eid gift from my eldest sister!

Jumpsuit - Zara

Necklaces - The Jewellery Box UK

Heels - River Island

Clutch bag - New Look

Scarf - Warehouse

I had a great evening with my friends on my hen night, we had some yummy Turkish food, played some silly games, looked at silly underwear and had some beautiful chocolatey dessert. My friends also bought me this sash to wear which said 'Bride to be' (I don't know why I look like a huge toddler in this picture, it looked much better in real life!):

I also wore a bright hot pink lipstick which was a matte lipstick in shade 'Pink Pong' from the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick collection, which was a pretty pink with a slight hint of purple that felt easy to wear and lasted the whole night (and also went really well with my hijab!)

I had a fun evening with friends on my hen night, there was plenty of silly jokes, silly knickers and lots of chocolates, and it was nice to relax and dress up! The wedding's only a week and a bit away now, and the festivities are starting up, so I'll be posting more details where I can!

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Karma's Aladin Blue Dress

I've seen this outfit a few times recently, originally created by Pakistani designer Atelier Karma, apparently called the 'Aladin' outfit. I've seen a few different versions of this outfit (most of them quite pretty!), but I love the overall ombre-blue-shaded look here. I've seen this design as a long gown (as seen in the first pic below) and more recently, as a jumpsuit (second pic, which is the more recent design). I like the fact that this looks so good as a jumpsuit, which is a style becoming more popular among Asian fashion designers as they have started to incorporate the idea of jumpsuits into their designs. The combination of the rich embellishment and the pretty blue and aqua hues makes this a really glamorous outfit, which I've seen dressed up for some bridal outfits, or dressed down slightly to make pretty evening and party wear. Admittedly it will not come cheap, but it's a beautiful outfit and has very flattering colours :)

Images belong to Karma