BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Alia Bhatt's Vintage Wedding Outfits in Raazi

I'm a bit late for this one, as the film came out about 10 months ago! I thought I'd post about the outfits from Bollywood hit Raazi, starring Alia Bhatt as a spy called Sehmat, as I loved the outfits she wore. The costume designers were Maxima Basu and Bhagyashree Dattatreya Rajurkar, who have designed for other period movies (think Padhmavaat!) so it's not surprising these are pretty.

The first outfit was the Sehmat's wedding gharara, which is vintage gorgeousness! The film is set in the 70s, and I love how the outfits reflect this (not to mention this faux wedding photo below!)

I loved the details of this outfit, not to mention the contrasting green dupatta, , the gota kaam (the gold fabric sewn on), and the beautiful jewellery. I'm sure my mum would be able to relate to a lot of these pieces, as a lot of it is reminiscent of her time (although perhaps some of this is a little more glamorous that some brides at that time!). The makeup is dressy without being too much, and works well with the red lips.

The next outfit is the sari worn in the bride's 'rukhsati' or 'bidaai' scene, which is when she is leaving her parents to go to her new home.The character wears a simple baby pink and light blue sari, which is accessorised with a separate dupatta for her head, as well as pretty jewels. I thought this was more cute than gorgeous, but it does go with the Alia's look for the movie, and certainly does look a little 70s to me!

What did you think of the costumes in this movie? And did you like the gharara or the sari more?

DESIGNER MODE: Baroque Official Pakistan

Baroque Official Pakistan is a label I've discovered in the last year, and whose collections I've been loving (and isn't the name lovely too?). One of the things I really like about their outfits is how pretty yet wearable their collection looks, and it seems pretty reasonably priced.

I've been checking out their latest collection - Chantelle Collection - which is full of pastel kameezes, embroidered designs and lovely floral designs which has been pretty popular so far. The collection goes live this Saturday, but is available to pre-order too.

I haven't seen a lot of their heavier designs, as they seem primarily focused on casual wear, lawn, digital prints and embroidered formal pieces, but most of their heavier embroidered pieces are nice enough for special occasions and weddings, which I love.

As with other brands, Baroque has a pretty, floral printed lawn collection as well, as I like how muted the colours are rather than flaring bright colours, with pretty florals which make these perfect for casual wear as well as dressing up.

I've got my eye on a few pieces from this brand (although in two minds about whether to order or not!), and think this kind of stuff is perfect for events like Eid or parties. I also like the fact that most of their pieces range from about £50 to £80 for a decent formal, which is probably about what it costs (or more!) in London.

Have you bought from Baroque before? What do you think of this collection?

Baroque Links:
Website (they ship worldwide)
Barque Instagram page
Baroque Facebook page

DESIGNER MODE: Amber Gohar

Amber Gohar is a designer whose work I've followed for the past couple of years, after discovering her on Facebook and Instagram - I like her pieces because they seem comfortable, stylish and easy to wear.

I've seen most of her outfits being worn by real customers, which I like because it shows how it actually looks on, and I love how effortlessly chic the pieces look.

The designer has a range of styles for her pieces - her latest outfits has incorporated frilly sleebs and trousers which seems to be quite popular, and perfect for summer - like the pieces below.

A lot of the outfits I've seen are a range of colours, with either separates for a mix-and-match style like many other designers are starting to adopts as well, or full suits which are perfect for occasion-wear. I really like how most of the outfits aren't too busy or heavy, and look easy to wear.

One of the first pieces which caught my eye from this designer was the cape outfits below, which I loved, and I'm sure I'm not the only one! The outfits are focused on summery colours and lacey material, with minimal work for a more simple look.

There's also a lot of embroidered pieces which I really like, that look really stylish - I can imagine wearing most of these, and I love all of the colours.

The brand also does heavier formal pieces too - I can see that they have a similar style to their lighter pieces with a focus on embellished kameezes, straight trousers and a East-meets-West fusion look.

I also like that the designer and her daughters are often spotted in their own design (and that Amber Gohar's daughter Mishal Asad has her own designer collection, Cross Stitch,which I also love!)

I've mentioned before that I had my eye on one of Amber Gohar's pieces as a potential Eid outfit, and althought I didn't end up buying the outfit, I'll be keeping an eye out for more of her designs. Her latest collection is the 'Wonderful White' collection, which is a series of cotten white seperates, which is perfect for summer.

Amber Gohar is available to buy in London via vender Hina Rasim, through website LibasUSA and also directly from the designer herself.

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Pretty Pastels & Churi Dupattas from Umsha by Uzma Babar

I saw these two outfits today - both by the same designer, Pakistani label Umsha by Uzma Babar  - with the same signature style, but with two different colour palattes and style that I loved equally. I saw both of these in east London with stockists Texheeb London, which carries the designer (plus a few more), so it's always worth a look when going past.

The first outfit was this lovely anarkali piece with a skirt, in a soft peachy pink with pale blue accents and floral embroidery and gold work all over. I loved the soft colours of this piece, and though it would be perfect for a summer wedding or a spring event. It's a lovely piece which can be dressed up as a bridal (it does come with a skirt) or worn by guests for a special event, which I thought would look lovely - I can image a whole wedding theme catered to these colours!

The second outfit was this bridal by the designer in a soft creamy yellow mixed with a rich red and rusty orange. I like that the heavy kameez is balanced out by a brocade skirt, but my favourite thing is probably the addition of a chunri dupatta (you can see some examples of these here - they're dupattas with printed dotted patterns for an ethnic look), which I haven't seen in years. I remember seeing these when I was younger, and I even have one hidden away somewhere which I bought for my own mehndi (and didn't end up using!), so it's lovely to see this used as a bridal dupatta. I've seen examples of chunri dupattas used in bridals in Pakistan, but not in the local stores in London, so it's lovely to see this.

I'm still deciding which outfit I like better (I'm leaning towards the pastel pink and blue one) - which one do you like more?

Bridal Shower fun - Flowers & Peach Tones

I don't always post about the parties and bridal showers I've been to the in past, but every now and then I attend a special occasion which is memorable. Most of my close friends are married (and got married before me!) so for the few who are still bachelorettes, it's a special event when they get married!

So a close friend of mine got married in the last few weeks (this is what I wore to her nikah and engagement), so I thought I'd post a few pictures of the event as it was a lovely series of occasions.

For her bridal shower, she had a pretty low-key event at her best friend's place, which was decorated beautifully and which gave us friends all a chance to chill out, eat good food and play games.

I though the decor was pretty amazing, and was very different to a lot of the bridal showers I've been to in the past because it felt so elegant and sophisticated - beautiful fresh flowers everywhere, candles on the table, hand-made decor on the wall and on the balcony outside there were beautiful cushions with lanterns and Morroccan-inspired tools. I thought this made for a really lovely, relaxed atmosphere and it was really well-put together, different from the usual pink, fluffy feathers bridal showers I've been to!

The food was all made by the bride-to-be's best friend, and she did an amazing job with the nibbles which were laid out beautifully. There was also hot food which came later, but my favourite thing was a fresh juices with fruit chunks and the lime juice drink which was perfect for the warm day!

And of course, a quick peek at what I wore. I paired a pastel pink skirt with a lace top on top of a pink one, which I thought worked well together and looked girly and flattering. It was also a really lovely, warm day so the skirt was ideal, it looked floaty and felt very cool on! There wasn't really a dress code other than being 'dressed-up' but since it was a summer's day, everyone ended up wearing a lot of floral dresses and soft colours which looked amazing together.

I forgot to take a full-length picture of what the bride wore, but she wore a lacy royal blue maxi dress with sparkly heels that looked fab - especially as she said she ended up picking it last minute! Here's a shot of the yummy cake as well, because who doesn't love cake?

I loved how fun this bridal shower was, it was a really lovely start to the wedding festivities and a nice way to relax with friends. Even though it was fairly low-key, the bride's best friend put a huge amount of effort into the food and decor, and I though this was a really lovely way to hold a bridal shower which was more like an elegant afternoon out!

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Sonam in Mint Green Anamika Khanna

I saw this outfit on the ever-stylish Sonam Kapoor, and though it was different, because it wasn't the usual 'dressy' maxi dress, and it wasn't quite the casual type either - I think the embroidered, almost-Spanish style bolero really adds to the outfit to make it look different. I also like Sonam's hair in this, looks easy and pretty, without looking too fussy, and it suits her well.

I also love the idea of being able to wear the bolero with a more casual Western outfit, which would look quite good too, and certainly wouldn't look out of place in today's trends!

Images from here