Fashion Trends & Passions: Pashmina Shawl Statements Pieces

This is something I've been seeing a lot lately, pretty pashmina shawls being used as statement pieces. Not just any old shawls either, I've seen a whole range of embellished, embroidered and velvet ones which I love - perfect for the winter weather too!

If you haven't seen these, here are just a few examples I've seen below - I've even seen gorgeous velvet heavy shawls incorporated into wedding outfits which look amazing. I also really like the fact that some of these shawls are styled with belts for a fitted look, which look really chic - with dresses, short kameezes and even jumpsuits.

I'm really liking a lot of the trends out there at the moment which include contrasting, or making shawls pop out with bright colours against a neutral surface, which can really pull a simple outfit together.

I'm lucky enough to have quiet a few outfit which come with beautiful shawls and dupattas, which are statement pieces on their own. I always have loved the idea of a colourful dupatta with a plain kameez suit (something my sisters and I used to do a lot when we were younger! Net dupattas, anyone...?) so I love that this is back in again. I also find these quite modest - great for a draping on your shoulders or arms if you want a looser look.

I've been looking for a a reason to pull out a few of my pashminas for a while and have been playing around with a few that I already have - luckily a lot of my winter suits have beauttiful thick shawls for me to use. This is an older outfit I have from Pakistani label  Charizma, that I got the chance to make use of recently. I really like this brand because it's pretty reasonably priced, and really comfortable. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get this directly through the website (but looking at the decent prices on their website, I'm tempted to order now!) but I did order this through Brandcentral.pk who are quite reliable.

This is me wearing the outfit, I wanted to use a belt for this but thought it wouldn't go with the embroidered kameez. No heels this time, just flats and a plain hijab!

I really loved the colourful design of this outfit - I'm not sure what I like more, the outfit or the pashmina! I'm definitely going to use the shawl for a more plainer outfit though (jumpsuit, plain abayah, any ideas?) to see how it looks - I can also imagine a light simple white kameez for summer with statement shawls.

What do you think of this trend - would you wear this? There are quite a few vendors out there with these trend and it's pretty easy to put together from your own wardrobe!

WEDDING INSPIRATION: Cakes from the Cake & Bake Show 2016

I went to the London Cake & Bake show this last weekend, and thought it was a treasure-trove of inspiration for brides to be, as well as those looking for cake displays for special events like baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays and even just girly tea parties.

I won't post all of the photos of the things I saw (there were just too many!), but wanted to show the variety of themes, styles and cakes out there for those who are looking for more inspiration.

I'll start with my favourite tables, the professionally-made dessert tables - these were beautifully made floral cakes grouped together, made by professional cake companies to showcase their skills. I love that each dessert table had cakes and biscuits to match the whole theme, which looked gorgeous together.

I loved that each dessert table had more than one cake (maybe that's just me being greedy) so that it made the table seem more luxurious and extravagant. I thought this was an interesting alternative to a lot of tables I have seen where the cake is the main showpiece and everything else is centred around the main cake.

I also really liked the colours and textures used for the cakes - lace, floral pieces, ribbons - not to mention some very cool looking mini cakes which looked a bit like bath bombs!

There were cakes on display all around the exhibition, which showed a variety of techniques, themes and colours so that brides aren't just stuck with the traditional plain white cake. I particularly liked the wooden-themed nature cakes below, and the beautiful pearl cakes!

I also loved this beautifully detailed cushion cake - probably took ages to make but doesn't it look beautiful?

The Cake show had a huge number of vendors selling tools to decorate and embellish cakes - there were lots of styles I hadn't seen before such as glittery lace, edible gem stones, detailed beading and beautifully worked icing in a variety of ways.

Macarons are the latest, fashionable edibles for wedding cakes, so naturally we also saw some of these - I loved the giant gold macaron cake below, although not sure how it'd taste!

Another thing that also gets neglected a lot in wedding tables are biscuits - and there were some amazing ones at the Cake and Bake shows. My favourite were these wedding-themed biscuits, such as the wedding dresses, proposal biscuits, floral bouquets and even biscuits for the bridesmaids! I thought this would be great for bridal showers as well as henna night and wedding dessert tables.

There were also some gorgeous cake stands available for those looking to display their own cakes, or even for weddings. I love that these weren't restricted by size or styles (we even saw a huge stand shaped like a horse-and-carriage!)

Another things which has become fairly fashionable recently are cupcake bouquets - they look cute and are fairly easy to make! I thought these looked so pretty, and would made a great centre-piece for a dessert table, or even as a hand-held bouquet!

I also saw some great cake ideas for mehndi events - such as these peacock cakes below. I liked these straightaway because it made me think of the peacock theme I had for my own mehndi - I would have loved to have these on display! I also liked the embellished biscuits below, which reminded me of  a lot of biscuits I've seen for mehndi parties which have a henna design on them.

Cake-pops and meringues are another pretty alternatives to cupcakes or cakes - they look colourful and cute, and would look amazing for a dessert table! My sister has made us cake-pops before and they have looked really pretty on dessert tables (or in our hands!) and I liked the variety of flavours and colours below. I'm less a fan of meringues but I LOVED the rainbows ones available at the cake show - you could have just these on the table and they'd look beautiful!

There were a huge amount of cakes at the show, and we spent a good few hours browsing, buying goodies and also looking at new techniques for cake and cupcake making. It's given me a lot of ideas for future tea-parties, as well as different treats to try out, so watch this space!

You can see more of  my pictures here, and also on my sister's blog here.

Chand Raat / Eid Night

My family and I have developed a tradition of usually going to my eldest sister's house for iftar dinner the night before Eid, being a good way to start Eid celebrations. We tend to get together to eat, put mehndi on and watch toddlers be naughty - it's also a great opportunity for us to get dressed up!

This is what I wore, a peach kameez with apple green accents and deep red dupatta - I had bought a separate pair of trousers in pearl pink jamawar material to glam out the outfit but didn't end up wearing it because it didn't really match. I stuck to the original plain peach trousers, but I'll wear the jamawar one with another outfit soon!

The other thing which was new was my shoes - my sisters found them a little too loud but I loved them, and they added a little rainbow sparkle to the outfit!

This is me wearing the outfit (I took the opportunity to pose before we left the house because I knew I'd forget to take proper pictures later!)

I also wanted to include a quick shot of how I did my eye makeup - I used a new loose pigment eyeshadow I'd been meaning to try called Old Gold by Mac Cosmetics. It was a pretty colour, and looked two tone but also had a slightly lime-ish tone to it as well so I'm not sure how well it went with my outfit!

The dinner at my sister's house was fabulous - there were a variety of dishes which we stuffed ourselves with, although our appetites were a little shrunken so we didn't fit a lot into our stomachs!

My sisters, mum and my niece had gotten their mehndi done by a friend who did an amazing job - here's a few pictures of the designs on their hands.

I also loved my nieces outfits too (I did try to get pics of my nephews but neither of them would stand still long enough!) - my eldest niece wore a beautiful teal maxi dress and the two little ones wore pretty lace dresses with leggings. My sister and I thought the dresses with the legging gave a very pretty Lucknow-style 50s look!

My husband and I wanted to head out to local streets after dinner so I could browse the shops and perhaps get some mehndi done - unfortunately it was pretty late and the roads were packed. I wasn't willing to wait around in the blocked traffic to get mehndi done so ended up going home and doing it myself - luckily my sister had a spare cone to give me!

Did you do anything on Chand Raat? Did you get any mehndi done?

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Suman's White Floral Suit in Maine Pyar Kiya

Every now and then, I'll get a hankering to watch a classic golden oldie. And this one goes way back to my childhood, Maine Pyar Kiya which was released at the end of the 80s, and where you can see the classic late 80s/early 90s fashion strongly present throughout the film.

So I watched this film not too long ago, and I loved how many memories it bought back to me - Salman Khan skinnier and with more hair, power jackets, tennis socks and THAT magical bridesmaidy dress I loved when I was 5, which had another skirt on top - I thought some of the outfits were pretty cool. A lot of them were simple but striking, and very strongly iconic of the 80s fashion and beautiful 90s, and I loved that there were so many I wanted for myself (or used to have!)

There were two suits which I loved in this film (and which I'd wear myself in a shot if I found them floating around on the high street!) - let me know if you liked these too - taken from one of the most famous songs in the film (which we all made fun of afterwards for years!)

The White Suit

This was something I remember seeing my eldest sister having something along the lines of back in the 90s - fitted kameezes with high collars, big flower motifs, churidar pants and chunky shoes (I'm pretty sure I've seen all of these in the fashion trends today!)

I loved that this is made even more classic with a simple high ponytail and pearl earrings, and really emphasised the Bhagyashree's (the heroine) figure for a slim, willowy look. While I'm less keen on the huge floral motif, I love the cut of this, and can imagine myself in this!

The Rainbow Outfit

I remember this trend a lot in the 90s (not to mention the long, loose straight hair and the simple bindi look!) and I also saw this rainbow look in a lot of other films (including this rainbow sari worn by Madhuri!)

This is perfect for a simple mehndi outfit or a dholki outfit - loose, comfortable and colourful, and very easy to copy - perfect for a 90s Bollywood theme!

I loved watching this movie and it's classic songs (my husband thought I was crazy for watching it but admitted it brought back a lot of memories for him too!) - it's given me the idea for a 90s Bollywood theme party or dholki one day.

The best thing about this is that I probably have some of these still in my wardrobe somewhere - not to mention the fact that a lot of 90s trends are in right now, so you'll be able to pick up something in the shops for a vintage style!

THE WEDDING POSTS: The (Other) Wedding Clutch

I already posted about my wedding clutch, but I also wanted to post about this clutch which I ordered first. I ordered this from Aeysha of Kapray Shapray, who also got my wedding jewellery customised and ordered for me via Lahore, which was a huge help.

I've been hankering after a jewelled clutch for a while, and the ones I've seen around London and online were not really amazing, either they were too clunky, the stones didn't look great quality or the prices were too high.

The clutch below was sent to be after I selected from a bunch of designs (I nearly went for a gold one with gold and silver stones, but I can't resist colourful things), and is actually smaller than it looks, which I love because it looks so much more delicate and pretty.

I didn't go for this clutch on the wedding day in the end, because the colours didn't pick out the accents of my wedding skirt (the blues and the greens), so I kept it as a back-up. I considered using this clutch with my mehndi bridal outfit instead, but I wanted a simple look for the mehdni and didn't think a clutch bag would be much use.

I have used this clutch bag a good few times though, and I love the workmanship and the beautiful stones all over the clutch - it's an ideal statement piece for a simple outfit!