BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Beautiful Benares Saris in 'Laagi Chunari Mein Daag'

The costumes in 'Laagi Chunari Mein Daag' are beautiful, and they would be, having been designed by the wonderful Sabyasachi. Throughout the film the actresses wear outfits which are beautifully colourful, outfits (which usually are plain kameezes with colourfully printed dupatta scarves, like this), and which I actually found quite charming because of simplicity of them.

There was one, outfit which stood out for me the most, and which I really liked. At the wedding scenes in the film, Rani's character wears a beautiful green and cream lengha-sari which I loved - the drape of it is very flattering and I love the motif design on the sari drape as well as the flattering cut of the skirt. I'm also a big fan of the longer-sleeved blouses for saris, and here it looks lovely, simple gold and green print yet effective - I can imagine this being a perfect sari to wear to a friend's wedding!

I also really like Rani's understated make-up here, with goes well with her beautifully sleek bun with the traditional  jasmine flowers in her hair. Her make-up seems to be a golden wash of eyeshadow with natural pinky lips, which I thought was very subtle but flattering, and something which makes her eyes look more striking too. My favourite thing, though, has to be the extravagant crystal earrings she is wearing, which are huge but look quite elegant.

I also thought I'd mention Konkona Sen Sharma's character's lengha-sari, which is a traditional bridal red, and has a similar look to it with the banarsi print blouse and worked sari. I didn't get a good look at the full outfit properly, but it has the similar look to Rani's one - plain gold and red printed blouse with a beautful skirt and the drape of the sari pinned on her shoulder in an elegant way. Again, Konkona's make-up is subtle and light, so that it doesn't look too much, and balances well with her jewellery, which is great since she has a petite face and it wouldn't suit her to have too much.

All images taken from Laaga Chunari Mein Daag and do no belong to me

I think I liked Rani's green sari more than the red sari worn by Konkona, but this is because I love the shade of green she is wearing. I find the red shade that Konkona wears elegant, but not a flattering shade on everyone, since it is quite 'bronzey' which may not always suit younger women. I would love to have a lengha-sari like Rani's green one here, it looks very classic and the traditional - and still has a Sabyasachi signature look. While I would get a longer blouse made to cover my stomach, I think the way the sari is draped is very flatttering, and it's definitely something I would like to try with a sari.

Which sari do you prefer?

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Saawariya Inspirations

Sanjay Leela Bansali films have always, always appealed to me, from the beautifully designed outfits, the ornate sets, the lovely songs and the dreamy, sensational style of his films. And of course, Saawariya fits into the bill, with it's weirdly emotional plot and beautiful, beautiful outfits which I absolutely fell in love with.

There were three main designers for the film Saawariya, who created beautiful, signature outfits which created a dreamy world and era of their own. The designers, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Reza Shariffi and Anuradha Vakilare pretty well known in Bollywood as the designers of a lot of beautiful costumes, and the images below are by each of them for the film. It is easy to recognise these outfitw worn by the actresses in the film; Rani Mukherji's sari (in the last picture) and for Sonam Kapoor's skirts (for the first two pictures).

I love seeing how outfits are put together, and how concept is put to paper, and even in the designs below, the look is elegant and shows a great glimpse of the lovely outfit in the film. I'll be sure to post about these outfits later on, as I find them lovely (me and my swishy dresses, eh?) and I think they're a great place to look at for inspiration!

Images from here

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Peshawar Style Outfits on Sonam Kapoor and Rani Mukherjee

I recently saw some pictures of Sonam Kapoor at someone's wedding, and rather admired the outfit she was wearing. Created by well-known Indian fashion Anuradha Vakil, Sonam wears a coppery orange kameez with light blue dupatta and peshwar-style pyjamas, and this is a wonderful combination. I love the complete modesty of this outfit, and the fact that this is something which really goes with today's trends without looking at if it is too much. With three-quarter length sleeves and a long kameez on top on wide-legged trousers, Sonam looks gorgeously elegant in this outfit, and how often do you see a celebrity wearing khusay instead of heels?! I love the work on this whole suit, its intricate and well done, and the motif pattern on the kameez really works here.

 Image Source

I noticed this outfit mainly because of a similar one to this from the past, in which the lovely brown-eyed beauty Rani Mukherjee wore for her Saawariya premiere back in 2007: a dazzling bright blue and hot pink suit by the same designer:

Image Source

I really love how the well both of these outfits are carried off by the actresses, and how for each there is a different style; I'm not a fan of orange clothes at all and yet it looks amazing here on Sonam. Similarly, I find blue and hot pink a bit of a typical colour combination normally (especially on the usual high street!), but the motif design looks beautifully traditional and looks very well done on Rani's outfit.
Which of the two do you prefer?