BOMBAY ISTYLE: Jazz and Glam in Bombay Velvet Niharika Khan

I recently watched Bombay Velvet, featuring Ranbir Kapoor as a mafia-wannabe and Anushka Sharma as a jazz singer, set in a fictionalised 60s' India where jazz music meets Prohibition, tommy guns and Bollywood jazz. Although there were scenes in the movie which weren't quite credible of Indian culture at this time, I loved this mish-mash of film-noir meets the ganster life and Roaring Twenties - basically a lot of themes I like!

Costumes designer by Niharika Khan took inspiration from the 40s, 50s and 60s for the outfits of this film, and it really shows - the pearls, feathers, elaborate headpieces and retro dresses are all beautifull made - such as the white pearl and feather dress below, whcih looks pretty fab.

The other outfit which was really striking is this emerald green maxi dress, which apparently weighed a staggering 35 kilos! Again, this is another outfit which reminds me of shimmering 60s dresses, jazz-lounge-singers-style, and Anushka pulls its off well.

Another outfit which struck my eye is this purple floral and ruffle dress, which has a lot of details and bolumous skirt - and completd by a matching floral head band.

The other extravagant piece which was made for this film is this one for Raveena Tandon in her cameo song as a sultry jazz singer. This is a very extravagant outfit, and one which must have taken the designer a while to create, as it's painstakingly made with peacock feathers and beading on a sumptious gown which really looks dramatic. Raveena really made this look her own, with her sultry poses and deep red lipstick!

I also really liked this black and white stripey dress worn by Anushka to the races in one scene, it's very 'Ascot' in its own way and very striking. There's also an echo of an Audrey Hepburn style to it, complete with the big sunglasses, which I quite liked!

There's also this outfit, a red and white floral dress which is a lot more girly and feels inspired from a later era - while I didn't love the dress, I liked the red floral hair piece!

I also noticed this beaded burgundy dress, which is not as extravagant as the feathered-and-pearls outfits from before but still works because it gives a very sultry style.

I also liked some of Rosie's more day-to-day outfits,which are a lot less glamorous but a little more sweeter, from the polka-dot flats and floral headband to the floral earrings, something I've seen from the 60s and looks very sweet on Anushka.

Another more casual piece was this outfit, I couldn't get a picture of the dress but it's a polka dot halter neck dress with a matching hairband, which Anushka finishes off with a classic beehive hairstyle and eyeliner flicks!

I thought this was a really adventurous take on the jazz-life and 60s India, with plenty of inspiration taken from different places. I also like the fact that the detail is so well done, with outfits not just limited to the women but tailored to the male characters, with double-breasted suits and broad lapels, as well as the costumes of those around them.

It's also really great to see a film which attempts to fuse Indian fashion with an older era, and for me a lot of it works because it's so well done - especially down to minor characters such as these two ladies below!

What did you think of the outfits in this film?

Images belong to producers/directors/distributors of Bombay Velvet

Happy Eid 2015...!

Wishing you all a beautiful Eid celebration and Hajj Mubarak, and a blessed day with good food and good company!

Here's a peek at what I wore when we celebrated yesterday (although the celebrations are continuing into the weekend as well!)

Love,
Curly Fries xxx

Lollywood Ishtyle: Bin Roye's Glittering Outfits

I saw Bin Roye this weekend, and left the film in love with the beautiful outfits, sets and scenes. Mahira Khan looks amazing in the film and the film itself is really, all about her. I haven't seen many Pakistani films over the years, and I'm not sure this one falls into Lollywood (which I remember from my childhood being Punjabi films with a lot of shouting, over-acting and heroes jumping off buildings!)

I wanted to post some of the outfits showcased in the film - the images below are from both the film and also from the launch of Bin Roye's music at Telenor Bridal Couture Week 2015 last month, where the designer outfits worn were modelled by the main actors and reknowned Pakistani models.

First is this iconic outfit by Feeha Jamshed, which I love the colour combination of - yellow, royal blue and bronze accents. I've seen a few outfits in the Pakistani fashion trends with sequins all over, it works on some and doesn't on others - this one pulls it off with a lovely sparkle and glamour.

This is the outfit as worn by Mahira in the 'Balle Balle' song, which is actually a fun song because it reminded me of some of the dholki songs my sisters and I know. This is one of my favourite looks on Mahira mainly because of the swishy skirt and the simple block colours which work well together.

The next outfit I immediately recognised was this Elan outfit, from PFDC L’oreal Paris Bridal Week in 2012 - I recognised it especially because it's a pretty popular outfit and I love the soft colours and the heavy work. I couldn't find a picture of Armeena Khan wearing it in the fil, but it looks pretty much the same (except she has the dupatta pinned to her head in a bridal style).

I also loved this bridal by Sania Maskatiya, which was really pretty in orange, red and yellow, and ideal for the mehndi scene. It's a very traditional look which you just can't go wrong with, and looks pretty much the same as worn by Armeena on the catwalk (except the border of the dupatta which looks slightly different but that's minor)

It took me a good while to find out where the next outfit was from, I had to ask a few of my friends who are fashion aficionados like myself before I found out it was by Elan (I kept thinking it was Elan because it reminded me of their older designs) I liked the classic cut of this outfit but was less keen on the two-tone look of the fabric and the colour of the dupatta, which I think would have worked better as a deeper colour.

This is the outfit worn by Mahira in the film although with a skirt rather than with a salwar - I loved the brocade print of the skirt and the deep teal colour of it, and thought it went with the rust coloured kameez pretty well.

I also loved this sharara outfit which was modelled by Sabeeka Imam in the Bin Roye music launch, I couldn't find a picture of Mahira wearing it but it looks the same, except Mahira has her hair loose! It's a lovely traditional outfit and I think it works well as a formal.

The last bridal I found from this film is another Elan outfit, although I don't remember seeing this one in the film even though it was part of the Bin Roye catwalk, so I either missed it or it didn't end up in the film.

This outfit is a traditional deep red and purple outfit which is really heavily worked - I liked it but I found it a little too heavy as a bridal, and it not something I would pick myself. I liked the way it was styled on the model, although the jewellery on Mahira looked lovely too.

I also liked some of the simpler outfits worn by Mahira, I won't post them all but you can see the rest here - there were a lot of simple Punjabi-style salwar kameezes and casual suits which I thought was a nice touch for the casuals-at-home-look. 

Both of these remind me of other outfits I've seen in other films before, but Mahira looks lovely in them because she keeps it simple, her hair is loose and the jewellery is never overdone.

The last few outfits I wanted to post were these Elan (1 and 2) and Sania Maskatiya (3) ones below that are also worn in the film, which I loved because of the colours and the floral embroidery - all perfect wedding formals and Eid outfits!

It's really great to see Pakistani designers getting some visibility on the big screen - I'm so used to seeing the Bollywood go-to designers such as Manish Malhotra that it's nice to see Pakistani trends getting some screen time!

The film itself was a nice watch, a little too girly and romantic for me (I do like my sci-fi!) but I went with some close girl friends and we had a lot of fun watching the film. It was also nice to see some Eid scenes and Chand raat scenes as well, which was fun and made me want to visit Pakistan!

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?

Eid Mubarak...!

It's been a lovely Eid weekend (and still continuing to be!) - I hope you all had/are having a lovely weekend with good food and good company! Here's a peek at my outfits this weekend, more to come!!

Eid Mubarak!

Here's wishing you all a happy Eid and a beautiful day with your family, with lovely food and lots of smiles. It's my first Eid as Mrs Curly Fries, so naturally I'm already excited, and I plan to make the most of it!

I've already has a yummy dinner today and there are more planned tomorrow! So naturally there will be beautiful clothes and beautiful company, pictures coming soon!

Eid is coming...!

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten to post about the wedding! I'm still collating all of the photographs I have for the next post, and I'm hoping I'll get some of the professional ones in time to post too - fingers crossed I'll have some to post, especially as I was really impressed with my photographers and I'm itching to see my pictures!

In the meantime, I'm sure you are as excited as I am about Eid coming up this weekend, which is always an excuse to go and oogle at some beautiful clothes. I'm a bit spoilt for choice this year as I have new outfits from the in-laws and from my mum, so I didn't need to buy anything new this year, but I still decided to be nosey and had a look around.

I loved this collection of ombre outfits below, which my sisters and I loved, they're chic, not too heavy and have beautiful colours (we all liked different colours, I'm leaning towards the corally-tomato one myself!).

I also though this would make a perfect look for a mehndi for sisters of the bride, the green dress is missing from this picture but there were more colours in-store including a darker blue, purple and shades of green which looked very pretty together. I did consider ombre outfits for my sisters for my own mehndi, but it didn't go with my theme (or my outfit!), and I also didn't see this until way after everyone bought their outfits, but these are really pretty and would have made an amazing alternative.

I'll be posting my Eid outfit soon once I've taking some decent photographs (and decide which shoes to wear) - what are you going to wear?

Eid Mubarak!

I've been a busy bunny this weekend, with last-minute shopping and Eid preps, but it was a lovely Eid for all of us and we managed to spend time with all of the family and plenty of little ones running around! More pictures coming soon, but here's a quick post to say Eid Mubarak everyone, and hope you enjoyed good food, good clothes and good company!

In the mean time, here's a quick peek at what I wore for Eid, which was very comfy!

DESIGNER MOOD: Floral Fever by Zehra Saleem

I recently came across this designer and thought I'd share, particularly because I love the way that she incorporates westernised cuts into Pakistani fashion, as well as the beautiful floral motifs and glitz which are used. Zehra Saleem is a Pakistani designer who has some really pretty pieces that can be dressed up or worn in a more subtle way, and which I think look beautiful because of the feminine feel to them. I love the soft colours in creams and pinks, the intricate designs and in particular, the flowy dresses, which look really flattering and also seem to focus on big floral motifs like giant roses.

Here's some the designer's pieces from some of her photoshoots, which have an English-rose, vintage feel to them that I like, and which I think would appeal to a lot of people's tastes - my favourite is the last one which would make a really pretty mehndi outfit.

I recently messaged the designer's group to ask for a few prices, and happily enough they responded very quickly, which I think is a good sign if you're looking to purchase fromt hem. The prices were slightly higher than I was looking to spend, but I would definitely recommend a browse of their outfits, especially as they seem very wearable.

Another alternative to messaging the group directly is to buy from this site here, which sells the outfits as ready-made pieces in fixed sizes, where you can also see the prices as well. I can't give any recommendations for this site as I haven't used it before, but it's a good place to look at prices and also see the actual outfits in detail.

The designer herself is often spotted wearing her own designs, which I think is a good way to promote them (especially as she can carry them off so well!) I also like the fact that she hasn't restricted herself to maxi dresses and has mixed these with shorter kameezes as well.

 

All images taken from Zehra Saleem Facebook page

I'll be following Zehra Saleem's designs for a while to see what else she comes out with, but so far I'm really liking some of her more simpler designs which look beautiful. What do you think of her designs - would you wear them?