OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Change Beige & Black Kurta

So this is my first outfit of the day post this year! I’ve been hibernating at home in my pyjamas, which are lovely but not much to post about! But I did wear this outfit during the Christmas and New Years break, which was perfect for comfort as well as style!

This is a pretty kurta I received from my mother in law which came from Pakistan. It’s from a Pakistani label called Change Clothing Pk, which is not one I’ve heard of, but they have a good range of casual and formal wear which seem very wearable. I’ve seen a few similar kurta styles like this (I’m sure you all have!) in local shops, and most of them are pretty affordable, and have a lot of everyday designs as well as slightly more dressy ones. This is the outfit I wore, which is a beige and black cotton kurta with a gold and silver print all over.

I’m normally someone who either sticks to just gold or just silver accents when it comes to outfits, but on this kurta it actually looks quite nice to have both. The back of the kurta has a different print from the front, which is something I’ve seen on a lot of outfits, and gives a nice quirky feel.  One of the things I really liked was the cut of the kurta, which is in a wrap shape and has a V-shape cut at the hem.

This is me wearing the outfit – I paired it with a light beige pair of cotton trousers from Khaadi – they weren’t an exact match but it worked well enough, and I preferred these over black trousers. I wore these with flats that I managed to find in beige and black, that looks nice together – a little matchy-matchy but I like it here!

I love how comfy this outfit is to wear, and the fact that it looks stylish without needed to much. I’m pretty sure I could easily dress this outfit up a little more with jewellery and heels, as it looks quite on trend and the colours are quite flattering. I’m leaning towards simpler suits and easy to wear cuts these days, although I think this may also be because I tend to go to less dressier events and prefer to wear kurtas and simple outfits for dinners or just lounging at my mums.

I'll be posting more outfits I've been wearing soon, as well as some bargain finds I've seen online! I often get asked about where to buy casual wear, and I though this kurta was lovely. I've seen a lot of similar designs in local shops - probably where the business owners have bought a bulk from Pakistan and decided to re-sell it on, but there are some pretty ones out there!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Hali H Mauve Lace Kameez

I haven’t done one of these for a while, so I thought I’d post about an outfit I wore in the winter. The outfit I wore was from a gharara outfit I've worn before, from London retailers Hali H London. I’ve mentioned before how much I loved this outfit, as well as how great the service was from this company, so was happy to wear the outfit again. This time, I was aiming for a different look, so wore the kameez, which was a loose, flared lace top with plain white trousers and heels – ideal for a dressed down look at a dawat or a fun daytime event.

This is the outfit – I love the lace detailing of the outfit, and I decided to go for a light, comfy look with this piece. I love dusky colours, and you just can't go wrong with a gorgeous shade like this.

Here what I wore with it, I kept the colours pretty similar, with a pretty purple clutch that came in handy from given to me from my sister! I love pairing simple tops with white trouser, it’s a fairly solid look that can’t go wrong and works with a lot of colours and styles. Looking at the outfit now, I wish I had added a long silver necklace, but I don’t own much jewellery and I remember thinking that the scarf may cover the neckline area anyway.

So this is me wearing it – I really liked how pretty and girly this looked without being too twee. It also makes a nice change from the bulky lenghas, ghararas and shararas I have seen everyone wearing, which looks great but can sometimes feel a bit too much (or in my case, takes more work to walk around in!) I wore this with a light coloured pink hijab which went perfectly, and felt very light-weight and versatile.

Outfit top - Hali H

Trousers - River Island

Shoes - New Look

Clutch Bag - Accessorize

Hijab scarf - Inayah Collection

I loved wearing this outfit simply because it was light, comfortable and it’s in such an appealing colour. I’m a big fan of mixing up and re-using outfits, and it also lets me add my own touch to the look as well. I got a lot of compliments for this outfit, and I can see that a lot of women are liking the how effortless it looks.

I can't wait for summer time where I'll be able to pull out some light outfits and play around with colours and styles - so far it feels like I've been hibernating in my pyjamas!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Elan Silk Replica by Dhanak Fashions

Remember this outfit? I finally got a chance to wear it for a dinner recently on a warm weekend, and was glad that it was ideal for a summery look. This is the outfit - it's a rich, colourful suit made from a soft cool cotton which was perfect for the warm weather.

Here's how I accessorised - I generally don't wear a lot of jewellery, and in summer I wear even less, so I just opted for some plain heels and a pretty embellished clutch bag given to me when I got married. The outfit is pretty colourful so white accessories were the best option to go with this!

This is the outfit on me - I loved how comfortable this felt, and how easy to wear. The colours were pretty flattering, and I got a lot of compliments while I was wearing this.

My favourite thing about the outfit is probably how rich the dupatta is, which makes  anice statement piece (I can even imagine wearing the dupatta by itself with a plain suit).

Outfit - Dhanak Fashion

Heels - Boohoo

Clutch Bag - Green Street

Hijab - Inayah Collection

I'm looking forward to making the most of my summery outfits this year - one of the things I find a hassle about the warm weather is wearing modest clothes without having to layer. Lawn outfits have becomes very fashionable in the last few years, and they're perfect for the weather too, which is such a relief when I want something stylish and comfortable.

I loved wearing this outfit, and though it was great value for money, especially considering how many other outfits and replicas there are out there which are not as great and cost a lot more. I'll be keeping an eye out for more affordable outfits and will post my finds, hopefully I'll have a pretty wardrobe to post about this summer!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The HSY Orange & Purple Lawn Outfit

Now that the weather has been quite warm the last few weeks, it's been a perfect opportunity to make the most of it and pull out my summer outfits and lawn pieces which have been hiding in my wardrobe. I have a good mix of short kurtas, slightly older designer lawn outfits and pretty kimonos, so am looking forward to getting use out of them!

This is something I wore not too long ago, which is actually a pretty old outfit from Pakistani designer label HSY. I bought this outfit from an online Facebook group which unfortunately no longer operates, but which I manage to get for a good deal, and have gotten good wear out of!

This is the outfit below, it's pretty colourful in orange and purple and not the usual colour combination I would go for, I quite like it in this and it's pretty easy to wear.

I don't tend to wear a lot of jewellery when it's hot, so decided to keep this look simple with these colourful threaded bangles that my mother-in-law bought my from Pakistan a while back, and some easy, comfortable sandal flats - perfect for summer!

This is the outfit on me, as you can see it's a slightly older style in that the outfit is longer in hem-length, but I like how girly this looks and how comfortable. My only pet peeve with lawn is that it wrinkles very easily - as you can see from some of the rumples below! I did love the beautiful embroidered dupatta with this though, which made a lovely statement piece.

Outfit - HSY via Facebook

Sandals - Steve Madden

Bangles - Pakistan 

I haven't updated my summer wardrobe in a while, but I have managed to get a few pieces in the last few weeks while looking for Eid outfits! I try to keep an eye out for simple, printed pieces which last well and look good on, which is probably why I've kept this HSY outfit for as many years as I have! Plus I like the fact that this piece still looks by today's trends, and it's nice and colourful for summer : )

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Mint, Pearls & Gota Dress

Now that spring is here in full force, and it's slowly getting warmer, my wardrobe is rejoicing - I'm finally getting to pull out some of my prettier, lighter outfits. I recently got the chance to wear this outfit below, a mint-coloured dress with gota work (gold pieces of cloth sew onto the fabric_, pearls and metal work all over - sounds like a heavy outfit but it wasn't!

I bought this outfit a few years ago before I was married from Pakistan via a Facebook group (which is no longer active, sorry guys!) for a very reasonably price, and then forgot I had it. I managed to find it again last year after some wardrobe-clearing, and put it aside for the warmer weather.

This is the outfit below, I love this shade of mint and feel like I don't get to wear it enough - it's perfect for spring season and feels pretty girly on. I also like the fact that this outfit is nice and floaty, which felt great on! I really like the gota-work on the outfit, which gives the outfit a shimmery-look, without making it feel heavy. It's a really traditional, old-school style of work but I think it's also pretty classic, and it works well with the pearls on this outfit.

This is what I wore with the outfit, I slightly over-loaded it a little with the gold, but I do like the end effect. I wore my wedding necklace for a more blingy look, and a plain gold clutch and sparkly heels - can't go wrong gold accessories!

This is me wearing the outfit, which felt very girly and floaty on - I really like the colour, although it took me while to find a matching scarf! I also like the length of this outfit on me - even though it is a longer shape, it worked with the cut of the outfit.

Outfit - Facebook group

Necklace - Pakistan via KaprayShapray designer

Clutch bag - DKNY

Shoes - Call It Spring

Hijab - Queens Market

I'm looking forward to wearing some of my older pieces for summer again, especially as some of them have a pretty classic look to them so don't go out of style. I loved wearing this outfit because of how ideal it was for the warm weather, and it feels like I don't have enough outfits in this colour. I'm sure I'll get a chance to wear this again soon - maybe with bright red lips this time?

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: Peach & Orchid Purple Spring Vibes

One of my favourite things about spring and it getting warmer (in terms of fashion, that is!) is all the pretty florals, pastels and spring colours that come out of the wardrobe (and all over my instagram feed!) As much as I love cosying up to my blankets and having a good book to read when it's freezing outside, I am glad that it's starting to brighten up and slowly get warm again. The last few weeks (apart from the horrible rain) has been a lovely excuse to dress more girly and pull out some colourful outfits (and also brighten up my blogs a little!)

Hubby and I were invited to a family dinner about a week ago, which gave  me the perfect opportunity to rifle through my wardrobe for something a little different. I came up with this outfit that was given to me by one of my sisters, and stitched from loose fabric. The colour isn't something I'd normally go for - I usually love my rich dark colours, or my pastels, so the peach and purple is a little different for me. The outfit was stitched to a short-kameez style, and came with churidar pants (which I'm not a huge fan of, but it looked really cute with this outfit. I even tried peach wide pants with this outfit to see if that looked better, but it didn't!)

This is the outfit below, and how what I wore with it. I picked out silver embroidery with the bangles and shoes, and also finished off with a lilac hijab. You can see it's a little matchy-matchy with the colours, but I like it!

This is the outfit itself - the fabric itself wasn't too expensive and I've seen a variety of this design in lots of local shops (I'm pretty sure my mum has something like this too!). The thing I liked about this the most was how girly and comfortable it was - chiffon isn't usually the best of fabrics for outfits like this but this was quite sturdy.

And here's me wearing it (you can't tell in the first picture but I had a really awkward look on my face from a passerby walking past and clearly wondering what was happening!)

Outfit - Unstitched fabric made by a tailor

Bangles - Bees Jewellery

Shoes - River Island

Hijab - Aatiya London

I loved wearing this outfit because the colours were a little different to my usual tastes, and it also felt very fresh and girly on. As much as I love following fashion trends and do try to update my wardrobe when I can, every now and then I want a random change from my usual tastes and go for something different. It was also nice to have something inexpensive which had a pretty classic feel to it - I can imagine wearing this in the 90s, as well as in a few years time!

The only headache with tailoring unstitched clothes is that although sometimes it is cheaper (but not always!), getting a decent tailor is pretty hard work! My sisters and I grew up with my mum sewing our clothes for us, so we have a pretty high standard when it comes to outfits, and it can be difficult to find a tailor who can do what we want without charging us extortionate prices!

I'm hoping to have a few more outfits like this for summer (although I'll also be keeping an eye out for the next trends too!). What do you think of this - do you like the colour?

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Seasons Floral Maxi Dress

This is a while back, but remember these floral dresses? I finally managed to get hold of the floral print dress I wanted from Seasons ADW, a gorgeous cream dress with floral print all over and pink accents, and of course took the chance to wear this for an outdoor wedding hubster and I went to a while ago (this was acually in the summer when the weather was warmer, I've been lazy about posting this!)

The thing I loved about this dress was the amazing quality - it really reminded me of Ted Baker's floral dresses and shoes, which seems to be their trademark these last few years (especially with the little girl clothes!) and I loved how thick the material of this dress was - not flimsy at all.

This is the outfit and what I wore it with - I didn't want an overly blingy or heavily-accessorised look and loved the pop of pink, so opted for pink shoes and pink lips - and not much more. I didn't even need bangles (and I do love wearing my bangles) because the sleeves had velvet cuffs which I loved.

And of course, I couldn't resist taking a swirly pic in this dress! You can see how flowy the skirt of this is, and how nicely it hangs, which was really flattering the figure (not sure why some of these images look grainy, apologies!)

I really enjoyed wearing this (I'm sure you can tell!) and found it pretty comfortable - it's pretty hijab-friendly and I think it would be wearable without or without the pink dupatta. I can also see this being worn to a Western event or an English wedding too and fitting in nicely with a summery theme.

And of course a sneak at my shoes - I love picking out bright colours in outfits and these pink shoes worked perfectly for me!

I've been lusting after this outfit for a while so I was glad to finally be able to wear this. The dress itself is fairly reasonable in price, and was made to measure by the store, hence the lovely fit. If I wasn't already married I'd love to wear something like this to a bridal shower or a registry - can you imagine the wedding theme for this dress!

It's gotten a little chilly these days so I think I've put this outfit away for now, and will be bringing out the velvets and dark red pieces, but I'm sure I'll get to wear this again soon!

Our Eid-ul-Adha...!

Our Eid was a lovely one spent with family, although it did feel like we didn't get to spend time celebrating it long enough as most people had to go to work the next day!

For hubster and I, it was a double celebration - Eid was on the same day as our wedding anniversary. So naturally it was great to spend time with the family to celebrate (and demanding a cake from everyone who walked through the door!)

The night before, the locate roads were busy with people applying henna, buying last minute outfits and random sales on makeup and jewellery. It was a fairly quiet affair for us this time as my sisters and mum were busy (one is getting her house refurbished, the others were busy with Eid preps and getting the houses ready!) so I quickly went to get  my own mehndi done and went home before the roads got too busy.

I don't always have time to put mehndi on, and my husband insisted I wear it this year for our anniversary so I got it done on both hands this time - you can see below the results.

On Eid day we all went to our mums - it's become our central headquarters for the whole family, where everyone comes to meet, eat and enjoy ourselves, especially as most of us live in different places now. It's always lovely to get ready and make our way over in the morning (not to mention sending selfies of ourselves before we get there!) and it was lovely to celebrate Eid and our wedding anniversary too.

This is the outfit I wore, by a Pakistani label Cross Stitch, whose brand I've followed for the last year or two and have loved. I've only recently been able to see shops selling this brand in the country and took the chance to buy a printed, colourful summery kurta from a local store, which I paired with silk straight pants and sparkly heels.

The weather was pretty warm on Eid, so my uncle took the chance to do a barbeque for us in the back garden - I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the grilled chicken and kebabs but here's something we did enjoy - grilled corn!

We also had the usual Eid food affair as well, but instead of my mum making everything, the women all brought a dish to make it easier for my mum and also bring a range of dishes. There was plenty of food (below is just half of it!) which we all enjoyed thoroughly.

We also had an abundance of desserts - we had three cakes from guests (forgot to take pictures of them again!) but my favourite was the chocolately Eid cake made by my sister below. My husband's favourite dessert was the kheer, which I've also posted below!

My sisters, as usual rocked their outfits. I haven't got picture sof them all, but here are a few - my sister in law got a Cross Stitch outfit from the same shop as me, and my sister got a custome made suit. My niece also had a lovely dress with a matching skirt in black, which she looked very elegant in.

As usualy, the babies took the show - they all managed to wear matching blue dresses, and spent most of their time playing in the garden with their new Moshi Monsters toys and some very cool emoji balloons which were a gift from my sister!

Instead of the usual presents this year, my eldest sister had the very cool idea of an Eid 'Lucky Dip', where she walked around with a bag of presents and you just had to pick one. Most of us got some pretty, delicate jewellery which was a nice treat for the girls. My aunt also gave us lovely gifts, I got a pretty beaded scarf from her and my sister got these lovely pom-pom bangles below which were fab.

All in all, we had a lovely Eid which was filled with family, and a lot of guests. My parents have seen how our family is getting bigger now and have extended their living room and kitchen, and this was the first time we all had Eid in the new space and all managed to fit in! My husband and I spent a lovely day with family as well, and enjoyed our wedding anniversary with good food and good company (although we did also go out for dinner the following weekend as well!)

I hope you all had a lovely Eid, Eid Mubarak everyone!