Eid Mubarak!....2018/1439

Wishing you all a wonderful Eid, and hoped you had a lovely Eid celebration!

Hope you enjoyed the long weekend with lots of food, beautiful outfits, laughter with friends and family and lots of blessed memories.

I'll be posting about my weekend soon, so watch this space!

Love,
Curly Fries xx

A Food Review...Sweet, Mile End

I don't often post food reviews, but every now and then I find a new place in London which I love to share. I won't review it here, so hop on over to my other blog and read my review here - but here's a quick sneak of the food - doesn't that freak-shake look crazy?

Eid Mubarak & Hajj Mubarak 2016...!

I've had a lovely, long busy weekend and have enjoyed Eid thoroughly - so of course I'll be posting plenty of pictures!

Here's a sneak peek of what I wore, hope you enjoyed your Eid and here's hoping those who were lucky enough to make the Hajj pilmgrimage will have their prayers and Hajj accepted.

Love,
Curly Fries xx

CURLY FRIES SHOPPING THERAPY: Limelight Gold Kameez

A friend of mine recently went to Pakistan and was kind enough to get me an outfit from Limelight Pakistan, which was a beautifully embroidered gown with a silk inner slip. Here's a sneak peek of the outfit, isn't it gorgeous? I can't wait to style this outfit, I'm already thinking of gold and black combinations (with pops of red, maybe?)

The best thing was, the weekend I got this outfit, I went shopping in a local store which stocks designer outfits, which also had a very similar outfit to this one - but at twice the price! Always love getting a good bargain!

Outfit post coming soon...!

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Bajirao Mastani's Dazzling Mughal Dresses

Next week sees the awaited release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's latest luxury epic, 'Bajirao Mastani', featuring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra, which I'm looking forward to after his last feature, Ram-Leela (with the same trio!)

As always with SLB films, the outfits, jewellery, sets and dances look as amazing as expected, and there's plenty of anticipation for the two main actresses and how they'll play the two Queens in the movie. Set in the 1700s in the Maratha empire, the costumes, which designed by Indian designer Anju Modi, look amazing, and you can really see the designer's creativity.

While I'm not sure what to expect for the storyline of the film itself, I LOVE the costumes and style - there's a range of styles from lenghas, pishwas and nine-yard saris, complete with the luxurious jewellery and details.

One of the first outfits I've seen if from Deepika's song Deewani Mastani, where she is trying to impress the king with his first wife in audience - I loved the take on this outfit which looks elegant yet feminine - especially the turban cap she's wearing which is draped with jewellery.

(This song is apparently the director's tribute to classic movie Mughal-e-Azam's timeless song 'Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya', particularly in the way he emulated the mirrored tiles in the ceiling to show the dancing and swirling of the heroine!)

I love the jewellery she's wearing as well, it could be seen as some as too much jewellery but I think it works - it's balanced out with very simple makeup and hair and a a flowy outfit which balances it out, and it also adds a lot of elegance to the look.

The outfit itself is a 'pishwas' style outfit - a long flowy jacket and dress which is less like an anarkali and more fitted yet flowy - complete with sharara bottoms (two-legged flowy pants) which flow nicely with her dance. I think the colours were lovely too, although it does blend a little too much with the background details rather than standing out.

The other main song I've seen is the duet dance Pinga between the two actresses, which has been compared to Devdas' famous 'Dola re Dola', both which have iconic dance moves between the two actresses in the films. In this song, the women are wearing a traditionally-draped Marathan nine-yard sari, complete with jewellery and flowers in their hair, which looks very well done.

I have to admit though, I was a little less impressed with these outfits - while the style is lovely and suits them, they don't stand out that much and the colours are too similar to each other, there's no iconic styles to them which differentiate them or make them stand out.

I also though that the updo suited Priyanka's face than it suited Deepika, but again the jewellery works well with it and I love the contrast of green bangles added in.

I wasn't able to find many more pictures of the outfits in this film apart from the official images, but I'm sure we'll be able to expect a lot of beautiful pieces once the film is released - below are some of the ones I did manage to find!

I really liked this outfit which I also saw in the trailer worn by Deepika - there's something very regal about it, which also reminds me of the old-style, 'Begum' outfits of the past, which Deepika pulls of well. The outfit is mainly draped shawls and scarves but it looks great and not fussy at all.

Another few outfits I found worn by Deepika are below - again these are soft colours paired with luxurious jewellery and some seriously beautiful embroidery on the outfits - it's all about the detail here and you can see how carefully each look has been put together. I really like how Deepika's face is kept natural - no garish bright lipsticks or colours, just natural glow complimented with gold and pearl jewellery.

Similarly, Priyanka's character is just as ornate, but perhaps a little more sober and mature - she is meant to be the first Queen after all so her outfits are a little less ornate and playful than Deepika's, but the detail is still all there. With her outfits you can see the rich fabrics, the less heavy jewellery which balances her look and makes her look more Queen than bride (in Deepika's case).

I'm liking what I'm seeing so far from this movie, and I'm sure I'll find more - I'll reserve my comments about the actual film until I've seen it, but I'm sure that Bhansali's done an amazing job as always. My favourite outfit so far have been the one from Deepika's song Deewani Mastani purely because it's a funky take on a traditional outfits, but I do love a lot of the saris I've seen as well.

Are you looking forward to this film? Which outfits to you like?

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

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!

I'm back...Mrs Curly Fries!

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Wuthering Heights

The events are all over, the stress is all done, I've moved into my new house and I'm also very married - and ready to blog it all!

I had a very fun wedding, surrounded by friends, family and plenty of good company (and food!), and it really was a brilliant experience, although it feels like it all passed in a blur. There were plenty of events in the lead up to the wedding day - dholki nights at home, a henna party, more than one bridal shower and best of all, a new baby arrival in the midst of it all, which was pretty amazing and also a wonderful time to spend with family.

I’m still sorting through hundreds of photographs and waiting for the professional ones from my photographers at the events, but I will be posting details, which I want to post in chronological order, so bear with me! Please do also read my other blog for more colourful details of the wedding and all the functions leading up to it as well : )

In the mean time, here's a sneak peek of some of the photographs to come (although to warn you, I have to censor some of my pictures due to privacy reasons, and also because I and a lot of my family members practise hijab).

I'll be posting more very soon, but I'm glad to be back (and settling in) - more details soon!!

-- Curly Fries xx

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!

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: The Ghulab Gang Icons

I don't often look forward to Bollywood movies, mostly because a lot of them turn out to be chick flicks and full of eye-candy, although admittedly some of them do turn out to be surprisingly good watches.

Gulaab Gang is one film I am anticipating to be a good one - with two of my favourite icons, Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla, it looks like an interesting film and it doesn't seem to be the run-of-the-mill type Bollywood film.

I'm liking the simple costume and prominence of pink saris of this film - there's certainly a strong message in this film about women and feminism (although I'm not sure how much men will like this movie!) While some may argue that these issues are overblown to make a Bollywood blockbuster (and maybe it has), it's still interesting to see a film which is trying to send a message about women in Indian today.

I also like the two posters that have been released for each movie star, although I have to say, Madhuri's one is a lot more scarier!

I love the fact that these two actresses have paired up to make an interesting film like this, and it's something that looks (although dramatic) pretty intelligent. I especially like the chemistry between Madhuri and Juhi, who genuinely seem to have a good friendship with each other (like this!) While I'll wait til I actually watch the film to say whether it's a good one or not, I will say that this is certainly one I expect will attract a lot of attention (and probably critics!) - not least because of the two actresses in it.

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Madhuri's Graceful 'Purana' Style

The glamorous Madhuri's latest flick 'Dedh Ishqiya', co-starring the lovely Huma Qureshi features some sumptious outfits, a lot of which remind me of the old-style courtesans of older era movies past, like Umrao Jaan and Pakeeza. Maybe it's the simple yet striking anarkalis, paired with pretty jewellery and an old-fashioned style to it - but it's something that Madhuri pulls off well.

With costumes designed by Payal Saluja, I'm really liking what I see - classic, simple colours for what the designer calls a "nawabi" (royal) look.

I'm looking forward to seeing more shots of the actresses in this film and their outfits, it's a nice change to see outfits inspired from another era and I like that it's beautifully and realistically done here. I think Madhuri fits the costumes well here, and still retains her unique style too - what do you think of these outfits?

  All images in this post are from Dedh Ishqiya movie and do not belong to me

Eid Mubarak...!

Happy Eid everyone! I've had to take an unexpected (and forced!) hiatus from blogging for a few days, as my computer's finally given up and fried, which means I'm laptop-less for a few days.  I should be back very soon (and I'll post wherever I can, I'm currently using my sister's laptop and *hating* it because it's not got my usual bookmarks and settings on it), and I'll be blogging plenty of new posts, pictures and weird articles again once I'm up and running!

For now, have a great Eid if you're celebrating, and hope you enjoy some good food, beautiful outfits and good company! (Don't worry, I took plenty of pictures to post from my Eid days!)