Pantone Colour of 2018: Ultra-Violet Purple

So this year's colour of the year, as declared by Pantone is Ultra-Violet - rich, bright purple (which reminds me of a Paco Rabanne perfume with the same name, I must admit!)

The colour is an unusually bright one given the last few years - but has been described by Pantone as important - "Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own. "

So that's a pretty deep, rich meaning behind that one, right?

I must admit, when I heard about this colour, I was undecided. I've always loved certain shades of purple - deep, rich aubergines, soft lilacs or mauvey shades. I'm not as keen on Cadbury purples like this one. I think I've also been put off by wearing purple too many times in the past, and am just more selective about this colour, not to mention the fact that it feels a little dated to me now compared to the softer shades I've seen a lot recently (not to mention having a purple coat in university which made my friends call me Barney!)

But I may be proved wrong yet - I'm waiting to see this hit the catwalks and shops and I'm sure I'll like a lot of what I see - here's just a few of what I've seen online that I'm liking:

When I think of the colours of the years, I always think of how this can be incorporated into Asian fashion and wedding themes. I must say that having seen a lot of purples before, I'm sure Ultra Violet will work fine with Asian bridals and formals. I also do think that this shade is flattering on brown tones, so it's definitely a good colour to work with. Here's a few ideas I saw online, I actually really like how creative some of the ideas are out there:

It will be interesting to check in on the fashion pages every now and then and see if this colour has taken anyone's fancy. Having said that though, last year's colour, greenery, didn't make as much of an appearance as I thought so it seems that it's really up to the designers and consumer's tastes as to what will make the trends!

What do you think of this year's colour of the year?

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?

Pantone Colour of 2017: Greenery

Pantone has announced the 2017 colour of the year - greenery, It's a lovely, spring colour which I'm quite liking, although I'm still thinking about whether it's something I can incorpotate in my wardrobe. At the moment my colours range from whites, nudes and pastel pinks or deep blues, red and greys, with a touch of random bright colours!

There's also a range of 'fashionable' shades in the colour report here (and see some examples on the catwalk here) which I think will be interesting!

I've had a quick look for this colour on the catwalk, and it's surprising how many colour shades it goes with - I love the combinations I found below.

I also like that these can be mixed with bright colours like yellow and blue for a vivid look, or softer shades like blush pink, greys and white.

I'm wondering how this colour could translated into Asian fashion (is it possible that this will catch on in Asian bridals and formal wear? It will be interesting to see!). I had a quick search for something along the lines for this colour to see how it could be used, and thought it looked lovely on a lot of bridals, and even mehndi decor. I couldn't get that close to the 'greenery' shade but I found some greens which were close enough to spring green - here are just a few I found:

I'll be looking forward to seeing the colours develop in the high street and on the catwalk through the year, and also whether it filters into Asian fashion too - greenery Eid outfits, anyone?

Holidays and All That Jazz - Beautiful Bergen, Norway

I know, I've been quiet for a little while, but I had a good reason! The hubster and I decided to take a short but much-needed break a few days ago to Norway, where we enjoyed plenty of fresh air, greenery, picturesque houses and plenty of boat trips!

You can see more pictures if you head on over to my other blog here, but in the mean time, here's a shot of me in front of the harbour in my floral maxi dress which I managed to get tailored!

Curly Fries xx