BOLLYWOOD ISTYLE: Anushka Sharma Weds Virat Kholi

I’m sure a lot of you caught photos for this one – Anushka Sharma’s super-secret wedding to Virat Kholo last month, which was planned by the couple themselves, in a small ceremony in Italy (which I did follow via hashtag #Virushka!) The couple looked like they had a fun wedding, and it seemed like a pretty happy event all around. I wanted to post the outfits the bride wore, which were a good mix of styles - although all designed by Sabyaschi!

The Engagement

This was a pretty smart affair, with Virat wearing a smart suit and Anushka in a gorgeous velvet maroon sari which she rocked with a simple updo and red flowers in her hair, and a gorgeous choker necklace. I think this would be among my favourite of the looks she had, striking, classy and elegant done well.

The Sangeet

What I liked about this most of all was how genuinely happy the couple looked here – neither of them are overly dressed up, and the henna looks exquisite. I really liked Anushka’s and Virat’s outfits – they’re wonderfully colourful, and feel fun fun – perfect  for a henna event, and you can see how relaxed the bride and groom are. And I’m sure none of us missed the déjà vu feeling though – seeing some of these photos reminded me a little of the wedding in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil! Anushka looks pretty in a print, brightly printed lengha choli and Virat looks great in a complimenting hot pink waistcoat jacket.

The Wedding

For the wedding ceremony itself, Anushka wore a pretty floral lengha by leading designer Sabyasachi (who seems to be everyone’s first choice at the moment, I’ve noticed). The outfit was a girly one – pastel pinks and white, with a very spring vibe to it. I have to confess, I didn’t love this wedding look  – it was okay but it could have been so much better. Perhaps I’m used to the more glamorous looks, but something about this looked a little ordinary – especially the hair and makeup, which looked a little flat, and felt like Anushka’s  beauty didn’t shine through. I was a little surprised by rave comments about her bridal but I guess it’s down to different tastes. Personally I think Anushka would have looked amazing if she had gone for a similar look as this one (especially the hair which I love!) – but hey, that’s just me. Having said that, I later saw photos of Anushka's hair under the dupatta which had beautiful soft pink roses, which looked really pretty!

The Delhi Wedding Reception

For the couple's first reception in Virat's home town, Anushka looked appropriately ‘wifey’ in a rich red silk Benarasi Sabyasachi saree – can’t get more regal and respectable looking than that – and with her gorgeous figure pulled it off well. She got the ornamental side of things pretty well put together as well, and I do think that she looked more glowy on this event. having said that, I still think her hair was again, a little flat, and could have been made more glamorous, but it did showcase her sari and extravagant jewellery quite well!

The Mumbai Wedding Reception

This last event was the wedding reception in Mumbai with all the stars, where Anushka wore another Sabysachi ensemble, this time a nude-beigey gold lengha-choli outfit. I think this outfit suited her the most, and was another of all of her bridal outfits that I really liked. I also think her hair looked the best on this day – it framed her face well and looked elegant with her tasteful makeup.

  

Over all I think Anushka did look pretty on her wedding events, but some looks were better than others. I can guess that like a lot of Bollywood heroines, Anushka has done a lot of bridal looks before so wasn’t looking to go overboard or too blingy on her wedding, which makes sense. I also think that the first bridal look in pink pastels and florals looked great for a destination wedding, and I can see the theme she was aiming for.

What did you think of her bridal looks? Which one did you like best?

Fashion Trends & Passions: Pashmina Shawl Statements Pieces

This is something I've been seeing a lot lately, pretty pashmina shawls being used as statement pieces. Not just any old shawls either, I've seen a whole range of embellished, embroidered and velvet ones which I love - perfect for the winter weather too!

If you haven't seen these, here are just a few examples I've seen below - I've even seen gorgeous velvet heavy shawls incorporated into wedding outfits which look amazing. I also really like the fact that some of these shawls are styled with belts for a fitted look, which look really chic - with dresses, short kameezes and even jumpsuits.

I'm really liking a lot of the trends out there at the moment which include contrasting, or making shawls pop out with bright colours against a neutral surface, which can really pull a simple outfit together.

I'm lucky enough to have quiet a few outfit which come with beautiful shawls and dupattas, which are statement pieces on their own. I always have loved the idea of a colourful dupatta with a plain kameez suit (something my sisters and I used to do a lot when we were younger! Net dupattas, anyone...?) so I love that this is back in again. I also find these quite modest - great for a draping on your shoulders or arms if you want a looser look.

I've been looking for a a reason to pull out a few of my pashminas for a while and have been playing around with a few that I already have - luckily a lot of my winter suits have beauttiful thick shawls for me to use. This is an older outfit I have from Pakistani label  Charizma, that I got the chance to make use of recently. I really like this brand because it's pretty reasonably priced, and really comfortable. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get this directly through the website (but looking at the decent prices on their website, I'm tempted to order now!) but I did order this through Brandcentral.pk who are quite reliable.

This is me wearing the outfit, I wanted to use a belt for this but thought it wouldn't go with the embroidered kameez. No heels this time, just flats and a plain hijab!

I really loved the colourful design of this outfit - I'm not sure what I like more, the outfit or the pashmina! I'm definitely going to use the shawl for a more plainer outfit though (jumpsuit, plain abayah, any ideas?) to see how it looks - I can also imagine a light simple white kameez for summer with statement shawls.

What do you think of this trend - would you wear this? There are quite a few vendors out there with these trend and it's pretty easy to put together from your own wardrobe!

OUTFIT OF THE DAY: The Vintage Velvet Blue Outfit

Lately I feel like I have needed to update my (Pakistani) wardrobe a little in the last few months, mainly because I haven't bought any outfits since last year (I know!) and since trends are changing, some of my older outfits feel a little dated.

Luckily, fashion is quite cyclical - what was in fashion a decade or two ago is bound to look good again now!

I was recently asked by a friend of the family to take pictures for their wedding, which I was delighted to do because I knew it would be a fun affair. I didn't have time to look for an outfit because it was short-notice, especially because I prefer to order my outfits online, and I didn't want to pay too much for a new one either. I decided to pull out a few out a few of my older outfits which I have kept over the years (yes, I still have a few sitting at the bottom of my wardrobe packed away!) I have a few outfits from the last 10-15 years (such as one or two from my eldest sister's wedding over 15 years ago!) which have lasted pretty well, so I knew I'd be able to find something different,

This is a velvet kameez from from Pakistan which actually was from about ten years ago, which wasn't originally bought for me but which I ended up taking with me when I got married! I love the rich blue and the beautiful gold-work (which you can tell is a little old-fashioned because of the metal work is a different quality of metal, not to mention the heart-shaped design and the diamontes!).

It actually came with salwar pants and a gold-beaded dupatta, but I opted for straight, wide pants and a velvet-trimmed dupatta from this Threads & Motif outfit which went really well with the kameez. It was a little loose on me, which you might be able to see from the width of the kameez above, so I got it taken in a tiny bit so that it would fit better.

Weirdly enough, it reminded me of this design below by The Saree Boutique which has a similar gold motif all over the velvet going on, although the cut of the dress is quite different. It's quite a coincident as the red one below looks a little more trendy, but I do like the fact that my outfit looks quite wearable by today's standards!
What do you think, does it look similar?

This is what I accessorised the outfit with, I mainly stuck to blue and gold because you just can't go wrong with gold accessories and they look great against the velvet. I also loved how regal it made the outfit look (especially my blue clutch from my wedding!)

This is me wearing the outfit to the wedding which was a couple of weeks ago, you can see it's still slightly loose on me but I liked the look and the fact that it hung pretty well on me, especially because the work was pretty heavy. I was pretty glad I took the kameez in because it would have looked too loose, but I didn't want it too fitted either so I was happy with the final look of this.
I also didn't end up wearing the jhoomar with my scarf, mainly because I didn't want it to get in the way when I took pictures!

Outfit - Pakistan

Shoes - Faith shoes

Clutch - Lovetobag

Bangles - Shop Bees

Ring/Jhoomar - Pakistan

I loved wearing this outfit because of how comfortable it was on the day, not to mention a perfect winter outfit because of how warm it felt! It's also inspired me to look through the rest of my 'vintage' and older outfits and see how I can re-wear them.

A friend of mine suggested that I could alter the outfit again by cutting it down the middle to make it into a jacket and pulling the sides in more to make it more fitted, which I could wear with plain or jawamar trousers and a inner kameez, which I loved the idea of. I'm still debating whether to do this or not, mainly because I don't want to ruin the outfit, but I'll post pictures if I do!

KAPRAY SHAPRAY: Raveena Tandon in Green Manish Malhotra

I'm leaning towards simple cuts, maxi dresses and simpler, rich designs these days, so I'm really liking this rich silk green maxi dress worn by the lovely Raveena Tandon (who was one of my favourite actresses back in the 90s!), which is designed by the popular Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra.

I love the cut of the dress on Raveena, and the fact that it's modest and very hijab-friendly, as well as the deep blue velvet border - and I've been eying it up for a potential replica. I've been looking at simple, richly-coloured maxi dresses recently for a family event (I'm also loving this one!) and have not been able to decide what to go for. I've seen a replica of the dress below which looks nice, but I'm undecided on the rich green colour - what do you think of it? Have you got any other suggestions for simple, long-sleeved maxi dresses?

Bollywood Moments...

That moment when you sneak out of your own engagement to have a sneaky ciggy. 

I have a suspicion that this is a Manish Malhotra outfit, worn by Katrina in a scene from Jab Tak Hai Jaan, as it has the signature look to it that a lot of his outfits do, not to mention the classic colour combination of blue and red.

While I like the outfit, it doesn't look very different to me, and it's doesn't really have a wow-factor to it. That said, it still is very pretty, and it can easily be copied for those wanting a similar look (and it looks more credible for a movie, rather than an overloaded bridal look!)

 Image taken from Jab Tak Hai Jaan

HIGH STREET DESIGNS: Pink & Purple Long Anarkali by RDC London

Here's another design by the popular RDC London, which I quite like because of how well the pinky-puple shade goes with the deeper, velvet in purple. While there isn't anything drastically different about this design, I think it's very pretty, and more importantly, it works - it's wearable, it's colourful and it's easy to imagine wearing for a mehndi, wedding, Eid, Diwali or anything similar.

I'm not keen on the diamante for the neckline, as I prefer the gold dabka and beading, so the diamante looks slightly out of place, but it makes the outfit more sparkly, and I've seen a lot of outfits which manage to combine silver with gold quite well.

All in all, a very pretty outfit which I would love to have hanging in my wardrobe!

COPYCAT DESIGNS & DRESSES #10: The White Manish Malhotra Maxi Dress as worn by Shilpa Shetty

I've admired this dress for a while in the past, which is a design by Manish Malhotra at the Mijwan Fashion Show back in 2011, which was worn by Shilpa Shetty on the ramp. My favourite this about this dress is the full volume of it, which isn't 'puffy' but more A-Line and flowy, which shows that it has a really good cut. I also like the intricate work on the sleeves, and the simple but striking colour combination of off-white and royal blue with gold, which can't go wrong in my opinion. I'm a big fan of maxi dresses anyway, so anything with a good flow and some decent volume to it is always going to be a good thing!

This is my version of the dress, which I got made from Sai Fashions, a boutique in Manchester, a couple of months ago. I chose to keep the colours the same because I thought that white and blue would be a different  for me to wear, and it would make a change to go for a light colour rather the usual deep colours I tend to go for.

I got the dress made as a full-skirted maxi dress, with an embroidered dupatta and plain white churidar. I also opted not to go for the see-through waist panels in the original design, and has slightly less work on the sleeves, with the cuffs edged in velvet. The bulk of the dress is made from panels (there's about ten in the front, and ten in the back) which were sewn together, and has a layer of georgette underneath to make it more fuller.

I also went for the work to be in gold and silver under the advice of the people who worked at Sai Fashion, to give it an extra sparkly look: the silver would blend in with the white fabric and the gold would look more striking, and I also added deep blue crystal stones along with the white ones. The dupatta is a lot more simpler, since it had a simple gold and silver embroidered motif, which made it very light and easier to wear, although I could also opt to go without it as well if I wanted.

This is the dress when I wore it, which I had to wear with very high heels because the dress was very long. It's not easy to see the layers of fabric under the skirt which makes it quite full, but there's a slight 'tail' at the back because of how the dress sat, which was quite flattering.It was quite an easy dress to accessorise because it didn't need much, and I think it was quite a striking outfit.

THE GOOD: The dress was quite fun to walk around in because it was so swishy, and it definitely had a glam-factor to it. The designers at Sai Fashions boutique were very helpful when I was buying the outfit, I didn't design it myself, obviously, but it was easy to see the quality of it when it was done. I really liked the deep blue crystals which added a nice touch to the dress, because it's subtle yet very pretty. The finishing of the dress was quite good, the hem at the bottom was immaculately done and the velvet use was very good quality.

THE BAD: The dress was slightly long, so it took getting used to in order to walk around in it - I've only worn it once and I had to make sure I didn't trip over it! It's also a little difficult making sure that the dressed doesn't get bunched up when sitting down, but it is easy to drape to avoid this. My main issue with this outfit was that the fabric for the sleeves was quite thin, so the dabka (metal) work stones on the sleeves and bodice kept catching on it and caused a few pulls and was slightly uncomfortable. This has been the case for a lot of outfits I have made of chiffon and silk, and in hindsight, I would use a thicker material like georgette which doesn't pull as much.

THE UGLY: Walking up stairs, I had to pick my dress up like a medieval princess each time. And coming down the stairs in huge heels was just as bad!

OVERALL: I think this is a pretty outfit, and I definitely think that the work on the sleeves and neckline was of a high quality. The dress also had enough panels to give it the volume that I like without making it too puffy, and it also draped beautifully when worn. I would perhaps try this dress as a shorter, less fuller outfit to see the difference, but I doubt it would have had as striking an effect in the same way a maxi dress does.

 The only thing about this outfit which I'm still undecided on is really the colour, while I do like white dresses and off-white, I'm not sure whether it's a flattering colour on me. I like trying out new colours and designs and I think this was quite different for me, and it was an outfit I liked. On the other hand, now that I have a white dress, I'm not sure whether I would go for another one. I tend to gravitate towards warmer and richer colours, and while I like soft colours like coral pinks and off whites, they're not always my first choice.

All in all, I was quite happy with this outfit, it wasn't cheap to make but it was fun to wear, and it's something which feels classic to me because I can imagine getting wear out of it. I also think something like this would make a pretty registry outfit for brides-to-be, perhaps just as it is or slightly heavier, and it's certainly got that 'fusion' look to it which is quite popular in London.

GLAMOROUS ACCESSORIES: Blue Velvet Damask Clutch Bag

I may have mentioned before how much I love damask. So if I see something pretty (and practical!) with damask print on it, and it's not going to bankrupt me, I'll probably snap it up. Like this beautiful, velvet clutch bag which I fell in love with as soon as I saw it (funnily enough, one of my sisters bought it for another sister, and I wanted it so got the same for myself. Yes we could have shared but she's too far away for me to go and steal her bags now.)

I love how rich and blue this purse is (I already got compliments the first time I used it) but I also love how versatile it is, it's also a piece which wouldn't look out of place at an English wedding (I can easily imagine a theme of white dresses and blue accessories!) because of how easily this can be adapted per outfit and occasion.

So all in all, I pretty much love this thing. And it didn't even cost much either - sometimes the best things really don't cost much at all!

 

Clutch bought from New Look

OUTFIT Of The Day: Red and Navy Velvet Anarkali

I went to a wedding recently and finally managed to make good use of an outfit I ordered a few months ago, but never got a chance to wear. Navy and red is a colour combination which I've been seeing a lot in recent months, and I think it is a very flattering combination, classy, easy to wear and easy to dress up.

I wore this dress which I got made by a designer from the Paklinks forums, an outfit which I was quite pleased with due to the high level of quality and the excellent stitching. I accessorised with navy heels, silver bangles and a simple silver clutch (and then glammed up with red lips!), as I think the work on the dress was quite sparkly.

Dress - Paklinks forums

Clutch bag - Oasis

Shoes - Kurt Geiger

Bangles - Shringar, Green Street

And here's me wearing the dress (excuse the awkward pose, I think my sister was on the side watching me and making fun!), which I chose to wear with a simple, plain dark blue hijab.

I think that this dress was quite a flattering shape, although in hindsight, I would have preferred a longer dress, the length that it actually was made it very easy to walk around in, and very comfortable too. As much as I LOVE wearing maxi dresses and long anarkalis, the one hassle about them is making sure that you don't trip on your own folds - and sometimes it can be a nice change to wear something which isn't as long but still looks pretty. I think that this look went quite well together, the silver work enhances the colours of the dress and didn't look too blingy, and it was certainly a very easy look to put together.

OUTFIT Of The Day: Purple & Velvet Trimmed RDC Dress

Here's something I wore to an engagement a few days ago, which was bought from RDC last Eid and has remained a very useful dress in my wardrobe! The dress code was kept pretty simple, so I ended up wearing this outfit as it was one of my plainer suits which also can be dressed up without looking too much.

I have a few outfits from RDC's store (and not just because it's very local for me!) and even though some of their pieces are pricey, I've been quite happy with their designs and the style of their work. This is a long kameez in a royal purple colour, with velvet trim and churidar trousers, which has prettily embellished work along the neckline area. I love the fact that the work stands out and isn't hidden when I wear my hijab, as this is a big no-no for me when choosing outfits.

I paired this outfit with a plain scarf, plain black heels and a black clutch, and instead of bangles, a black sparkly cuff - it came together pretty well for me!

Outfit - RDC London

Clutch Bag - New Look

Black sparkly cuff - Queen's Market!

Black heels - Barratts

Aaand this is me wearing the dress! It always seems to look like I'm wearing a long kaftan in pictures for some reason, but I like this look anyway.

This is one of my comfortable outfits, the work doesn't catch on anything, the colours are very flattering and it's something which is quite flowy, which is how I prefer my outfits. I think the price for this outfit was just a teensy bit more than I would have liked to have paid, but it's something I've worn a few times and which usually gets compliments - it also seems to be one of the more popular outfits at the RDC shop.

I think my black sparkly cuff was my favourite piece of the whole outfit, although they would have gone perfectly with these shoes (which I also don't own!). The event I went to was also an evening one, so it was nice to have something elegant and subtle to wear without feeling too blinged up or OTT. And of course, it allowed for plenty of running around!

BOLLYWOOD ISHTYLE: Karishma Kapoor's Bridal Red

There's a few outfits which I think look pretty enough and striking enough to look good at any time of the year, whether it's due to good tailoring, beautiful colours or well-put together design.

I love this long red outfit by Manav Gangwani showcased at HDIL India Couture Week in Mumbai from a few years back, which is an example of this - although it may be a bit heavy for some, it makes a beautiful alternative for a bridal dress. Karishma Kapooor looks beautiful in her iconic fitted churidar pants and long kameez, which she was often seen wearing in her films of the 90s, and it's something which would look great today (also, my sister had something extraordinarily similar to this about a decade ago!)

I'm a big fan of velvet when it's used well, and I think it looks pretty here, with the beautifully fitted ling sleeves and dramatic neckline. If only we could all pull it off like Karishma though, eh?

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