Bring on the bling
The united colours of India glitter this festive season with
rich embroidery, silver and gold zari weaves“It’s a truth you can’t refute. Nothing
suits me like a suit.”
There was something amiss the last couple of festive seasons.
No prizes for guessing: It was the bling factor. For some reason, known only to the fashion czars of India, the festive wear was a very thanda affair - no bling, no riots of colours. Yes, we have had lots of beautiful clothes during this period, but without reflecting the heart and soul of India.
Indian festivals and weddings mean colours, heavy embroidery, silver and gold gota work, beautifully woven fabric and of course myriad colours. In fact, all the colours of rainbow can be found in festival wear.
The just concluded Lakme Fashion Week-festive/winter 2011, had a lot of these elements and much more. Designers, namely J J Valaya, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra, Anita Dongre, Archana Kochchar, Vaishali Shadangule, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Manish Malhotra, Jai Parvesh and several others went all out to usher the festive season on the ramp.
The dresses were Indian – salwar kameez, patiala salwar, kurtas, lehenga and saris for women and well embroidered jackets, kurtas, sherwanis and achkans for the men. The fabric oscillated between silks, brocades, tulles, chiffons, and velvets. Forgotten for many years, velvet staged a resounding comeback. Many designers, including Sabyasachi, Preeti
Kapoor, Valaya and others, liberally used
velvet.
A loose velvet short kurta with a typical Kashmiri heavy embroidery on the neck and the cuffs worn over a different coloured salwar will make heads turn. Velvet itself is so rich that simple silk threat embroidery can make it stunning. There is absolutely no need to go for bling on this. Though there aren’t many takers for velvet, one look at what Sabya had to offer at the LFW, and you couldn’t take your eyes off.
In case you are really averse to satin, there are beautiful clothes by Vaishali, who has used Paithani pieces with Chanderi fabric quite imaginatively. The clothes give a very festive and colourful look.
Vaishali has got weavers from Paithan to weave the pallav and border pieces especially for the festive collection. The bright orange, red, yellow, blue and green colours woven in the motifs of birds and flowers with a dash of golden zari when matched with the sober fabric of Chanderi gives the attire both a traditional and contemporary look. In short, it’s a fusion of East and West and still looks staunchly Indian.
| FOR WOMEN |
FOR MEN |
• Twinkle, shine, look bridal (even if you’re 50 plus and deliciously fat. Go for lehengas, patiala pajamas or saris. Opt for heavy embroidery – zari, silk colourful threadwork, Gara, Kashmiri, Kutchi, thick Kantha, Kasida and even tapestry embroidery
• Golden yellow, maroon, red, orange, fuchsia, blue, green or even mélange are the colours for you
• Opt for complimentary soft jewellery pieces
• Wear flowers in your hair. Mogra gajras look great |
• Silk thread embroidery on contrasting coloured fabric is chic. Jackets, bandgalas, sherwanis or even well-cut, long hemmed tussar-Dhaka silk kurta on narrow bottomed trousers, Jodhpuras or churidars
• Colourful turbans
• Pearl necklaces complete the royal look |
Valaya always makes clothes fit for royalty. If you are getting married this season, then you should be wearing a Valaya, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra, or Jai-Parvesh! Of course keep in mind your dad’s budget. There is so much of embroidery in Rohit and Valaya’s work that makes the need for jewellery superfluous.
The handcrafted lehengas worn with ankle-length jackets, or sheer chiffon or tulle lahengas worn over heavy embroidered inner 16-kalidar lehenga would make a bride look ethereally coy and petite and at the same time rich and royal. That was another aspect of this season’s trend.
Sheer has made a comeback too. Flowing sheer on net or tulle falling in frills from a heavily embroidered bustier and covering well fitted bright coloured silk, satin or brocade pants will make a nice peek-a-boo attire without making it appear cheap. The embroidery or the bling on the bustier will add that much needed festive touch.
Another highlight of this festive season’s LFW collection was pants - flared, narrow, tube or ordinary - were given a lovely Indian touch with the use of rich Indian fabrics plus embroidered tops.
And then of course there are the foreverpopular saris – in brocade, printed chiffon with delicate zari embroidery on flowery prints, plain silk saris with beautiful border and pallav, or the Benarasi brocade. You can’t go wrong with these. They will suit festivals and weddings too. Gaining a lot of popularity are the gara embroidery saris, once solely worn by Parsi women.
So, this time around show off your clothes with whatever amount of bling you want to flaunt without feeling guilty.
