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Sunday Afternoon Pretty: Mad Style

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Neha Dhupia at the Times of India Film Awards in Sayasachi Mukherjee Couture

Love-ly Locks: Combed Out Curls from Bottega Veneta

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Michelle Morosi for gorunway.com via Style
Wasn't sure about this one, and whether it was worth sharing here on the blog, because I know that although I may like something, it is not for everyone, and certainly not for an Indian/Pakistani bride on her wedding day.  But then I know there are girls looking for something new.  There are girls, like me, who didn't try something new, and wish they had found the inspiration they were looking for. And hey, I like it, and I would wear it, probably will wear it at some point this summer, when I want to look like I made an effort, so why not? 
 
So, lovelies, today I'm sharing a hairstyle I'm so inspired by, that I think is perfect for those of you who are looking for a romantic and structured look that maintains the integrity of your naturally curly hair.

Bottega Veneta presented this hairstyle in their latest collection for Paris Autumn/Winter 2013 Fashion Week.  The style is great because it is easy to achieve at home, requires minimal product and flatters the cheekbones, gives the eyes a dramatic arch and settles softly around the shoulders.


The Zen Bride: The Confession

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Fashion Photography by Tarun Khiwal via Nerdball
Personality, a clear sense of direction, and style.  These are integral to being a fashion blogger, and while I started out knowing what I wanted out of my blog, I can't say the same for my personal style.  I love clothes, and I love fashion, but a combination of poor body image, depression, budgeting issues, and an inability to to dress for  my personal values left me feeling like there was a gap between the woman I wanted to look like and the woman I actually resembled.

As I entered my late twenties, I thought I was over all that.

But then, this past year, I made a mistake.  With several weddings to attend, I went out and bought myself a few outfits for the season.  And I regretted them completely.  I spent more than I wanted to, on clothes that were beautiful, but so not my style!

As someone who spends countless hours reviewing new collections, sussing out the ones that I like for my site, and reflect this blog's point of view.  I am accustomed to knowing what I like, and picking what is tasteful, budget-conscious, and likely to last more than one season.  I ignored all my better judgement because my competitive, petty side got the better of me.  To reward my overindulgence, I have a tulle and polyester confection sitting in my closet.  The likelihood of me wearing it again are slim to none. It is beautiful, but it is just not ME.

I am less embarassed by the dress and more embarassed by my reasons for choosing it.  I ignored my gut, which told me I don't like the princessy look, because everyone around me was trying to out-do everyone else with the shiniest, newest, brightest dress. I know lots of other girls who did the same thing. A lot of them lost weight to fit in their dresses; and promptly put the weight back on after the weddings. 

My point is: anyone can choose clothes to compete with others, to please others, to look like everyone else.  But it's not going to last, on you, in the pictures, in your memories, in your closet.  Your wedding day is the last day to compete with the entire universe and their cousin.  Be selfish, make it about you.

Tricks of the Trade: Sonam Kapoor at L'Oreal Paris Cannes Film Festival 2013

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Here's Sonam's look at the Cannes Film Festival.  Love the nose ring, or hate it, the makeup is seriously stellar for a bride.  I think Ms. Kapoor may have set the style bar again, for this season's brides.  For a breakdown of the products used, click here.  Something gives me a feeling that L'Oreal's eyeshadow compact in Golden Black will be flying off the shelves.

The Inspired Bride: Sonam Kapoor for Filmfare Magazine June 2013

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Other than that annoying blurry leaf in her face, (What is that mister photog??? Why
didn't you photoshop that out?) koving this shot.  Sonam Kapoor for FilmFare 2013.

It's kind of a common trope of wedding and fashion blogging that every trend must be referenced to a particular icon or epoch.  I think it's meant to make the task of writing easier, or maybe it's just that we are in a time where we are moving so quickly forward, it's comforting to look for some grounding in the past when we speak of fast-changing trends.

But I am starting to find it hard.  The truth is, that often designers and stylists draw from too many places at once for me to condense into a few lines of copy, and at other times I just can't put my finger on where I've seen a particular lipstick shade or hairstyle before. 

I see lots of references here, in this latest feature of Sonam Kapoor for filmfare magazine, but I think it's fair to say there are several overarching trends in terms of makeup, styling, and fashion. Dark, wine red lips are everywhere, as are thickly drawn eyebrows.  I've seen them in several places now, and I'll be featuring those lookbooks in the weeks to come.  Another trend is yellow gold, on black.  Big, big, big. Again, I'll be blogging other signs of this trend in the weeks to come.

The Inspired Bride: Freida Pinto for Grazia Magazine April 2013

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Freida Pinto for Grazia Magazine, via Bollyupdates

As I was saying last week, strong, thickly drawn eyebrows are making a comeback.  Here's another rendition of the look on Freida Pinto.

Love-ly Locks: Honor at NYFW 2013

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Flowers are, in my humble opinion, are a quintissential part of the mehndi night.  Of course, now they are used part of all days in terms of decor, but I'm referring specifically to bridal look, in her clothes, her hair, and in place of earrings and at wrists and ankles to adorn her.  They are guileless, sweet and ever so filled with hope and freshness, which is of course, the eternal myth of the Indian bride before her wedding.

via Hair Romance Blog

I love our traditions, but am always on the hunt for the latest way to make the look work for a modern bride, who remembers where she came from, but is more certain of where she wants to go. So, I love these cute little flowers in the hair of the models at the Honor fashion show at NYFW 2013.  The whole collection was fresh and light and infused with greenery and florals, so it made sense to complement the look with a scattering of tiny flowers through a deconstructed ponytail.


Style Crush: Aishwarya Rai Bachan in Jade Couture by Monica and Karishma

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Aishwarya is a class act.  Though I love the style of many Bollywood starlets, I feel that with the interwebs following them around they themselves documenting every outfit for the internets, a lot of what we see is more based on what a stylist has created or what is the current bloggable (not a word, until now) trend. Not so with our beloved first lady of Indian cinema, Aishwarya, she is elegant, timeless and makes her look work no matter what everyone else decides to show up in.  Case in point, this number by JADE Couture. If other stars wear something because it is the it design, Aishwarya makes it the it design by wearing it.







The Inspired Bride: Alia Bhatt for Hello! India

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via Hello! India

Long lashes, red lips and sculpted curls to perfectly complement a black and white shimmery dress.  Effortless glamour.

Sunday Afternoon Pretty: Filmi

The Bride's Lookbook: Ileana D'Cruz for Verve Magazine

Tricks of the Trade: MAC Cosmetics at Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014

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BluMarine
D-Squared
I know you'll think I'm crazy, but seriously, I once met a bride who
wore MAC Morange on her wedding day and she looked good!

Moschino
Again, the Burgundy lips I've been talking about.  The site says the artist used
MAC Pro Burgundy and Red Lipmixx inside of lips lined with Redd lip pencil

Classic.  dewy skin, bare lips and smouldery eyeliner.  For a more formal look, I wouldn't
smudge it so much, but it's hard to resist a pair of kohl-lined eyes (think Rani Mukherjee)

The Zen Bride: Ten Years On

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To M; for a decade more.

The thing about marriage is, you think you know.  You think, I know I love this person, and I want to spend my life with them. And then life happens. And you find out.  You discover the many mistakes you can make, and the many ways to hurt someone, no matter how much you know you love them.  And you find out.  You discover the many ways in which love will redefine itself, and assert itself in the nooks and crannies of each day. And you find out.  You discover that more than what you can learn about your partner, is the depth of what marriage will teach you about yourself. And you find out.  In marriage, there is no limit to the vulnerability you will feel.  And you find out.  And you can honestly say, our marriage is my foundation and my bedrock, because I have beared my soul to you, you've seen me at my best and my worst, and we are both still here, body and soul, even though we could be anywhere else.  And you think you know. But there is more to come. And there is joy in that.

Designer Bride: Rabani & Rakha at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week 2014

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Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week is an avante garde show, largely focused on the non-traditional, casual wear market, so there is little to review by way of bridal fashion.  It is nice however, to find at least one show, and let's face it, we Indians love nothing like a pretty bride.  Enter Rabani and Rakha, whose formal wear show was not only a delight for me as a bridalwear blogger, but from a general fashion perspective, it was arguably one of the best shows of the week.

Fusion has a tendency to go awry in the wrong hands, with just a tad too much of everything by the time the designers put the show down a runway.  In the hands of Rabani and Rakha, the right elements are treated with a deft hand, creating gowns that could walk down any runway, into any reception, anywhere in the world.  It's not just the colours, which are muted, since designers like Vera Wang and Elie Saab are opting to go the colour route in their own collections, but also the treatment of the embroidery, which is increasingly concentrated closer to the neck and hemline, and the lace, a la Victorian style, as well as the fabrics, with diaphanous tulles and buttery silks.  











Designer Bride: Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla Present "The Golden Peacock"

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The Designs of Abu Jani & Sandeep are, in a word, ornate.  There are many designers who presume to regality in their collections and but with these two, it is built into their aesthetic, so much so that their designs seem to be literally encrusted in their embroidery work. This latest show, entitled "The Golden Peacock" takes what I considered a tired motif in Indian fashion and decor and rejuvenates it.  There are some clear gems in this collection, including a royal blue anarkali gown with a beautiful peacock fan border.  The colour is striking and the embroidery is dramatic, and it still avoids manages to remain tasteful and not be overpowering. Even the pieces that are completely embroidered, from head to toe, are really beautiful because they maintain symmetry and designs are not too busy.

Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla presented the collection in support of the SahaChari Foundation. Literally meaning "women walking together," the foundation is devoted to the betterment of women's lives in all spheres from economic to social.  The pair is quoted as saying, “We have a deep commitment to 'giving back'. We have been blessed with so much and feel it is not merely our duty, but also a privilege to share ourselves, our creativity and our resources with those less fortunate."



I am not crazy about the colour of this suit or the super tight ankles.

Definitely my favourite outfit from the whole night

the white on white embroidery of this lehenga choli is known as
Chikankari and is very folksy in origin, but the gold work elevates it. 

I think any girl could add a sari of this style to their wardrobe, don't you? 

Head to toe embroidery and not an inch of overdoneness in sight. Each bit looks perfect.


Great layering on this piece, the skirt could easily be switched out for
trousers for a less formal look, there are so many ways to wear this one!

Tricks of the Trade: Mac Cosmetics at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week 2014

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Charu Parasar

Fiama di Wills
Gaurav Jai Gupta

Kanalika Sahuja
Rehane

Rehane
Rohit Bandhi and Rahul Khanna
Virtues by Ashish

Sunday Afternoon Pretty: Elegant Elixir

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Nafisa Ali for Hi Blitz Magazine

This Dress, That Detail: Blushing Pink and Floating Petals

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via

This Dress, That Detail: Madhuri, framed against a grey background, in a set of perfectly white diamonds, blushing pink and the lovely floating carnations, on a grey lake, that really, make even the cloudiest day lovely.

The Bride's Lookbook: An Old World Romance from Sabyasachi

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Ever the master of evoking mood and creating a narrative through his life's work, Sabyasachi's latest print campaign continues to build the lore of the brand.  These portraits look like sepia-toned images dropped out of some long lost, leather-bound album.  Sabyasachi has a way of remixing the old traditions so that you want to be there like you are homesick for them.  Full of formality, nobility and grace, these images leaving one longing for their own heirloom tradition, a beautifully woven, handloomed, lovingly embroidered homage to crafstmanship and love.




Designer Bride: Elan Presents the Sulanate Collection at PFDC Fashion Week 2013

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The Victorian traditions that are so prominent on the Indian Bridal scene are starting to seep into the fabric of Pakistani fashion as more designers present collections with a distinctly European influence. Ombre grey fabrics and cold grey blues warmed by touches of pearl beading and crochet lace abound in this latest collection from Elan.





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