wedding

Loved the wedding outfit ideas I posted a couple of days ago? The next step is to choose gorgeous jewellery to accompany the gorgeous ensembles you’ve picked for the wedding season.

While jewellery is not as fickle as fashion, there are some jewellery themes that are popular right now and of course you need to know what they are. I’ve handpicked the most representative jewellery pieces to guide your purchases and “what to wear” choices.

Ladies, get ready to bust the bank to get your hands on these.

Diamonds

Yep, this one’s a no-brainer. Wear diamonds with absolutely anything and you’re bound to look and feel elegant, beautiful and stunning. (Bracelet from Hema S Kothari, Feather palm bracelet by Social Butterfly by Laila Singh, Regal multi-diamond necklace from Velvetcase.com)

Jadau

Okay, so another no-brainer. India’s traditional jewellery can make any woman feel like a princess. And jadau is giving serious competition to diamonds as the go-to jewellery style. (Earrings from Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers, cuff by Falguni Mehta)

Diamond + jadau

You’ve got the best of both worlds in a single jewellery piece. Your jewellery choice just became easier. (Set from Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers, set from Gehna Jewellers)

Red and green

The Indian festive favourites! Whether it comes to diamonds or jadau, jewellery with red and green precious and semi-precious stones (or other elements) will always be a handy accessory! (Bracelet by Hema S Kothari, necklace from Velvetcase.com, set from Jagat Jewels)

Versatile pieces

Flexibility is the need of the hour whether it’s your work timings or jewellery. Jewellers are now giving us options— such as detachable pieces and neutral designs (can be worn with western and ethnic outfits). So a single jewellery investment gives you a lot more returns! (Earrings from Sonal’s Bijoux, detachable jhumkis from Pink City, solitaire pendant from TBZ)

Pearl story

Pearls are another classic jewellery style, but they need a 21^stcentury makeover (Gen Y doesn’t like to wear pearl strings), so now they’re being incorporated into other jewellery styles like diamonds and jadau. (Set from Dwarkadas Chandumal Jewellers, set from Jagat Jewels, earrings from Falguni Mehta)

Colours

To copy the most over-used fashion cliché—it’s a riot of colours. When your clothes are colourful, why why not your jewellery? Besides red and green, there are sparkly purples, oranges and peaches to add some hues to your jewellery box. (Earrings from Minawala Jewellers, ring from Jagat Jewels, earrings from Sonal’s Bijoux, pendant and earrings from Farah Khan Ali for Tanishq)

In Fashion, Shopping, trends

CHIC RIGHT NOW: 16 super trendy wedding fashion looks to covet

Speaking ChicDecember 4, 2014December 1, 2014Leave a comment

It’s the wedding season, ladies! With so many options out there, I’ve handpicked my favourite pieces for this wedding season by theme- colours, styling, silhouettes etc. Take a look and let these gorgeous outfits inspire you for the sangeets, mehendis, weddings or receptions you attend this festive season!

Which theme is your fave and which outfit makes it to your must-have list?

Minimal embellishment and simple silhouette with a heavy dupatta (Shyamal & Bhumika)

Print and embellishment worn two ways: on separate garments (Monisha Jaising) and on the same (Krishna Mehta)

Kurtas with pants: 3 ways! Worn with dhoti pants (Sva), with straight-cut pants (Anita Dongre), and with loose pants (Vikram Phadnis)

And now for the colours…

Unusual colour combos: Red, beige and blue (Ritu Kumar), yellow and dark blue (Vikram Phadnis)

Reds and pinks (Anju Modi, Anita Dongre, Anushree Reddy)

Turquoise (Shehlaa Khan and Sva)

White and off-white, looks great with gold! (Ritu Kumar and Vikram Phadnis)

Black… yes, it’s now a legit festive colour! (Arpita Mehta)

Happy wedding shopping and dressing! 🙂

In 2012, Fashion, Men

Chic Guide: 5 things guys need this December

Speaking ChicDecember 18, 2012December 18, 2012Leave a comment

Winter jackets and coats

Trench coats are classics, wool jackets are reliable, and shiny finishes are hot right now!

Trench coat from Zara

Lined Reefer jacket from La Redoute (available on Rock.in)

Jacket from Celio

Party essentials

A fun evening shirt, smart blazer or coloured jeans- what are you wearing to the Christmas and New Year parties?

Shirt from Calvin Klein Jeans

Blazer from Diesel

Look from Rajat Tangri Lakme Fashion Week Winter/ Festive 2012

Sherwani/ Bandhgala

There are plenty of weddings to attend this month and the next, so an embroidered or brocade sherwani is a smart fashion investment. Gentlemen will also love the classic bandhgala in a contemporary colour.

Look from Debarun Lakme Fashion Week Winter/ Festive 2012

Look from Anita Dongre

Scarf/ muffler

Scarves and mufflers say a lot about you while keeping you warm. Are you Mr Safe Grey or Mr Experimental?

Decking stripes scarf from French Connection

Scarf from United Colors of Benetton

The right shoes

There’s lot of places to go this month and the next, and you need shoes to take you there.

Hand woven shoes from RUOSH (for weddings)

Shoes from Kenneth Cole (for parties)

In 2012, Fashion

Chic Guide: 5 things you need this December

Speaking ChicDecember 4, 2012December 3, 2012Leave a comment

Winter jackets and coats

For the cold, cold weather! Choose from leather, faux fur and wool.

French Connection (wool)

Gas (faux fur)

Blingy dress

To party the last few nights of the year away!

Vizyon

Mango

Vero Moda

Embellished lehenga

There will be plenty of weddings to attend this month- and you need to dress to impress!

Pallavi Jaikishen

Manish Malhotra

Shyamal-Bhumika

Gorgeous earrings

For party nights (diamonds), for sangeet (jadau and polkis), and for weddings (traditional).

Myra by Tara Jewellers

Neety Singh

Nizam Collection by Ganjam

High heels

Special occasions call for special shoes… who knows, your Cinderella story might come true. 😉

Metro

Steve Madden

In Fashion, trends, Wedding

Chic Poll: Most boring wedding trend

Speaking ChicMay 6, 20112 Comments

It’s the summer wedding season, and it’s time to bring out the pancake, doll up a bit, wear an outrageously weighty sari or lehenga and wear heavy jewellery.

Below: From Anupama Dayal’s Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2010 collection

The last few weddings I attended, I took mental note of fashion faux pas and what women were wearing. Not surprisingly, a handful of notable trends emerged, but those were outshone by styles that almost everyone was wearing. It was like those women were clones of each other.

So which ethnic wear/ wedding trend are you most bored of? Some trends that make my boring fashion list:

Brocade (on sari blouses, kurtas, sleeves, everything!)
Zardosi
Velvet bodice with brocade sleeves (a la Sabyasachi)
Anarkali kurtas

As one woman whispered to her friend, “Sabyasachi is the new Westside.” We couldn’t agree more!

So which wedding trend bores you the most? Answer our poll or leave a comment below!

View This Poll

In Fashion, sari, trends

Chic transformation: Story of a brocade sari

Speaking ChicMarch 28, 20113 Comments

Few months ago, I wrote about Priyanka Chopra wearing a sari-inspired Louis Vuitton outfit on the Vogue India cover. In the post, I shared my sari-transformation wishlist. I’m happy I can now say I transformed a gorgeous sari into a wearable and equally gorgeous jacket. Here’s the story of the incredible brocade transformation:

In my mom’s cupboard lay an unworn green-and-purple brocade sari. Despite being at least couple decades old, the fabrics had lost none of its sheen and lustre.

The wedding season was coming up, and the invitations were flowing in. Ergo I needed a few new outfits, and this time I wanted to wear something special yet different. That’s when the idea of transforming the old sari struck me. With Mom’s nod, I was ready to give the brocade a new avatar. Mom and I teamed up to make this happen (neither of us have any design-related education or training).

Step 1: What do we do with the brocade sari?

During a visit to designer Ritu Kumar’s store at Phoenix Mills, we saw a couple of long jackets that were absolutely lovely and were perfect to wear during a sangeet, but they were heavy on my pocket. The jacket I tried on was fab, and inspired us to make a knee-length jacket from the fabric.

Step 2: Embellishment

We wanted an elegant look, hence we decided not to add any sequins or crystals to the jacket. But we wanted to give it a contemporary touch and a sophisticated finish, so we went hunting for sari borders (and trouser fabric). The border we selected was sheer and embellished, and its colours complimented the brocade wonderfully. We chose a spun silk purple fabric for my trousers.

Step 3: Tailoring

My expert tailor sketched for me his vision of the jacket, explaining the silhouette, fit and how he would use the border. I left the rest in his expert hands. 🙂

Step 4: Ta-da!

Transformed!

Final outfit: Long brocade jacket with embellished border and contrasting straight-fit ankle-length trousers.

I wore this outfit at a sangeet I attended recently, and I felt like a true fashionista. 😉

Have you done something fun with an old sari?

In Accessories, Fashion

Wedding Fashion: Brooch it up!

Speaking ChicFebruary 16, 20112 Comments

I love accessories—especially the smaller ones like hair clips, bangles and rings. They may be small in size, but they make a big (yet subtle) impact on my final look.

Which brings me to my accessory of choice this wedding season: the brooch!

How many of us have brooches? (I didn’t, until a short while ago). How many of us have brooches and wear them often? (I’m waiting for the wedding cocktail tonight to wear mine).

How to wear a brooch (some fun ideas!):

If you are wearing a kurta-churidar-dupatta, let your dupatta hang on one side and use the brooch to keep it in place.
Run a hair pin through it and use it as a hair decoration.
Wearing a long jacket? Pin it right in the middle!
Use it to keep your sari pleats in place (to draw attention to your envious waist).

Where to buy a brooch:

If you don’t have a brooch yet, fret not! Your friendly neighbourhood store (where you buy scrunchies, hair clips and other goodies) might have some.
Head to the multi-designer stores like Ensemble, Re or Amara—they stock accessories from clutches to sandals to art jewellery, and you might find brooches there.
Several Indian bridal wear designers also have brooches.
Hunt online! There are plenty of fashion sale websites that offer great deals. I bought the Tarun Tahiliani brooch I from a website recently, and it cost me approximately Rs 1500.

In Fashion, trends, Wedding

Wedding fashion: Chic embroidered jackets for sangeet

Speaking ChicDecember 7, 2010Leave a comment

A richly-embroidered jacket for weddings has been on my wish list for a very long time now. And after thinking about it over and over again, I think it’s the right time to buy one. 🙂

Embroidered jackets look elegant and sophisticated, and are ideal for traditional gatherings such as the sangeet. I’ve seen some women wearing such jackets at weddings too.

Left: Rohit Bal jacket; Right: mapxencaRS by Riddhi & Siddhi

How to wear embroidered jackets:

Make the exquisite jacket the focal point of your look. Wear your jacket with a simple kurta and churidar in the same or contrasting colour.
Or go casual with a comfortable camisole and tight pants/ knit leggings/ churidar.
Experiment with your silhouette by pairing your jacket with loose pants, lehenga or skirt.
If you’re petite, add on a pair of high heels (no wedges, please). Stilettos, pointy toes, and peep toes would bring a touch of class and grace to your look.
Keep the jewellery subtle and minimal (you want people to look at your jacket, right?)
Walk tall!

Would you like to add an embroidered jacket to your wardrobe?

Wedding Fashion: Saris dipped in gold

Wedding fashion: Let the kalidar kurtas bloom

In Wedding

Wedding fashion: Trendy clutches, purses to hold on to

Speaking ChicDecember 2, 2010Leave a comment

Every wedding outfit needs to have the right accessories, and we can’t stress enough on how useful the fancy purses and clutches are for weddings. Not only do they look great and complement your outfit, you need them for your lipstick, mobile, and miscellaneous things like money and keys.

My favourite clutches are the ones that are bejewelled, in neutral (or popular) colours, and look great with most of my outfits. After all, it isn’t possible to have a matching clutch for every outfit, is it?

The first clutch is by Cleo, available across department stores like Lifestyle; found it pretty spacious and total VFM. The second one is from Kazo (stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Punjab).

Related Posts:

Wedding fashion: Let the kalidar kurtas bloom

Wedding Fashion: Saris dipped in gold

Wedding picks: Top sari and lehenga trends

In Fashion, Wedding

Wedding Fashion: Saris dipped in gold

Speaking ChicNovember 30, 20102 Comments

Gold is everywhere this season… around your neck, on your ring finger and wrist, and of course, it’s on our clothes. Designers can’t bring enough gold to their lehengas and saris, and we don’t mind, because this time it isn’t OTT.

At Lakme Fashion Week, Anupama Dayal’s collection, which made plenty of good use of Indian embroideries and embellishments in the form of zardosi, gota and brocade.

How to wear gold in your wedding outfit:

Wear a sari, lehenga or kurta with gold metallic embellishments.
Tone down the bling with a broad gold border on your dupatta or sari.
Wear a gold blouse or choli with your lehenga or sari.
Don’t forget the gold jewellery!

Showing all posts tagged wedding

WARNING: This wedding jewellery is seriously drool-worthy

CHIC RIGHT NOW: 16 super trendy wedding fashion looks to covet

Chic Guide: 5 things guys need this December

Chic Guide: 5 things you need this December

Chic Poll: Most boring wedding trend

Chic transformation: Story of a brocade sari

Wedding Fashion: Brooch it up!

Wedding fashion: Chic embroidered jackets for sangeet

Wedding fashion: Trendy clutches, purses to hold on to

Wedding fashion: Let the kalidar kurtas bloom

Wedding Fashion: Saris dipped in gold