Q&A

Q: I am getting married in two months and still hunting for a lehenga for the engagement and wedding. Please suggest silhouettes and embroideries for both. I am tilting towards red btw.

--Renu Pareek 

A: Red is gorgeous, every bride must wear it. If you are really fair then go for a deeper red/ borderline maroon, but if you are wheatish then wear a brighter red or a rich velvet red. Velvet and zardozi, velvet and pearls both look great. Zardozi also looks great on rich silk. We prefer the more traditional work to the typical Swarovski and big stones fare. Also, if you are thin to medium size wear a full A-line ghaghra, instead of the mermaid shape, especially for the wedding.

Lehenga, Anamika Khanna at Ensemble; choli, AZA; necklace, earrings and kadas, Amrapali; ring, Curio Cottage; red sandals, Charles and Keith

For the engagement wear something more modern, try a pastels or nude colours like salmon pink, mauve, yellow again depending on your skin tone. You can wear a corset style with the mermaid skirt for the engagement and try to keep the wedding very traditional.

 Lehenga, Krshna Mehta| earrings, kadas and necklace, Amrapali| pearl necklace & Maharani bag, Malaga

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Q: We end up buying extremely expensive ensembles which we can hardly ever use again after the wedding. Please suggest some ideas to reuse them.

-- Renu Pareek

A: The wedding attire is not very reusable entirely, so you can divide the ensemble. Use the dupatta with another salwar kameez or the choli as a blouse with a sari. The ghaghra maybe later can be paired with a simple gold choli and plain dupatta and you can wear it for a relative/friend's wedding.

Recycle tip 1: Break your lehenga choli set and pair it with a spaghetti top, a corset or a tunic blouse that you can tuck in. Accessorise with interesting waist belts or hair accessories. Match any dupatta in contrast or similar colours and get a brand new ensemble!

Pink net lehenga: Anamika Khanna, choli and dupatta: Falguni & Shane Peacock, gold shoes: Aldo, necklace worn as maang tikka: Amrapali, assorted kadas: Curio Cottage

 Recycle tip 2: Take your simple sari and dress it up with an embellished corset. You can get a heavy shrug made in velvet, brocade or raw silk to take the glamour a notch higher.

Sari: Jashn, blouse: Tarana Masand (Ensemble), crop shrug: Tarun Tahiliani (Ensemble), hair braided with gold link and nose ring: Curio Cottage, plain gold kadas: Aquamarine

Recycle Tip 3: Don't fear to mix your skirts with more traditional tunics. You can dress-up or dress-down the skirt with a belt or wear a simple tunic with a lot of accessories.

Sherwani: Tarun Tahiliani (Ensemble), skirt: Anita Dongre Interpret (AND), earrings: Curio Cottage, clutch: Aquamarine 

For saris nets are still in because they can carry a lot of weight but personally we recommend trying georgette brocades and vintage brocades, it’s unique and really stands out.

 

Brocades border sari, Rakhee Grover Jain at Ensemble; Blouse, Kiran Uttam Ghosh at AZA; maang tikka, long necklace, bangles and ring, Curio Cottage, clutch, Aquamarine

We hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. You can send us pictures and we can help you choose things. Good luck!
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Q: I have some short dresses, should I style them with loose pants instead of leggings /tights?

 -- Kt

A: We believe there is no hard and fast rule to wearing clothes. It is about how you wear it. Wearing a tunic with loose pants personifies comfort and if worn ‘correctly’ it’ll exemplify your personal style as well. Here are some suggestions to wear this trend for the three basic body types.

Jasleen is an apple shaped body type.

For the apple shaped: Apple shaped women have broader shoulders compared to their hips, so wearing loose pants with short dresses balances the body. Also leggings and tunics are so overdone - straight pants, loose linen pants, zipper pants - all make for interesting options.

Sonu is an hourglass body type.

For the hourglass shaped: Your curves are equally distributed around both the upper body and lower body, add a belt on your waist to show off your curves.

For the pear (spoon or bell) shaped: Since the hip measurement is greater than the bust measurement, wearing a tunic/ dress with loose pants will add unnecessary volume to your lower body. To avoid this, wear a belt under the bust to create a balance.
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We would be happyy to answer your styling queries too. Email us on info@fashion-bombay.com for any styling or shopping woes.