The party, read wedding, season is not over yet. There was a lull in December and now right up to April there should be someone or the other in the circle of friends and family getting married and so opportunity for you to reprise all those silks, velvets, banarsis, jacquards, organzas, tissue in all its hues, nets, sheers, shimmering metallics and the multitude of other fabrics that your closet teems with.
When was the last time you wore your ‘heavy’ lehenga, mekhela, sari, gown or any other such outfit that just can’t be worn everywhere and gets an airing once in oh-so-many years since they are ready to tumble out each time you open that door?
We have discussed shirts and short tops instead of the regular blouse, what about mixing and matching a mekhela with a sari, from the same colour palette or maybe even a contrast — not just in terms of colour, but also the workmanship? So, a heavy mekhela with the pleats not bunched together but spread either at the front or any side, or maybe even the back (!), a lighter blingy sari pleated broad or narrow depending on the fabric, ideally the fabric of the season, and flung from under the shoulder to trail down the back. The other end of the sari can be half wrapped, tucked in with pleats, allowed to fall on the left or right down to the knee, and then pleated and tucked in on the other side of the mekhela’s pleats. Secure it with a fine belt which could be studded with sequins or stones, or a wide leather strappy or knotted, tasselled or buckled tie-up.
Another way to change the look and drape of something oft worn is by using a skirt instead of the mekhela and replacing the chador with a heavy dupatta. Bring out that decadent brocade peasant skirt or sharara and pleat-wrap a sari or chador around it, and another contrasting sari or dupatta as the pallu. Choose the fabric wisely and be careful with the drape and the pleats. They should not add to your girth, unless of course if you have an hour-glass figure. If at all you feel broader, shimmy on sharp stilettoes or let the hem flirt around or a tad above the ankles and march confidently in gleaming or transparent platforms or fancy sneakers. A fine chain or something beaded, or a heavy kundan anklet completes the look. Choose jewellery, heavy or light, depending on the neckline and how heavy the drape is.
By the time it is end February or April, summer would have begun to set in. There’s time aplenty to dekko the closet for chiffons, crepes, linens, even cottons and other airy fabrics in mukaesh work, sequins and the like.
What all of this also does is save you a few handsome grands, and even puts to use two or three neglected or maybe abandoned awhile wears and thus helps reduce your share of the carbon footprint.
Mail me pictures if you have created any such look. Look forward to a newly styled you!
