Just in Fashion - Bridal Sarees and Sherwanis

New innovations are made almost everyday in the world of designer sarees. When it comes to bridal fashion, you want the best, the latest, and the classiest saree you can find. Here are a few of the very latest in bridal fashion to help you along your way to finding the perfect bridal or reception saree. And of course, matching sherwanis!

True Royalty

"Green pure soft silk saree with rich brocade work and red patch work border ornamented with sequins, stones, resham and zardosi work in floral designs. The highlight of the piece, its pallu, is in red crepe with sequins and resham embroidery work in floral designs. Blouse is in green pure soft silk decorated with brocade with work on sleeves."

Matching Sherwani

Bridal Red

This saree is my favourite piece of the whole lot!

"This opulent reddish orange pure Georgette saree is adorned with sequins, stones, zardosi, resham and zari embroidery work in floral designs. The border is worked with sequins, stones, zardosi and resham work. Blouse is in reddish orange with the sleeves embroidered with sequins, stones and zardosi."

Matching Sherwani

Bridal White

"Quite a head turner isn't it? Cream pure Georgette saree with green and red patch work border displaying sequin and bead work. Saree boasts of multicolor floral design enhanced with sequin and bead work. Blouse is in cream with embellishments on sleeves."

Matching Sherwani

Simple Bridal Saree

"Maroon, pure Georgette saree is exquisitely designed with sequins, stones, beads and zari with paisley and floral motifs on the border. Body of the saree is enriched with ornate work of sequin, stone and zari embroidery work in floral designs. Blouse is in maroon with the same border as that of the saree. Sequins and embroidery work is used on sleeves and back side of the neck."

Matching Sherwani

Beige and Brick Red

"Orange pure Georgette saree with sequin, stone and zardosi work on the border. Saree is embellished with sequin, stone and zardosi work in floral designs. Pallu is in beige, which tones down the bright orange and displays sequin, stone and zardosi work along with sequins buttis. Comes with matching blouse with sequin, stone and zardosi work on sleeves."

Matching Sherwani

Beige Bridal Saree

"Convey an aura of elegance by wearing this beautiful pure Georgette piece. Beige saree is embellished with sequins and beads. The border is bedecked with sequin, stone and bead work in floral motifs. Blouse is in beige with work on sleeves."

Matching Sherwani

These are the latest designer bridal sarees out on the retail market so I hope this post gave you an idea of what's in right now. Happy saree hunting!

Emerand Green Saree - Like it or Hate it?

Take a good look at this emerald green saree with pintex work on the pallu and large floral motif embroidery.

Have a look at the detail of the embroidery and design.

I'll refrain from commenting on this for the time being. What do you guys think of this saree? Do you like it or hate it?

Update: Seems like this one is either loved or hated. I actually don't like it much. However, the colour is absolutely gorgeous and I applaud the thought behind the innovation. What I hate about this is the fact that it's wrinkled, that just looks really juvenile and unpolished. The second thing I don't like is the width of the pallu. It's such an awkward width: too long to be a butterfly pallu and too short to be a true pallu. I like the 'pintex' design, but the rest of the embroidery is overdone.

Trend Watch - Saree Brooches and Pins

Desi women have worn brooches and pins with sarees for a long time, but their use has always been limited to an ornamental role. A small pin above the left breast was pretty much the only way brooches and pins used to be worn. The '60s and '70s saw brooches worn at the waist to hold the pallu in place. Over the past couple of years, however, sarees and brooches have become almost inseparable. It has become extremely trendy to find different uses for brooches and pins. Brooches are no longer just ornaments to decorate the saree, but have become instrumental in pinning them in place, adding colour and even helping to achieve a slimmer look. Here are a few places to strategically pin a brooch and the types of brooches and pins that will suit each place.

Before you go on, however, there are Five Golden Rules you must know when it comes to wearing brooches.

Golden Rule No. 1: Never wear more than one brooch at a time.

Golden Rule No. 2: Always match the style of your brooch to the style of your saree.

Golden Rule No. 3: Never wear a brooch with a heavily worked saree.

Golden Rule No. 4: Golden Rule No. 3 doesn't apply if the brooch is being worn on the saree blouse.

Golden Rule No. 5: Never wear a gold brooch with a saree embroidered in silver or a silver brooch with a saree embroidered in gold.

Now that you know the Five Golden Rules, you're ready to continue.

At the Shoulder

This is the typical place that most people would choose to place a brooch at. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't. I think this placement works best on simple/plain sarees as the brooch will add a bit of life to the saree and stand out on its own. Keeping this in mind, make sure any brooch you pin at the shoulder is a showstopper! You can also gather the pallu at the shoulder and add a brooch to hold it in place at the top of your shoulder.

Here are a few brooch designs that will work well at the shoulder. Remember, the key is to choose bold, striking pieces.

I love this brooch. It's so Indian and it is definitely something that would go under the category of 'showstopper'!

Some people would consider peacocks to be tacky, but I think, depending on the design, that peacock brooches can look really hot. Especially peacock feather brooches!

Bold, large, Art Deco style pieces also work well at the shoulder. This is a great brooch to pin the gathered pallu at the top of the shoulder. I wouldn't recommend this below the collar bone.

A classic floral filigree brooch never goes out of style!

At the Hip

Pinning a brooch at the hip to hold the pallu in place is such a great idea because my arm always gets tired of holding up the pallu. I don't know exactly why this technique went out of fashion after the '60s and '70s, but it's one look that I think should be brought back. Here are a few brooches that add flair and elegance to this practical and beautiful look.

One thing to remember is to choose a sturdy brooch that will hold the weight of the pallu in place without damaging your saree. You can, of course, always pin it in place with a bobby pin first and then add the brooch on top, but I think that's just excessive and puts too many holes in the saree. Here are a few brooch designs for this look.

Symmetrical shapes work best at the hip so I would recommend a rounded, bold, large floral brooch.

This is a great brooch and and I really like pearls. This brooch would look great with a dark red or black saree with gold and pearl embroidery or just a plain saree in those same colours. The idea is to make the brooch pop!

This is the kind of brooch that I wouldn't recommend for any place except at the hip.

Brooches with multicolour crystals are probably the most popular type around, but I think this is too flashy to be worn at the shoulder. Try it at the hip.

At the Back of the Shoulder

This is actually my favourite place to pin a brooch. You want to look good from the front and from behind and this is such a great way to do that. Make sure to keep the brooch small and delicate.

Here are some small and delicate brooch designs to inspire you.

This is a great brooch for a saree with antique silver work. I would suggest pinning this cameo brooch horizontally.

This is a perfect brooch design for the back...it's small, it's delicate and it's very pretty.

Here's another brooch taking its inspiration from nature. It's a little more bold than the typical brooch I would recommend for the back, but it's still small and pretty enough to work.

At the Navel

We all struggle to pin the pleats in place and once we've managed that we struggle to hide the pin from view, but this is extremely difficult if you're going to be pleating your pallu up as well or going to show off your navel in some other way. So here's a great way to hide the pin from view and look super hot at the same time.

A few different brooches will work well here. Long and delicate brooches (serpents or climbing vines) or square/triangle brooches would be the best for this placement. Here are some ideas.

Place these kinds of brooches vertically just like in the picture.

This will look super hot with a black saree. I wouldn't recommend trying this design out with any other colour, not even silver or white. If you find a pretty bow design brooch in plain silver or gold, then it would be even better as it would go with a saree in any colour.

I would suggest placing a brooch like this horizontally rather than vertically like this.

Again, this is a design that I think is only suitable for the pleats. It's gorgeous, but a little on the gaudy side to be placed anywhere else. Don't place triangular brooches in an inverted way. Also, plain triangular brooches would be preferable to something as over worked as this.

At the Back

If you're going to be wearing your saree in the Gujarati style, then place a brooch at the back to hold the pallu in place.

I would recommend the same type of brooches for this as for holding the pallu in place at the hip.

On the Saree Blouse

This is another one of my favourite places to place a brooch. If you have a blouse cut deep with a 'V' neck, whether at the front or the back, place a symmetrical brooch where the two sides join to give the impression that the blouse is held in place with a jeweled clasp.

Designs that work best for this placement are butterfly and dragonfly motifs.

This is such a gorgeously designed brooch, but I think butterflies are too cutesy to be worn anywhere other than at the back of your saree blouse. It would add that extra flair and style to your look without making you seem too cutesy or 'Hello Kittyish'.

Dragonflies are also a great motif to give the semblance of a clasp as they're symmetrical and have triangular wings. They're also not seemingly cutesy as butterfly motifs are.

Long Hair Clips

If you want to show off your necklace and keep your pallu going across your chest smoothly, I would recommend using a long hair clip (crystal or pearl) to hold the pallu in place low on the shoulder. This is a very popular way of draping the pallu and many Bollywood starlets do it in the films and outside. It also looks much better when the pallu is unpleated. Hair clips are also more inexpensive than brooches so you also save money if you're on a budget.

One thing to keep in mind is to find hair clips that won't look too obviously like hair clips. Avoid hair clips with upturned ends.

Hope that helped!

Turn of the Century Sarees

It's not every day that I make historical posts, but here's one today.

The saree has been around for many millennia, but it's been quite hard to track the change it has gone through. It's believed that the saree has only undergone ornamental changes as its six yards (or nine) of fabric is so versatile and can be worn in many ways, instrumental changes were not necessary. After looking at these turn of the century pictures from India and Sri Lanka I think I have to agree. In the past 100 years, at least, changes to the saree have only been 'skin deep'. Even traditional hair ornaments, necklaces and anklets have not changed dramatically. It's only in recent years that the saree has gone through any kind of major makeover or face lift.

Attitude!

Whatever the century, this woman demonstrates that it's your attitude, carriage and confidence that will get you noticed more than anything else! She's rocking that saree and check out the 'odiyanam'!

Back in Fashion

That saree looks like it could be worn today and no one would even guess that it was a hundred years old. Was this hairstyle in fashion back then?

Ornamental Beauty

A silk saree worn with a long sleeved blouse. Traditional ornaments haven't changed much, in fact I think these ornaments look better than some we have now. Check out the anklet/toe ring combo, that's definitely one design I'd love to see reemerge!

Simple Saree

I think this is a good example of how enduring saree styles can be. This traditional style of saree draping has survived to this day.

Plantation Saree

This is the kind of regular-wear many women wore at the turn of the century. Here's a coffee picker going about her business clad in a blouseless saree.

Saree Shawl

This way of wearing a saree doesn't look very practical, but I'm not really sure what the context behind this pictures was so it's hard to say for certain.

Nautch Sarees

These nautch dancers are wearing hair ornaments and other jewelry that would be familiar to modern day Bharathanatya dancers!

High Style

That saree looks costly, especially compared to the ones in the other photos. She's also wearing the anklet/toe ring combo that I've started to really like.

Golden Beauty

Hair shod with flowers, embroidered sarees and gold jewelry never seems to go out of fashion in South Asia! Some of the jewelry designs she's wearing are still popular in South India and Sri Lanka today.

Tea Time

This style of saree draping is still in today!

Rich in Jewelry

She's either very rich or she's royalty! Look at how many necklaces she's wearing and the size of her rings.

Modern Recreation

Here's a modern recreation of this look. It doesn't look quite right!

Child Saree

Sarees for little girls seemed to be common at the turn of the century and they're coming back now.

All Grown Up

Here's the modern version. I'm not a fan of sarees for little girls, it just makes them look too grown up.