Wow this festive season

With the Indian festive season fast approaching, it’s time to get your festive gear ready. When you live abroad, the task becomes even more daunting. I live in London and to be honest I have never found well-designed Indian outfits here. Either they are too expensive or too tacky. I am very particular about my choices and when it comes to clothes I want it my way, specially with Indian outfits.

On my annual India holiday I make it a point to buy a few Indian outfits. But now that I don’t live there anymore, I find it really hard to find nice stuff. Today I am going to share something that I picked up on my mum’s recommendation (she loves red), something that adds a rich colour to my Indian wardrobe.

With festivals like Karvachauth, Navratri and Diwali fast approaching, it’s time to get your outfits ready. My model for this look is a friend, Natalia. Today we will play with the color red. Red symbolises the spirit of this festive season. It’s a very strong colour and if styled well can do wonders to your look. I had always shied away from wearing red but recently started playing around with it a bit more and now I actually like it a lot.

Create the Look

The outfit I have chosen for Natalia is a Red semi Anarkali suit. Anarkalis can be too heavy to carry around and that’s why I suggest semi Anarkalis if you are a busy mum like me. They are much easier to move around with. Full Anarkalis have their own place and can look good in formal settings.

I teamed up the Anarkali with traditional Mojris. Mojris bring a very traditional touch to the outfit and I love wearing them. I picked up these ones from Jaipur. They really complimented the red Anarkali. I opted for big balis, a statement ring and a gold clutch to adorn the look.

I went for a mix of red, green and gold bangles to accessorise the outfit.

Payal or anklet is also a forgotten Indian accessory. When I was a college student, I use to love wearing anklets so I had a good collection of gold and silver anklets. When I got married I was gifted loads of anklets, one of which I have used in this look. I find them very sexy – on western oufits you can wear them in just one leg but make sure you wear them on both legs for Indian wear.

Hair and Makeup

Natalia has very short hair so doing her hair was definitely a challenge. To give her hair some bounce I curled them using curling iron. For Indian wear you have to use kajal for the eyes – I think it’s a given. Every Indian woman’s makeup is incomplete without kajal.

Finally I used scarlet red lipstick and a deep bronze blush to finish off the look.

The final look is out here. Try and experiment with red this festive season. Would love to hear back your festive fashion stories.

Credits

Styling – Mandavi @The Red Notebook
Hair & Make up – Mandavi @The Red Notebook
Photography – Fewgoodclicks
Statement Ring – jewellry-by-divya-chugh
Anarkali Suit – Aru Bani