The As Women

Archive for June, 2011

Cool are the beautiful days of winter season when a woman has to hardly bother about her waistline. Definitely, why a woman will waste her precious time thinking too much about her waist which remains covered all the time in those ‘chilly’ days?

But come summer, and wearing a flattering coat or a long jacket becomes a tough and ‘revealing’ job. This results in making out a number of ways to flatter your waist. Definitely, accentuating your waist to give it, or you, an illusive appearance becomes an ultimate priority.

So what could be a better idea than looking for a couple of right belts which are the best fashion accessories to make your waist more flattering than ever?

It would be strange to hear but it is true that belts this summer have emerged out of their stereotypes. Definitely, these simple and dull looking fashion accessories, which mark the division of your body into almost two equal parts, have grown bold, trendy and beautiful and seem more of a fashion jewelry wrapped around your waist.

Thus while using belts as something to accentuate your waist, you have to choose belts which are bold, beautiful. This boldness can be shown in two ways, either choosing a wide statement belt or a skinny statement belt.

Moreover, first of all, if you really want your belts to be bold then you have to shun thinking that a belt, either wider or skinnier one, could be made of glossy fabrics and costly leather only. The options are galore.

Wider Way : Choose from a wide range of metal and plastic belts. Such belts are most suitable when you wear them with deep colored dresses. In order to look trendier, wear a wide woolen belt in bright colors such as orange, light pink etc. The contrast gives your personality a charm others would only crave for.

Moreover, wearing a rope-looking wide designer statement belt can be another tool to look bold at your best. Further, if you want to show your wild part then choose a wide belt with animal prints. Remember, you can’t call a belt a wide one unless it is wider than 3 inches.

Just imagine wearing a wide belt with tiger prints paired with a dress completely in red. Or want to look gentler? Go for bold floral prints. Or want to look poisonous? Try reptile prints.

Skinnier Way : The other way to highlight your waist is to wear skinny belts only, if you want to make it look narrower. The real benefit of wearing a skinny belt is that it can be paired up with any type of fashion apparel, casual or formal, unlike the wide statement belts which don’t posses such freedom.

Moreover, such skinny belts are available in all types of of designs, patterns, prints and materials a wide belt is available in. So you can have a printed skinny belt too. Remember, while wearing a skinny statement belt, making a right combination is tricky. Choose a black skinny belt with rose petals printed on it or you can devise your own ideas.

Wear it with a white wide-legged trouser to see its magic. If you prefer the animal or reptile edition of your skinny belt, then wear dresses in red or black. They give you a balanced and hot silhouette narrowing your waistline.

Show I of Day 2 began with ‘Elan’ by Priti Bansal and Kaushik Ghosh and ‘Samars Designs’by Pankaj Kumar and Ajit Parihar. Both collections were fresh and innovative and in shades of greens and browns. While Elanhad a very slick look to all its ensembles be it the colours of the garments, the cuts and silhouettes used. Koushik Ghosh of the Elanduo is a pass out of Apparel Trading and Design Creative Center- Kolkata where he won the best designer award in his final year. He has been designing costumes for renowned film directors Rakha Dutta, Putool Mohamad and Rajnish Kashyap since then till Elan happened. For them this is the first time they have been to Bangalore and the complex southern market. In search of expanding their customer database they are still awaiting positive conversions from causal buyer queries post the show. They used constructive patterns, pleats, embroidery as medium on fabrics like georgette, chiffon and talosilk. Next in line were Delhi based duo Pankaj and Ajit presented a slick line inspired by tribal art. Beads, embroidery and patch work was what stood out in their creations. Both the collections received a positive and appreciative response from the little audience that was present. As Koushik Ghosh aptly said, “Its very good to be in Bangalore Fashion Week and actually showing wish their was more of an audience to appreciate the show.”  

The day certainly seems to be green. Young designers Bhakthi Reddy and Kaira Gurnani ruled the day. Beautifully put together they could easily give the senior designers a run for their money. Bhakthi put forth a contemporary collection which included shifts, jumpsuits, skirts, gowns and dresses in green, orange and golden. A striking merger of rich brocade silk with soft georgettes in contrasting colours though the predominant colour was a vibrant shade of green. The kurtis were teamed with hand painted churidaars or skirts with intricate patchwork. A fresh look on the face was accessorized with just a brocade tassel woven around the pony tail the clothes took center stage as the models showed off the gorgeous collection. The next in line was Kaira Gurnani who presented the sixth sense of a woman and tuned in to the inner goddess in every woman to bring out an excellent collection.  Green, orange and golden ruled the ramp with a splatter of reds and yellows on the side. The dresses were pretty and completely girly as it was meant to be for the woman confident about herself. Cute bows, ruffle details, soft tassels and pleats were elements that added the girly touch to each one of the garments. Her collection included shifts, dresses, golden jumpsuits, ponchos and a lot of layered dresses.

Titled ‘Bold and the Bollywood’ Mumbai based designer presented her Bridal collection at Blender’s Pride BFW today. The highlight of the show was Koena Mitra who walked the ramp as a beautifully dressed Indian bride after two years as a showstopper in Bangalore. We caught up with both the designer and the actor after the show. So why did you decide to do this? Koena: I have a very western image so this was an opportunity for me to explore my Indian side. It felt beautiful to be dressed as a bride even if it was for five minutes. Plus the dress itself was so beautiful that it did not need an overdose of jewels to add to it. In a lot of ways this is what the modern Indian bride would look for in a bridal dress. I loved the antique work done on the dress. Priyanka: Exactly. End of the day you want to make only one statement with an ensemble. Too many statements end up making a no statement at all. After all you spend so much on your dress wouldn’t you want to highlight it without looking like a Christmas tree.  And Koena to me represented the perfect epitome of my muse hence I decided to ask her to do this.

We all know how the works of huge artists can inspire how aspiring artists work as well. This is evident in the case of Hanae Mori. When she was 34 years old, Mori met Coco Chanel by accident during a fitting, even though Mori had indeed been studying fashion in her homeland Japan, and holding the position of costume designer since the year 1951, it was her encounter with Coco Chanel that truly inspired her. A few years after that, Mori made her debut on the runway with Neiman Marcus in tow.

A decade after, Mori moved to Paris where she showed off her haute couture collection. It did not take too long for her to open her own Haute Couture Maison in the year 1977. Since then, she has become the only designer from Asia to be part of La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisian. This is a very significant achievement for any designer because this is the governing body of the fashion industry in the whole of France.

But her transition from Japan all the way to Paris was not easy at all. She was studying at the Tokyo Christian Women’s University with Literature as her major when World War II broke out. When the war and its effects subsided, Mori went back to studying but was still unable to obtain a degree because she got married early. Her husband’s family operated a textile manufacturing business. Being a young bride with lots of time on her hands and exposure to different textiles and fabrics, Mori soon developed an interest in fashion design. In 1951, she launched her costume design venture and designed more than 700 costumes for many Japanese directors. However, it was Coco Chanel who gave her that significant drive to venture into haute couture and things have never been the same for her since.

Her more popular items include the silk mousseline dress that was produced in 1981, and the eveningwear that comes with the trademark symbol of the butterfly. She is known to have the uncanny ability of using the fabric’s natural appeal to redefine the shape of the woman wearing the fabric itself.

Mori also expanded into fragrances, with her first scent known as Hanae Mori released in 1995. Follow-ups to this scent include Hanae Mori Homme and Hanae Mori Haute Couture. We can expect to see many more new designs and fragrances from this remarkable designer.