December rings in a whole new party vibe which continues till the next year. The chill in the air and roads and houses lit up for the season adds on to this festive spirit. There are a lot of invitations that we have to attend this winter ...Christmas parties, weddings,reception parties, new year gatherings, year end office parties, dinner parties with friends and family etc. etc. These days most of us tend to reach out for our cocktail dresses or our heavy salwar suits for most of these events. But let me tell you that you can easily ditch the "Oh-so-Obvious" winter party wardrobe and drape your pure silks with elan. I remember my Ma and aunts flaunting their traditional coarse silk and tussars in winters with lots of confidence and comfort. Be it their office parties, winter weddings or year end gatherings, their utmost glamour and grace in finest 6 yards would amaze us.  So if you are with us in this, lets talk about how to #bringbackthesaree this season ladies!!

Recently had to attend an evening party at a friend's and while planning for what to wear, I thought of reaching out to my heavy silk saree. It has been a part of my trousseau and lying in my wardrobe to be worn at a suited occasion. It added the perfect bling to the event that night, was most comfortable as the warm silk hugged me all around and stood out in the crowd, garnering a lot of appreciations. So after I came back from the party, I thought of clicking few pics to post for you all.

Tips to wear traditional saree to evening parties this winter

Your heavy traditional sarees too may be waiting to get out of your closet, so bring them back this party season. Style them unconventionally, increase the oomph in them by strategic styling and feel their warmth this winter. 

Here are few tips for the season:

• Choose the right saree for comfort and glamour. Wearing the right fabrics will keep you looking great and feeling warm during the short days of the cold season. A good winter fabric should be strong, warm and natural, but should look amazing as well like pure silks, brocade, cashmere, etc.

• Pair them with unconventional blouses like, sweaters, jumpers, warm t-shirts, velvet cholis/blouses, jackets, crop tops, winter coats,. This is the season you can experiment without melting in them. Wear according to the weather so that you feel comfortable while looking stylish.

• Ditch the petticoats  and wear wool leggings and skirts instead for comfort through long hours in cold. Depending on the temperatures and your comfort choose the right material for the leggings or skirt. Merino wool is my choice of base on the lower part of my body. This will help to dance away the night in comfort.

• Layer your saree with a jacket or overcoat if you're having a late night outdoor party or you need a extra warmth. Intricately embroidered shawls can adda lot of style to the whole saree look. But drape them nicely rather than just clumsily putting them on. Don't shy away from comfort. Concentrate on the base and outer layer of the saree as much as you do for the saree itself.

• Accessorize to balance out the look. Choose heavier accessories to accentuate subtle sarees and concentrate on statement pieces for rich embroidered sarees. If you are wearing an outer layer on the saree like a coat or a jacket, consider visibility of your statement accessories like necklace, either skip them and wear big earrings or pin them over your jacket. There's no point wearing any jewelry if its hidden below your shawl.

What Was I Wearing

Let me breakdown the look for you. This royal blue silk saree has exquisite zari work on its border, pallu and pleats. Although it came with its own matching blouse, but to keep the season's color in mind, I paired it with a heavy embroidered velvet net choli. The choli came with a lehenga set, and was perfectly warm and rich. Paired my favorite over-sized "katori"(as my Ma would call them 😏) jhumkis and a studded bangle. I opted out deliberately of any other statement jewelry in the look to avoid crowding the look thus keeping it easy and smart. Kept my makeup bright to be in sync with the ambiance.

Saree: Priyo Gopal Bishoyi, Kolkata, India
Choli: Came with a set of lehenga choli bought from Utsav Fahsion
Bangle: Gift from a friend, bought from Chique, Kolkata
Earrings: Gariahat Hawkers Market, Kolkata, India

The winter afternoon sun makes me so nostalgic. It takes me back to our weekends in the cozy verandas, cuddled up lazily in old kantha quilts, Ma keeping us engrossed with her childhood stories and Baba silently reading his usual newspapers."পুরানো সেই দিনের কথা ভুলবি কিরে হায়"(excerpt from Tagore's famous song on bygone days and nostalgia)!!! Alas!!!

Holiday season during our childhood was all about stories, lazy afternoons, warmth of old handmade quilts, wedding parties, colors and happiness. Thus this winter series post is inspired by all those elements and few more. Its a vibrant Nakshikantha on tussar saree with stories of birds embroidered all over the saree in a corner to corner style. You can drape this saree to any of your Holiday parties or Wedding invites. Thus presenting our #Kantha saree look

Bought this Nakshikantha saree on my last trip to Bolpur, West Bengal from a local handloom shop. Its a hand-embroidered master piece on tussar. This specific kantha motif is called pakhi kantha or bird motif kantha. The saree has been embroidered with more than 32 hues of thread. The off-white typical of tussar color of this saree makes all the embroidered motifs pop-up. Sanchita also draped a similar pakhi kantha saree in peacock blue Bangalore silk in one of our previous blogs here. 

So what is Kantha  or Nakshikantha ?

For as many as 500 centuries, poor Bengali women have taken their discarded cloth scraps and sewn them together with a simple running stitch; taking the old and re-purposing it into something useful and protective. Far from trend-setting, or even artfulness, kantha was created originally for the most basic and practical purpose: to keep warm. Over time, kantha developed as a generational skill, a craft that could symbolically impart story, desire, and well-wishing for loved ones & gift recipients. Elaborate kantha were made as wedding gifts or gifts for mothers, with stories and wishes weaved in(source). Nakshikantha is refered to those specific artistic kantha work which depicts special motifs. The motifs may include images of flower and leaves, birds, fish and animals. They even have unique ways of story telling through the motifs.

How to buy genuine Kantha sarees:

In recent times with advent of machine embroidery, there has been a lot of less expensive pseudo kantha sarees sold in bigger outlet stores. But the genuine hand embroidery has always held its own reputation as pieces of art .  In order to buy real hand embroidered Kantha sarees, please look into the density of the stitches. Denser the stitches, more likely its an hand embroidered one. Also the price of a real Nakshikantha saree is way expensive than the machine embroidered ones. But if you would earnestly like to own such a gem in your collection and want to support the brilliant artists working on them, this price would seem worthy for you. Kantha work is done on cotton, silk and tussar, so make sure you also check the handloom mark/silk mark on the fabric you're paying the for.

Styling of Kantha Sarees

Kantha Sarees are nothing new to us, we have been seeing our moms and grand-moms draping it with utmost elegance from ages. Kantha sarees are themselves so beautiful that we don't need much else. But an ordinary blouse and random accessories can spoil the whole drama in the saree. As these sarees are very traditional, edgy stylizing can draw all the attention in any party. Here are some tips to stylize your kantha buy:

• The right blouse

Choose the right blouse. Printed or too much work on blouse may take the focus out of the kantha work on saree. You can choose subtle kantha embroidered blouse but solid colored ones matches the best. Contrast blouses can be a great option to brighten up the over all look. For multi-colored kantha work sarees, you can have a variety of colors to choose for a contrast blouse. 

You can even experiment with crop-tops or unconventional blouse cuts like, off-shoulder, halter etc to raise the style barometer. Here's few examples of such modern blouses. But remember to consider your comfort before pairing them.

Source: Pinterest

• Accessories can make or break the look

Boring and random acessories can spoil the whole look of the beautiful saree. So when you pair up your jewelries with the saree, keep in mind the blouse you are going to wear and the final look you want. Kantha sarees are very versatile and can be worn with silver, gold, pearls and even "junk" jewelries. So you have plethora of options to choose from. You can go over the top with chunky jewelries or keep it very minimal to let the saree talk. Its your choice! But whatever jewelry you pair up with, should compliment the whole look rather than looking out of place and dated.

For one of the looks I sported here, as I added floral hair acessory I kept my jewelry simple with a statement chandbali earring, a whole lot of colorful bangles and a kutch work sling bag. It added the needed glamour to the look and also kept a balance.

For the other look, as I kept my hair in waves, I tired some over the top silver chunky necklace and jhumkis and kept my hands bare with only a stylish palm ring. As the jewelry was heavy, I carried a very simple white leather sling bag. 

• Makeup and Hairstyle that compliments the whole attire:

 Winter is the best time to experiment with your hair and makeup choices. At least you don't have to worry about sweating out your layers of foundation nor spoiling your newly curled hair. For your tresses sometimes simplest accompaniments can add a lot of drama to your look. You can try a floral clip like I have here, or also tie your hair in a traditional bun with lots of fresh flowers to amp up the evening look. During the day time you may simply straighten your hair for a cleaner look.

Play around with some fun makeup trends this season. If you are a  lazy person like me and never want to spend hours on makeup, choose some statement colors for eyes or lips so they get highlighted without much ado. Like here in one of the looks I tried glitter and in the other a blue pop of color on my eyes, so that with less work and products I can make them bright and highlighted. Also you can go for a whole lot of other options like smokey eyes, nude eyes etc depending on how traditional or modern you want to look.

What Was I Wearing:

Saree: Karukrit in Bolpur, West Bengal, India

Blouse: Silk material bought from Gouranga Bastralaya, Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Silver jewelry: H&M

Chandbali earring: Vinatha Collections, Virginia, USA

White sling bag: Celvin Klein

Embroidered bag: Hawkers' Market, Gariahat, Kolkata, India

Palm ring: Bilu da's Collection, Kolkata, India

Metal Bangles: Hogg's Market, Kolkata, India

As the wind chills are setting in another glorious wedding season is at our door steps. Some of you are getting married yourselves or your close friends/family are and many of us have several invitations to attend. Indian ethnic wear is the quintessential outfit for the desi wedding settings. So for our first post this season, decided to jot down few essential tips. 
Weddings creates a lot of memories and fun times. We want to look our best, and grab all the attention. So if its your own wedding, its THE day of your lifetime when you don't want anything wrong. Even for the wedding guests or bridesmaids its very special and looking horrible is the scariest dream come true for them too. I still cannot share the my photos of my twin's (sanchita's) wedding as I looked like a zombie and it's still a nightmare for me😖😖😖.
Thus from my trials and errors in this lifetime, I am sharing my wedding season tips for you: 


Know your preferences well ahead

To achieve the look of your dreams plan well ahead of the event. First and foremost, you'll have to know your own style and preferences. Its OK to not give in to the ongoing trend. Specially if its yours or your close one's wedding its better to follow your own style than the fashion guru's. Turn deaf ears to the "body type styling" trend. You experiment yourself and come up what you look comfortable and good in. Take help of inspiration boards in Pinterest, Instagram or Google Images to know what you like and how you want to look. In our case, well before our weddings we knew how we wanted to look. We did a lot of search on social media and made a full folder of pics that we love and looks we wanted. It made things a lot stress free while shopping.

Consider your Budget while shopping

Next most important factor is your budget. While shopping for the event, you can either tell upfront to the shop keeper to show you the best within your preferred range or you can negotiate the price to suit your budget. Its not that you won't be able to get a good buy within lesser budget. Spending a bomb is not always needed to get your dream look. Look out for sales and clearances to have the best you can get for your buck. You can always re-style your old sarees and jewelries if you don't want to buy anything new and if its not your own wedding. Click here to know how you can restyle your old sarees in newer ways.

Be photo ready!!

Source

Wedding photos are great memories and in this Insta-age its all the more important 😎😎.  If you are a photo buff like me and cherish your photo memories this tip is for you...remember some pieces can look gorgeous in person but not in photos. Thus click pics by putting that saree on your shoulder before buying it. Don't feel shy to do so in middle of onlookers as its your buck and your buy...make the most of it.

Market research about where to buy from

Source

Do market research around where you live to know where to get the best stuffs best deals from. Ask around friends and do little bit search online. These days you can ask for feedback from experienced shoppers on different forums on Facebook. So take advantage of the age we live in and make most of your shopping experience.

Online shopping for convenience

Apart from them, look around for online stores/sellers for some good deals. They are the best bet for shoppers like us who live abroad and want to shop for Indian outfits. But before purchasing take into consideration the outfit color/fitting etc as they may not be best represented in most of the pictures. Accessories like junk jewelries, bags can be bought easily conveniently from these online stores. There are several sites like Pernia's pop-up shop, Carma, Utsav fashion, Mirraw etc. Even different stores have their own online shops as well, you can buy directly from them. There are different price ranges available, work around which one suits your choice and budget more. There are yearly sales in these online shops as well so look around to shop around that time for bonus savings.

Renting your Outfit and Accessories

You can also look around for renting your indian sarees or lehengas for the day of the event. This helps you to spend less for the event and also achieve your dream look. There are online renting stores like Borrow It Bindaas, Saris and Things, Swishlist and others for your convenience. 


Classic pieces rules ages

if you are buying for your trousseau buy classic pieces like traditional silks, or hand embroidered pieces. they are evergreen and you don't have to worry about being out dated or ill fitted. In these cases sarees becomes the most classic outfit as unlike your lehenga or kurtas as their fitting and cuts can become uncomfortable over time depending on the ongoing fashion or your figure. keep a lot of margins in whatever you are getting stitched. In this case from my own experience, I bought some expensive salwar suits for my trousseau which i can only imagine to fit into now, and they are adorning my wardrobe ever since. But my silk sarees like benarasi, baluchari, kantha, kanjeevaram can be and has been worn several times with different blouse options.

Accessorizing makes the game!

Source

Accessories can make or break a look. Zero down on the acessory or outfit and let the other one compliment it rather than overshadowing. When you begin putting your outfit together, design blouses/cholis according to the different necklines suited for your jewelry pieces or vice versa. Polish your jewelry if you are wearing heirloom pieces. Don't over do with your jewelry. If your outfit is simple, wear heavy jewelries, but if they are heavily embroidered opt for subtle pieces.  Choose your bags and shoes according to your outfit. Remember even a Louis Vuitton can look ugly if its not complimenting the attire. So go for the whole look rather than the brand.

Comfort, Comfort and Comfort!!

Source

Think about the duration you are going the event for. If its a day long one, your comfort is everything. Consider shoes you are wearing, weight of the outfit etc. The last thing you would want is to take off your heavy dupatta or are shivering in your chiffon by the end of the event. Shoes should match but let your comfort speak for you. Use shoe inserts for added comfort and get used to your shoes ahead of time. New shoes, shoe bites etc can be too much to handle for you on that day. While deciding on shoes and bags keep in mind what your role would be that day. Clutches can be very stylish but sometimes while running around the event, it may be bothersome to carry in your hand. Opt for sling bags in such cases.


Lay out your full outfit

Before any important event, its best to decide every small outfit details well ahead. Last minute "jig saw puzzle settings" are not fun. There would be many more important things to sort out on the day of the event so let your outfit be sorted out before-hand. Lay down your outfit and accessories together to get a sense of how they are looking.


Makeup and Hair

Source

You can opt for makeup and hair from your preferred specialist on the day of the event for lesser stress. If its your own wedding, please invest in finding the best professional according to your budget. Its them who can make or break your look. Even if you are wearing the best saree or most expensive jewelry, the "cakey" makeup or messed up hair can spoil the whole thing. Go for pre-wedding trials and have a good discussion on what exactly you want. If you decide to do your own makeup, do some rehearsal sessions so that you exactly know how to do it on the final day. Remember you should look like yourself and not someone else, so avoid going over the top dramatic with hair and makeup. 

Thus these are tips we came up with for this wedding season. These holds true for any other major ethnic event you're having in your family. So let us know how you liked them and do you have any other tips for our readers. Do like share the post with your friends and family who you think will benefit. 

P.S. This post was not sponsored. 

Its a evident that the festival season is still hovering over us as you can spot endless shopping , plethora of online deals, gift exchanges, meeting friends, and planning in advance on ”what to wear”. After Durga Puja/ Navratri, it’s time for Diwali/Kali Puja now. If you have forgotten, a quick reminder of Halloween next couple of weeks, and then Christmas is just a few more weeks away! Phew!

Kali Puja has been the most special festival for our family as we celebrate it with much grandeur in our house. During childhood days, as others used to suffer from post Durga Puja depression, we would be overly excited for the Kali Puja to come over. We would look forward meeting all our cousins, burning fire crackers, gun-caps, devouring on bhoger khicuri-labra and enjoying all the আদর (love) of the family members we used to seldom meet otherwise. The whole neighborhood and our school friends would be invited and we would show off our best outfits that were reserved from the puja shopping for this evening (quite early fashion addicts you see!!😁😁😁). But the only rule Ma imposed on us was to wear cotton, to be safe running around diyas and fire crackers. This year would be the 35th year of our family puja. Both of us unable to attend the celebrations of-course adds into our homesickness and nostalgia which we can only dilute with some good saree pics😒😒😒 

Thus for this Diwali look Sanchita wearing cotton hot pink Chanderi benarasi saree. Chanderi saree is a traditional saree made in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, India from as early as 2nd century. These sarees are produced in pure silk, chanderi cotton and silk cotton, one featured here is a cotton one. Traditional coin, Flora art, Peacocks and geometrics are woven into different chanderi patterns. The sarees are among the finest sarees in India and are known for their gold and silver zari and opulent embroidery.(Source )

The intense color of the saree stands out in the evening fanfare, brightens the ambience and is also perfect "সুতির " (cotton) saree as Ma would prefer. Paired it up with a black benarasi sleeveless blouse to add contrast and glamour. 

You can ace the look at a Diwali party or Kali Puja outings and also to any ethnic evening parties you want to attend. As if the brightness of the saree wasn't enough, we styled it with over-the-top Kundan necklace and earrings to make it all the more festive. Kept accessories on my hand minimal as to draw all the focus to the neckline. This gorgeous Kundan set was added to the jewellery box during the recent India haul.

So can you tweak this look...yes totally!! There are too many options to make this look your own. You can wear any contrast full sleeve benarasi blouse, big chandelier or chandbali earrings or bun up your hair with some fresh gajra....this outfit gives you room to experiment with your style. So drape your bright cotton sarees and amp it up with a gorgeous blouse and stunning accessories.

Happy Diwali and Kali Puja to everyone celebrating!

Outfit details:

Saree was a gift from cousin on his wedding, bought from Adi Mohini Mohan Kanjilal, Kolkata, India

Blouse material bought from Geeta's, Hogg's Market, Kolkata, India and designed by Sanchita

Necklace set from Gahana, Triangular Park, Kolkata, India