Continued from Part 1....

Thank you for all the love you showered on the first part of this post and if you haven't checked it yet please do click here. 

In this last part of the Baby Shower look book, I'll be sharing two more looks which I wore at my Bengali Shad ceremonies. They were hosted by my families here in U.S.

Arrival of a baby for us has been a dream come true and the journey towards motherhood became all the more special as our family members were beside us along with our friends. They lovingly hosted the best showers for us keeping all traditions and rituals in mind. As both mine and K's parents were in India at this time so these Shad ceremonies reminded us of them. But our families here made up for everything and pampered me as a princess on those days.

Lets get back to the looks now...

Look 1

My in laws has a ritual of giving Mishti Shad to the expectant mother which means the food for the pregnant mother will include only fruits and different kinds sweets or desert items. Although was not very sure of the reason behind it but it seemed very interesting to me. So my husband and my dearest sis hosted a joint Mishti shower for me at our place. Sanchita cooked delicious Bengali lunch for 20+ guests and my BIL and K looked after all the other details of the event.

I wore a South silk saree my MIL sent me for the Shad. It has a very soothing sea green color with a self weave and big gold butas all over, along with a mina work border and pallu.  Paired it with a off-white velvet blouse. As every other of you I also have my days when my blouse doesn't really match up to my saree. So to save the day and compliment with the blouse I added pearl earchains to my gold Pasha (oversized stud) earrings😜. Also added the gold over-sized pendant and light necklace to complete the look. The accessories were kept simple and comfortable as the saree was heavy to wear especially when you're ready to pop. 

Sanchita, the co-host of the event, wore a beautiful dark green and gold Kanjivaram saree with matching sleeveless blouse and simple gold jewelries. Her look was also kept simple to match ambiance of the event. 

The day started with few essential rituals of Shad and followed by a homely lunch with friends and family. The day flowed perfectly with good food and adda and was extremely overjoyed by everyone's participation. Enjoy the rest of the pictures from the event... and scroll down for Look 3 :)

Look 3

The third and the last shower I was treated at was at my cousin's place. Am so fortunate to have her in the area and how she has been a big support as an elder sister. She pampered me with the most elaborate lunch you can imagine of...It had 7 types fried veggies, 5 types of sweets and 5 types of fish.It was an ideal food coma that day. 

I wore a pure Khandua silk saree bought from Jagannath Puri and gifted to me by my SIL. Khandua (Also Maniabandi or Kataki) is a traditional "bandha" or ikat sari produced from Odisha worn by women during wedding and a special type of which is worn by Jagannath. The clothes contain texts of Gita Govinda on them. Matched a full sleeved woven crop top with the saree for comfort in the temperatures here in MD. Kept the look understated with natural makeup and gold jhumkas and  pendant gifted by my parents for my Shad.

Thank you for all the love you all have showered n my previous post and hope you like this one as well. Leave a comment or like if you loved it. Now I have kiddo to attend..see you'll in the next post....

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

Lunch for জামাইষষ্ঠী with জামাই et. al. (a bengali festival celebrated by mother-in-laws in honor of their son-in laws. It usually comprises of inviting the daughter and her husband to their in laws for some rituals and sumptuous lunch.) More than the Jamais (son in law in Bengali) the daughters seems more excited for the preening up part and selfies 😉. But this heat and humidity dampen all our spirits of posing in sarees . Be it jamaishashti or not (specially for ones sitting on other side of the planet like me!!) we all have several summer day time desi events or simply "saree moods" to attend. Well.....so have come up in this post with few tips and tricks so you won't have to compromise your favorite saree opportunities.

Let me tell you there aren't many garment as comfortable as a saree in hot and humid days. Sarees were invented for ladies from this tropical region, and are meant to comfort us in these hot weather, only we have to make sure we pick the right sarees. Age old cottons , mulmul, muslin and linens are our loyal friends for the summer. They are pocket friendly as well as classic. But there are several myths and wrong perceptions about these sarees. Let me address them first with my own experiences:

• Many of us feel these cotton. taant , mulmul sarees are hard to drape and make us look more fat. Like both me and my twin, our Ma has been short and plump in her younger days(not that she's getting any older !at least never for us!!). Although she was confident, highly educated working woman, still remember Ma was conscious about her body image. She would avoid the cotton Taant sarees as they would drape like a tent on her. She used to buy exquisite handloom taant and cotton sarees but never dared to drape them. In this age as well, body image issues and constant fear of judgement have overpowered the comfort factor in lot of our minds too. I have written about them in my previous post here. Thus lets not encourage these body-shaming anymore and wear what we feel most at ease in this weather.
• These summer friendly sarees gives a lot of us an "Auntie-like saree" vibe😕. But trust me, its not the saree but your attitude and the way you drape, style and carry it is responsible for the vibe. So it all depends on ho confident you are and how you are styling your sarees.

In the following points lets quickly jot down few hacks that can ace up our saree looks during summer days.

• As mentioned before, for summer daytime choose pure cotton, linen, kota, organza, muslin. They are very light and breezy.
• If the sarees are heavy on starch(like taint), pleat it ahead of time, iron along the pleats and pin them. So now when you are draping it in rush, the saree will not look like a tent and tame down better. 
• Drape traditional sarees with interesting and stylish blouses. Summers are best time to take out your sleeveless blouses. Or give modern twists to your conventional blouses by using net (refer to the pic). They make the blouses lighter and comfortable too.
• Pure cotton petticoats are a bliss during summer. Avoid the slimfit, jersey fabric ones on these hot days and let the air flow 😉
• Go for natural pastel hues during day time. They are more soothing for eyes and feel better.
• Wear lighter accessories. Lesser the better.
• You can put your hair up in a bun and add fresh flower for some freshness and comfort.
• Avoid heavy makeup.Rub in ice on your skin before doing any makeup

 Am sharing mine and Moumita's go to summer saree looks.

Look 1
 For the first, am wearing a classic timeless Kerala Kasavu saree brought by a friend Shyja Balakrishnan from the God's own country (I can feel her love for me as i drape the saree). These Kasavu sarees, which dates back to Buddhist era, are traditionally weaved in off white and gold. They are considered to be pious and adorned by God. Mine has intricate embroidery of Radha-Krishna on its pallu and gold zari all over it. Its perfect for any daytime event to attend, I was wearing it for a dear friend's bridal shower in the afternoon. I intentionally did not pair it up with a contrast blouse. It would have looked OTT and shift the focus from the wonderful golden hues. So designed my blouse with net at the back to give it some needed oomph and comfort 😊. The simple yet intricate gold chandbaalis, necklace and bangle gave it the subtle glamour it needed. Tied my hair up in a bun and kept my makeup very natural.

Look 2

The second one is a cotton dhakai. The most apt saree for summer. These are uniquely woven by weavers in Bangladesh and West Bengal and manifests designs of flora , fauna and traditional Bengali alpana.  This saree of mine is creme in color and is suitable and eye-soothing for the afternoon events. Paired it with a black quintessential bong হাত কাটা (sleeveless)  blouse. simple  jhumkis and pendent to give it a casual look.

Look 3

This look coming from my twin, Moumita. A very simple yellow taant saree. These taant sarees are handwoven by weavers in Bengal and Bangladesh. Their light, airy texture makes them especially suited for the warm and humid summers of this region. As they are high on starch, she pre-pleated, ironed and pinned the saree before draping it. Paired it with contrast green blouse and a red leather purse as the saree was too simple. Accessorized it with heavy chaandbali earrings and a simple long chain (popularly known as মটর chain in Bengali). Heavy kohl eyes and bright lips to complement the simple saree.

Outfit Details:

Look 1

Saree: Shyja Balakrishnan, from Kerala, India

Blouse Material; New market (kolkata) and designed by me

Jewelry: From N.P. Jewellery, Gariahat, Kolkata

Look 2

Saree: Saree Kuthir, Gariahat, Kolkata

Jewelry: Gariahat Hawkers Market, Kolkata

 Look 3

Saree: Saree Kuthir, Gariahat, Kolkata

Earring: Bilu Ghoshal

Chain: Shri Hari Jewelry

Bangle: Chique, Kolkata

Bag: Sreeleathers, Kolkata