All About The Dress

Remember Ridaa Mian and her guide to bridal trousseau shopping? Well, she's back, with more great advice about finding the perfect bridal lengha. Take it away Ridaa.

image via Maram & Aabroo

1. Designer dresses are not the only beautiful dresses available. There are numerous shops that carry ready-made dresses that can offer you the glamour that you're looking for at the right price. Start with your budget and decide what style of dress matters to you versus what brand the dress is or who made it. Do you want to be a traditional, modern, a mix of both worlds bride, or do you have a color preference in mind and that's all that really matters? Ever thought of buying an outfit and then having the sleeves removed to reflect more of your style, or changing the pant/churidaar to a second and third color to give it more flair (a big trend these days).

2. Coordinate your groom's attire with yours. It's nice to have something that binds the two together. This doesn't mean that you need to match entirely, subtle touches can go a long way. What about picking one color from your outfit and coordinating it with his embroidery, cufflinks, tie, or turban/shawl. Instead of coordinating the exact color you could just stick with the same color palette or material.

3. Fitting - tailoring is key. No matter how beautiful and ornate your bridal dress is, if it doesn't fit, it isn't meant to be worn. Don't think that because you have something beautiful and overspent your budget that the tailoring does not matter. In fact, a bride would be better served spending less on the actual dress and putting aside funds for adequate tailoring. The overall shape of the silhouette will be noticed from how well fitted the sleeves are to shirt proportions on the body.

4. Jewelry - details can make or break your overall bridal look. This doesn't mean you need to spend a fortune to get the perfect set, but think ahead and plan a bit. If your dress is maroon and gold and you want to stand out - ever thought of using a new color and not sticking with a gold and red set? You could incorporate pearls, possibly emeralds, or maybe wear a classical nauratan set that you could borrow from your grandmother? Wearing an heirloom set, but haven't thought of having it cleaned in time for the big day? Do a dress rehearsal and make sure the necklace stays put, that no pinning is required and remember, even necklaces/earrings can be altered to suit your taste and the way you plan to wear your dupatta.


image via Maram & Aabroo

5. Lastly, some trends I've noticed in the past year planning my own wedding:
- Elbow to full length sleeves are all the rage and still give brides an opportunity to showcase any bangles or jewelry, and they look especially elegant when using interesting materials like lace or chiffon.
- Farshi ghararas will never go out of style and are considered the epitome of tradition. They create a more flowy and heavy effect because of the extra yards of fabric used. The only drawback - it can be super heavy to wear, especially if the embroidery is not evenly distributed.
- Chatta pattis with farshis are also big - a chatta patti is a combination of different colored swatches of fabric one after the other forming lines and are usually found at the bottom half of the gharara (two pant legs) or sharara (skirt).
- Nowadays, for a more traditional look, brides are making extra long kameezes (shirts) which gives you an opportunity to re-wear your wedding outfit by combining it with a churidar or narrow/cropped pants. Shorter kameezes still work just as well, and corset/bustier style shirts and/or front open shirts are still in as well.
- In terms of embroidery, it ranges from old-school "gotta" embroidery using antique gold all the way to the use of zardozi work and contemporary rhinestones (preferably swarovski). Large and medium sized jewels are being heavily used on shirt pieces to make one-of-a-kind outfits, and a single outfit can have upwards of 35 different kinds of embroidery.
- Long coats are HUGE right now and can be worn over and over again: it's as easy as dressing down with a lighter dupatta and less jewelry. What's different about the coats is that lengths vary from super long coats to coats that are shorter in the front and longer in the back for a more eye-pleasing effect.