12
Wearing a cold-shoulder & Other Stories dress, Shilpa attended celebrity manager Rohini Iyer’s birthday bash on Tuesday evening. Picking up on the gold heart motifs, she finished out her look with a black McQueen clutch and gold sandals. Cute dress but can’t say am a fan of the footwear.
Shop the dress HERE.
|
8
A spiffy looking Akshay Kumar attended the Vogue Beauty Awards 2017, where he wore a Dolce & Gabbana suit. The novelty factor came in the form of an Alexander McQueen skull printed tie and a skull cane.
We liked how the accessories tied the outfit together. There’s no doubt that Akshay looked good!
On the aside, given how actors have been showing up in their in-character appearances for promotional activities/events, we are glad that Akshay didn’t pick a prop from his upcoming movie. :-P
|
Akshay Kumar at Vogue Beauty Awards 2017
Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani
2
Giving us our first suit appearance at the IIFA Awards 2017, was Anil Kapoor in an Armani tux, a YSL bow and an Alexander McQueen shirt. Same Old Same Old, it might be, but given the number of misses we have seen lately from men in their suits, we liked this look.
He looked good!
|
Anil Kapoor at IIFA Awards 2017
Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani
4
Sunil Shetty, Karan Johar & Sushant Singh Rajput also walked the green carpet at IIFA Rocks 2017. Suniel stuck to the blue colored theme in a suit and we had no complaints! He looked great!
Karan Johar went the suit route and opted to pair his black and white separates with a velvet red blazer and an Alexander McQueen lapel pin. Wish he skipped the vest and picked a different pair of shoes than the Louboutins he had on.
Sushant picked a velvet blazer too but he stuck to a black and white combination. We have been seeing him in a whole lot of black lately. I’m hoping that he changes it up a little bit.
|
Sunil Shetty At IIFA 2017 Green Carpet
|
Karan Johar At IIFA 2017 Green Carpet
|
Sushant Singh Rajput at IIFA 2017 Green Carpet
Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani
13
By this point, you probably have caught a whiff of Gaultier’s Fall Couture presentation. The theme was ski culture and among the pieces inspired by exotic and glamorous chalets, skiing destinations and the jet-set who frequent them, were those that were inspired by the sari. And you couldn’t miss them.
The sharply tailored black number worn with white stacked bracelets and a matching choker was an instant favorite. Sign me up for the après-ski cocktail hour. The other black draped dress with thin beaded border instantly reminded me of a Schiaparelli from the thirties. This tells you, much like the Grecian toga, the sari has inspired fashion through the ages. Both fabrics from ancient cultures/civilizations with distinct and distinguishing drapes.
|
Jean Paul Gaultier Couture 2017
Jean Paul Gaultier’s clothes have a certain whimsy, a sort of magnified alternate fairy-tale reality to them. And so, looking to India for inspiration doesn’t surprise me. Back in 07, it was royalty that did the trick.
|
Jean Paul Gaultier Couture 2007
Coming back to the sari, it’s been a garment that has always caught couturiers’ attention. Schiaparelli did a draped black number in the 30s, a silhouette which was revised again more recently in 2015. At that time (30s-60s), the sari much like the cheongsam hinted at fetishizing of the ‘exotic’ East by the West. Between that and romanticizing royalty and colonialism, the sari, an elegant garment by itself got the nod of approval to be reinterpreted for the western palette from the upper echelons (and couture buyers).
|
Schiaparelli 2015 And The 30s, Yves Saint Laurent 80s And The 60s
It’s easy to see the sari’s appeal… The drape is open to designer’s interpretation and even in it’s simplest, unadulterated form, open to the wearer’s. And perhaps, universally flattering.
|
Balenciaga Early 60s, Christian Dior 1955, Alexander McQueen 2008, Marchesa 2013
After seeing a picture of Hepburn in Life magazine’s May ’62 issue, Jackie Kennedy asked Oleg Cassini to create a version of the original Hubert de Givenchy design for her. She wore the pink sari-inspired silk chiffon (beaded with porcelain and rhinestones) gown to a White House state dinner honoring President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1963. Incredible how the dress seems just as timeless today (could be the Hepburn-Kennedy effect too)!
|
Audrey Hepburn In Givenchy, Jacqueline Kennedy In Oleg Cassini
However, it hasn’t always been only saris. Other silhouettes, textiles and craft have heavily influenced designers outside of India as you will see in a snapshot of images below. The sari though is just a tad more special. The garment is uniquely dependent on its wearer. Each time it lends itself to the aesthetic of the wearer, both in how it is draped and styled.
|
Chanel 2012
|
Hermès 2008
Among the young in India, saris are not as popular. But that is beginning to change gradually. Re-interpreted silhouettes, sari-inspired gowns are like gateway drugs to the real thing. And every time a designer is influenced/inspired by it, it’s a notch for Team Sari. This timeless garment needs its due and it’s happening, albeit bit by bit. Have you heard of The Sari Series? We are thrilled to announce we are associate producers on one of the How-To-Drape films and can’t wait for you all to see it. We love our saris and are so excited to be able to lend our support in a small way! Yay saris! And that’s Sari, not sorry.
|
Elie Saab Couture 2016, Isabel Marant 2016
Photo Credit: Life Magazine, Style.com, Vogue, Met Museum
