Sari Style
Vidya was felicitated with the Padma Shri Award in Delhi today and for the occasion picked a cheery yellow sari. I’d like to say that she looked great but between the sari, the gold jewellery, the red lips and severe hair, the look felt overwhelming.
What say you?
P.S. Her jewellery is from Jaipur Gems.
Vidya Balan at the Padma Shri Awards 2014
Vidya Balan at the Padma Shri Awards 2014
Photo Credit: Viral Bhayani
She looks lovely !!!!
She is glowing !!!!
She looks good and occasion-appropriate except that blouse which should certainly have been longer since her arms look almost chunky.
First, fabulous achievement. Second, I think the sari, the jewelry and the make up etc is within her cultural boundaries which makes judgement invalid. Just like I wouldn’t judge a Maasai woman for her beads, or myself for my affinity for bandhani odhnis, I wouldn’t judge Vidya for this particular look.
I agree. I think it “fits” her and her taste. Only thing i would change is to have longer blouse sleeves.
Sorry…this is 36 going on 56.
Now even a saree cant save her look!!!
Hideous. I wish she’d worn that Anavila saree here instead of this overdone mess.
The make-up is bad and the necklace is overwhelming. Otherwise she doesn’t look as bad. I like her saree.
I want to personally assault this woman’s stylist for sending her out looking like this.
The blouse is so wrong cause she has big arms, a longer sleeve would do the trick.Could fare so much better with the same outfit , keeping in mind a few details!
You know, women can look big or fat or chunky and still be breathtakingly beautiful. Madhubala and Meena kumari were famously ‘chunky’ and certainly never wore clothes to hide that spect of their physiology and still looked nothing short of ravishing. I think this whole idea of dressing to hide any perceived flaws is dated. To me, in these pictures, Vidya is channelling all time beauties like Meena Kumasi or Vyjantimala. And congrats to her for a well deserved award. Hope she comes up with more Kahanis in the future.
Hear hear!
Though I don’t love this particular look primarily cause of the makeup I absolutely love your point on hiding perceived flaws
So what if her arms are larger than the supposed “perfect body”
It is her body and there is no reason to hide her arms
Personally it’s refreshing to see her wear a slightly shorter sleeved blouse. Makes from a welcome change
+1
Hear hear!
Oh No!! She generally does sari pretty well but I am just not feeling this one. A longer sleeve would have looked elegant. Its too bright and OTT. I wish she would have given more thought for such an important occasion.
Love the necklace, her make up could have been better though.. but overall… she looks fine..
Congratulations to Vidya on receiving her Padmashri purely on the basis of her talent and hardwork. Rest assured her sartorial choices ain’t winning her any…
Congrats to VB on this great honour. My eyes however are on the hunk behind her !
Seriously, you guys! Vidya looks amazing! Love that color on her!!
I think she looks good. The make-up looks a little too white, or maybe that’s just the flash.
Whoa.. Yellow saree with red fringes with yellow metal and red lips! That’s a whole lot to take in :O
Ghastly. That blouse on her body type. FAIL. I didn’t know anyone could look so stuffed in a sari! *smdh*
i miss the option “the look is a disaster” in your poll.
she looks stunning! this is how women dress for formal occasions. Hope other bollywood actresses learn from her.
This is a big FAIL. Getting vibes of a kathakali dancer.
Tacky. All that 3 times lighter foundation is running out in patches from the sweat. Ha ha.
i wish she gets rid of the middle partition…
I haven’t come across another 35 year old who dresses like she’s pushing 50! Gaudy overkill this!
It gives her a overmature look….does not look classy at all.
Congratulations, Vidya!
I like her choice of clothes/jewellery for the Padma awards. I do think her make-up was a little chalky however (or at least appears so in the pictures)…
She looks very traditional and pretty. I like the sari, but she could have toned down the blouse to go with that.
A very traditional south indian look which vidya can carry off, but whats up with the makeup, it looks very caked on and doll like. maybe if she had left her hair out and had a fresher more modern makeup would’nt have aged her so much? Love the necklace though.
It is a traditional south Indian look alright but done so wrong.
Except for the flowers in her hair, I wouldn’t term this as a South Indian look. In fact, I wish she had worn a traditional Kanjeevaram. Also, the gold jewelry really clashed with the bright yellow saree. Cannot believe that she chose this for such a big moment.
However, she still manages to appear radiant. Congratulations, Vidya!
This whole look ages her sooooo much…it’s not even funny!
Wish she chose to go more subtle..some of her other appearances in Sari in the last few weeks were more classy. I agree everything put together feels overwhelming to me.
It’s a free country, let the woman wear whatever type of blouse she wants to wear, flabby arms or not! I’ve seen plenty worse from people in short-sleeved blouses. She looks fine!
Nice saree.. Bad Bad blouse . lovely jewellary, bad bad makeup, COngratulations to VB on her Padma award
What’s with all the ageists here. 56 is fine. So is 66, 76 and so on.
Of course. But not for a 35 year old. ;-)
Well I vote for another category please -” I don’t care” :P
There’s always the “next” button for that!
I dont want to say anything bad because it is an amazing honour and a glorious moment for her. But there is nothing to like about this look. And the bleached side burns are cringe worthy!
she has been honoured with the PADMASHREE. i dont think she cares about nitpicky comments on what she should/ should not wear. the PADMASHREE. just saying…
btw she looks beautiful and comfortable. as she always does.
Exactly !
Alright, I’ve really had it with this website and most of the commentators. This is just the most obnoxious, myopic set of opinions ever. Now I know I will get a lot of “this is a fashion website, you can leave if you don’t like it” type of comments, but bear with me a second.
Highheelconfidential has in the last years grown to become the loudest fashion commentators. P and p have on many occasion shown themselves to have the trappings of being more evolved than the other blogs out there by not commenting on body types etc but there is still another level of evolution that these two don’t seem to have attained. I love what the lady above said about the Bahai women, some things are cultural and it’s actually hilarious how a coterie of forty smug upper class women come on this site and make all kinds of nasty, berating comments. And no this isn’t about “individual” taste. Or p and ps opinions. This is about how a website led by two near anonymous women are create this really subversive, negative, exclusionary attitude. Feeding insecurities and making a whole bunch of women deny their individualism and adopt this ridiculously contrived over styled look. You guys need to reflect on the impact of your work. Are you through your words not denigrating a whole type of cultural code? This look is inherently Indian. Lots of Indian women, young and old dress exactly like this. Are they all garish, ugly, unrefined and without taste? Or are you all a bunch of arrogant narrow minded fools? Get a life guys.
Hear hear!
+100000
*snooze*
I agree. I think she looks lovely. We Indians tend to wear lovely bright colours for our functions, rather than muted whites and creams. I think she looks absolutely lovely here in her traditional sari, the jewellery and the gajra
No. Vidya belongs to the same class as me. Do you know who her husband is? She is in the movies. She is beautiful. She can not dress to save her life. This same colour combination Nandita Das can blow out of the park. So could Mini Mathur or Lara Dutta or Rani Mukherjee. Vidya’s hair could do with more volume, Deepika learnt the same lesson in one day. Her make up is atrocious. However, check the bodyguard out, seen him before with the Prez!
I think these are very profound questions that you have raised, Ree, and not just the owners and visitors on this log, but all fashion aficionados and fashion professionals need to mull over these issues. As I grow older, I shudder to think what such a brutal, insecure, potentially vain obsession with fashion and a few commandments handed over by the Lords of Fashion can do to women, particularly young women. In that respect, I would be so glad and grateful if my hypothetical daughter chose someone like Vidya as a role model over say a ‘fashionista’. Vidya’s confidence in her self and her body is astounding particularly because of her profession where people expect heroines to conform to a bizarre, unreal ideal of beauty and style. Kudos to Ms. Balan and to you for raising this important point yet again.
I actually don’t mind the saree and jewelry…but i cant get on board with that horrendous makeup and the sleeve length.
Way to not publish my comment because it made a sticky point. You guys are ridiculously shallow!
Sorry Ree, we are human beings who also need their sleep.
Actually Tacky !! What was she thinking …seriously !! Though Congratulations to her :()
Sorry , She kind of looks like mother of a bride here. So many flowers in her hair look inappropriate for the occassion. Wedding at home or close friend’s is OK. She tried to copy Sridevi look at her Padmasri, Vidya look fell flat. :(
Putting aside how the sari and make up look on her. I am happy she is dressed appropriately for the event(i.e. dress code not individualistic pieces). After seeing most actresses receiving their awards looking blinged out in party wear saris with bikini and sleeveless blouses or looking like they are decked up for a wedding, it is nice to see her look festive and dressed up but still respectful of the event in a non-blingy sari and shoulders covered.
1> Drape of the Saree is bad. It’s lifted from behind
2> Cap sleeves make her look more stumpy.
3> Make up is all wrong.
4> Necklace and earrings makes her look wide. She should have taken a leaf out of Hema’s book and worn smaller short necklace and a V shaped long necklace to add ventricle lines to the look.
That’s a whole lotta gold!
Damn it! Where is the good looking guard?
everything abt this luk is soo wrong…i cant believe it she wore that for the most prestigious award in india! dis look ages her….even rekha in her kanjivarams looks way prettier and younger than vidya…
I think that is her personal moment to cherish what she accomplished and where her roots come from. Kudos!!! for her being able represent who she is..