Monthly Archives: March 2012

Mar 28 2012
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Bridal, Fashion

BIBI LONDON

28th March 2012

Wondering where I’ve been hiding last week? Well, I was in London running around ticking off as many wedding- esqe musts as poss! The ‘boy’ and I visited six wedding venues, two engagement venues, met up with some event planners and after all that I still some how managed to squeeze in a visit to BIBI LONDON.

BIBI LONDON is the ooohhh so stunning new Eastern fashion boutique in Essex offering a carefully edited selection of the very best in contemporary Indian and Pakistani fashion. They stock in-season collections by Bollywood favourites Neeta Lulla, Shymal and Bhumika, Tarun Tahiliani and my fav Payal Singhal in a fabulously chic interior with a personalised service (the boutique is appointment)

Neeta Lulla

Payal Singhal

(For the eagle -eyed this is current season and resort summer 2012 will be landing in store in the next couple of weeks)

BIBI LONDON also stocks U.K wedding couture designer Mira Taylor. I met Mira a couple of years ago at a mutual friend’s wedding, not only did I love the gorgeously romantic outfits she designed for the bride I loved the sari’s she wore at the events. (she was working pretty florals even back then!)

For more info and to book an appointment www.bibilondon.com

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Mar 22 2012
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Fashion

Label Lust: NorBlack NorWhite

23rd March 2012

The last few years have been an incredibly exciting time for Asian Fashion. The fashion scene is constantly evolving and Bollywood-esque designers are joined by a new wave of designers that are redefining and breaking boundaries on what Indian Fashion is. I’m talking about designers like Little Shilpa, Manish Arora & Jatin Varma.

NorBlack NorWhite is one such brand and integral to the brands ethos is to look back at India’s rich history in textiles and art. Their collections celebrate techniques that have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years and use these skills in an exciting fresh way. They travel to and explore a different area of India each season working with local artisans in creating their ohhh so fab collections. By doing this they are not only creating yumilious collections but are supporting local artisans and keeping these unique skills alive.

There S/s 12 collection was all about exploring Ikat and they travelled to Hyderabad to work with local weavers. How STUNNING is their look book too! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

and how amazing is the vt they shot showing all the skill, love and history that goes into their collections!

Check out their website for stockist info and their latest news!

www.norblacknorwhite.com/

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Mar 20 2012
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Events, Fashion

Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2012: Top 5 Trends

20th March 2012

I’m more used to pulling together trend reports on London, N.Y, Paris & Milan (I’m a freelance high street designer-again more details that should go into the about section!) but this time I looked over to Lakme Fashion Week to pull out their top summer trends. I didn’t include the Bridal collections seeing as I’ve already been a bit ‘Bridal happy’ in my previous posts!

So, here’s my favourite Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2012: Top 5 Trends

1) COLOUR BLOCK

Colour block has been a recurring trend over the seasons but this season’s take still looks fresh. I’m loving the strong colour blocking going on at Anita Dogre and the twist on traditional wear at Abishek Dutta

2) MONOCHROME

Surprisingly for a high summer collection Monochrome made an appearance all over the catwalks. My favourite take was Pranav & Shyma’s monochrome tribal esque embroidery and the statement pieces at Little Shilpa (this girl can do no wrong!)

3) BOHO-LUXE

If there’s one trend Indian designers can do with their eyes closed- it’s Boho Luxe. Beautiful traditional Indian techniques from dip-dye, tie dye, embroidery and embellishments were utilised in simple silhouettes. I loved the use of colour, embellishment and weaving over at Pia Pauro and the beautifully simple tie dye dresses at James Ferreira.

4) CHECKS

Checks in all their forms were seen during the week, from traditional checks at Deepika Govind to the stunning contemporary geometrics at Napur Kanoi. This micro trend will definitely be filtering into your wardrobes this summer.

5) QUIRKY PRINTS

Over at Milan Prada’s had Cadillac prints, Paris had Chanel’s seahorses and in Mumbai there were Mickey Mouse prints at Nitin Bal Chauhan and camera prints at Masaba Gupta. My favourite print collection was over at the talented Theresa James & Roger Prince-stunning digital prints mixed with statement patterns- a truly beautiful collection

All pictures from http://www.lakmefashionweek.co.in

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Mar 15 2012
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Events, Fashion

River Island presents….ELLE LOVES

15th March 2012

The boy (i cant use fiancée, it just sounds too weird-so i’ll just refer to him as the boy) is working late this week so I thought I’d indulge in a little Thursday night retail therapy.

I’m in Liverpool this week (I’m a part time desperate scousewife because the boy works here- I’m thinking I should really fill out my about section) and I wandered into River Island. In one corner were the fab BOOM nails girls, the other a Malibu bar and in the middle a mini catwalk space had been cleared. One of the girl’s from Elle presented four key looks from River Island’s S/s 12 range.

The first look was inspired by Rihanna and the gorgeous D&G S/s collection.

The second look was that same old S/s trend that comes every year Nautical

The third look was inspired by the Priarie trends

The last look was my favourite, there were some really pretty pieces inspired by the pretty pastels at Louis Vuitton and the 50’s flavour shown at Prada.

Love this mint metallic skirt.

This is the pretty clutch I bought. I love River Island’s bling clutches and always end up picking up a few each season. They also work well with Indian outfits and saris.

I had to finish with the business card of the fab BOOM NAILS. Wish my card was a pretttttttttttyyyy!

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Mar 14 2012
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Fashion

Label Lust: Akong London S/s 12

14th March 2012

How Yum is Akong London’s S/s 12 collection? Nicole’s ‘Imperial collection’ features beautiful necklaces and stoles inspired by the Orient. Loving these statement stoles!

www.akonglondon.com

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Mar 14 2012
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Fashion

Mumbai street fashion adventure with Manou- Guardian video

14th March 2012

Love this video-a fab insight into Indian street style and the contemporary fashion scene. I ADORE norblacknorwhite – will def post about their S/s 12 collection. They travel to different areas in India and explore each states rich craftmanship and textiles and celebrate these techniques in their contemporary collections. They are AMAZINGGGG…
and I will be following Manou’s inspiring blog on wearabout.wordpress.com/

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Mar 13 2012
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Fashion

Lakme Fashion Week: The top 3 ‘What were you thinking?’

12th March 2012

I was browsing away, checking out the Lakme Fashion Week shows and I noticed some STRANGE things going on. Was there something in the water that some of the designers were drinking? Some way of explaining these ‘What were you thinking?’ moments.

Well I’ll count it down!

In 3rd place

James Ferreira’s Cone Head and Crotch disaster!

This was a stunning collection by James Ferreira, so why let the hair stylist spoil it with these distracting gravity defying hair styles! and didn’t anyone notice the unfortunate tie-dye placement over the crotch beforehand?

In 2nd place

Sapna Bhavani and Suckriti Grover

There were a couple of ideas in the collection that showed promise but the rest of the outfits just didn’t work. For example these scary gingham bloomers this poor model is wearing but I’m guessing you didn’t notice them and were busy looking at the strange make-up and hair combo.

In 1st place

Narendra Kumar’s cut price wigs and awful disco dancing

Why? Oh Why? Narendra Kumar’s a great designer shame he thought the cut price wigs and disco dancing would enhance his collection?


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Mar 11 2012
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Beauty

Stick-On Eye-liners

11th March 2012

The oh so chic Adele-esque Dior Velvet stick on eye-liners have been around for a few months now and this S/s 12 are joined by variations of the trend. I’m loving the stunning lace transfers from Face-Lace.com by make-up legend Phyllis Cohen. Whether you go small or big these transfers will make a stunning impact.

The full range is out this month at www.face-lace.com

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Mar 11 2012
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Bridal

Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2012 : Vikram Phandis

Bar the bizaree head wear this collection was a stunner. Vikram Phandis collection started with some elegant cream/ivory/gold pieces and were followed by some beautiful vintage floral printed pieces that were mixed with gold embridered black velvets. The whole collection had a Mughal inspired flavour, more than a little nod to Sabyasachi’s Winter Festive collection I think…

photos from http://www.lakefashionweek.com

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Mar 10 2012
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Bridal

Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort 2012: Payal Singhal

10th March 2012

I LOVED Payal Singhal’s last collection and as gorgeous as this collection is, it just for me isn’t as WOW as her last. I love all the new embroidery techniques she’s used- the mix of heavy encrusted stone work mixed with delicate filgree work. The colour palette is refined as ever as is her mixing of jaquards, silks and embroidery. The reason I don’t think its as Wow as her last is down to her silhouettes, she looked to a Midsummer Night’s Dream for inspiration and some of the empire line, dropped waist styles and full bottoms are just not that flattering to the figure. I say this (I’m probably being uber-critical) but she still is one of the best bridal designers and there are a few pieces that will be making their way into my wardrobe!

Absolutely stunning piece!

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