Tag Archives: the asian fashion journal

Asian Fashion, Wedding & Lifestyle Bloggers Meet Up @ The Book Club : Sept 14

12th September 2014

On the Sunday just gone I organised the first UK Asian Bloggers Meet Up. Saying I organised the event is a bit of a stretch- I just sent out a few tweets and the lovely ladies below responded! I’m still soooooo surprised by the turn out. I was expecting maybe 3 or 4 bloggers might tweet back a yes but we made it to double figures! Yeah baby! there were twelve us in total.

I chose the chilled out The Book Club in Shoreditch for our meet up- where we took over a long table and turned up the noise level in the venue (apologies to the other diners!) The afternoon was so much fun, I enjoyed gossiping about the highs and lows of Asian Fashion, Weddings and Beauty with people that love the industry as much as I do! I was also super excited that Toronto based super star designer and stylist Mani J was over in London. So I invited her to the bloggers meet too.

Here’s some pics of the event and thanks to @Ashichick (Nazma’s sis who took the group pic but can be spotted in the yellow jumper below!)

asian bloggers meet up 1

asian, India, Pakistan,Fashion, Blogger, wedding, Shaadi

asian bloggers meet up

asian, India, Pakistan,Fashion, Blogger, wedding, Shaadi

From L-R we have Mani J, Rabbia, Yasmin, Kayennat, Sharn, Nazma, Me!, Nigar, Raj, Sara & Mandavi

Mani J Mani Jassal

Asian Wedding Ideas– Rabbia

Pehrani– Yasmin

The Desi Dossier– Kayennat & Nigar

Desi Bride Dreams– Sharn

Asian Fashion Blog– Nazma

Secret Wedding Blog– Raj

Sara K Blog– Sara

The Red Notebook– Mandavi

The time flew by and by 4 pm we started to say our goodbyes : ( but one things for sure we will def be meeting again. Next meet up is going to be in Brum and we are leaving it to the gorgeous The Desi Dossier sisters (I want your hair Kayennat aka Rapunzel) to pick a venue!

The meet up is open to all bloggers so if you’d like to come to the next one please contact me or any one of us bloggers on the list! I’m thinking we should aim to double the number of bloggers for the next meeting!

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Manish Malhotra Store Review & My Manish Civil Ceremony Lengha

7th August 2014

I recently posted My Mumbai Wedding Shopping Guide and thought I’d follow up with some individual store reviews. First up is Manish Malhotra. He has two flagship stores opposite each other (address’ are below). One is for full on Bridal yuminess and the other houses his diffusion ranges. I was looking for something lighter to wear for my Civil Ceremony (I didn’t want a Western Wedding Gown) so choose a beauty of an Ivory Lengha from his diffusion store. Actually my Mum and Sis choose it and made me try it on. I was reluctant to buy another Lengha and had it in my mind that I’d buy an Ivory sari. My thinking was- if I buy a sari I’d prob wear it again.

Manish Malhotra, The Asian Fashion Journal, Nina Patel, WEdding, Lengha, Shaadi, MumbaiPic of the Diffusion Store via Manish Malhotra Facebook

Well they got me in it and that’s when I fell in love with the Lengha. Plus the sales assistant said I can get a Sari made to match the blouse as well as get an embroidered or embellished body made to wear with the skirt and Duppatta making it look like a gown! She said its what lots of customers do and when we met our tailor a couple of days later he said the same. Well you learn something new everyday hey? (or does this just show how clueless us NRI brides are!)

manish malhotra, India, Fashion, Shaadi, Wedding, Lengha, Sari, A snap I took before we left the store so I remembered what I’d ordered!

We asked if the sample could be adjusted so we could take it back with us and the asst measured away and said it could be possible but it wouldn’t be comfortable for me in the armhole and it would be much better to get a fresh made to measure piece done. Like I’ve said previously after hearing so many horror stories of brides ordering pieces while in India only to receive ill fitting outfits posted over I was a little reluctant but as it was only one order we thought we’d take the risk. Also we paid by credit card- hey you never know its better to have that security in case you things do go wrong and you need to dispute the charge.

manish malhotra, India, Fashion, Shaadi, Wedding, Lengha, Sari, Detail of the gorgeous thread work

We were given a delivery date and told to expect a phone call a few days prior to re-confirm delivery address. And guess what? Mansi rang us like she said she would when she said she would and the package came over on time.

The blouse fit was like a second skin, shaping and lifting in all the right places (if you know what I mean) even though it was essentially a tiny blouse. The skirt was really loose on me although I think that was down to the upping of pre wedding workouts- I had to get my tailor over here to adjust the skirt.

From the experience I had of shopping from the store I’d highly recommend shopping at Manish Malhotra. I would happily order made to measure pieces from the store in the future (just got to wait for my sis wedding now!)

Manish Malhotra, Real Bride, Wedding, Shaadi, Lengha, The Asian Fashion Journal, Nina Patel I’ve cropped my Hubs out as well as my head. As much as I’m fine with sharing pics of me normally- I’m just not as comfortable sharing my wedding pics.

MANISH MALHOTRA FLAGSHIP BRIDAL STORE
Showroom no 3/4/5 Vishnudham CHS,
Corner of 14th Road & Linking Road,
Khar West, Mumbai 400 052
T: +91 22 26050723 / 26050724
M: +91 9987719978 / 9167982755

MANISH MALHOTRA DIFFUSION STORE
Showroom no 3/4/5 Vishnudham CHS,
Corner of 14th Road & Linking Road,
Khar West, Mumbai 400 052
T: +91 22 26054674/ 26053673
M: +91 9821222355 / 9833946835

Of course he has plenty more stores across India- Here’s a link to the full list.

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

S/s 13 Trend : Monochrome trousers

21st March 2013

Last month the lovely Jahnabee Borah of Strut120 asked if I’d like to put together a Real Girl story. (click here to see how I got on) I’m pleased with how the story turned out and think the mix of personal styles is fab. There’s geek chic Devi-Asha, fashionista Meera, hippie at heart Momtaz Begum Hossain and a few more girls including me. I’ve mentioned several times that I’m not exactly a natural in front of the camera but with a LOT of direction from my sis I managed to get a good enough snap for the story as well as a few extra for this monochrome trouser blog post. Monochrome is a huge trend for S/s 13 and wearing a printed pair of trousers is a good way to work the look. You can go for a contrast side panel pair or a vertical stripe pair (which creep me out because they remind me of the film Beetlejuice) or you can go for a pair of monochrome check trousers like I have.

1 nina patel 1I love these trousers. They were a recent buy from Topshop and I’ve named them my clown pants.

2 clutch detail 1This clutch is from Zara, bright shades make me happy!

me

I’d describe my style as kinda lazy. I like easy simple pieces that make a statement but not too much of a statement (does that even make any sense?!) For example. I love the monochrome check trousers but would always opt to pair it with either a plain white tee or block colour jumper (say orange or cobalt blue) than say a fussy blouse or contrast print top.

watch 2My watch is from Marc Jacobs, the spike bracelet is from ASOS (I love ASOS’ costume jewelry )

3 necklace detail 1This chain and pom pom necklace is from Topshop too and for the eagle eyed my nail varnish is Vendetta by Chanel.

4 slippers detail 1These embellished slippers are from Office. I like my flats, I’m 5ft 9″ and can get away with wearing them.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,