Lessons on how to wear a statement nose ring/nath

A particular jewellery trend has caught my eye recently - the statement nose ring / nath!
Nose rings are nothing new and Asian brides have been wearing them for as long as I can remember, but this week, with the whole world watching at the Cannes Film Festival, two non-brides Sonam Kapoor and Vidya Balan accessorised their red-carpet outfits with statement nose rings.

Check out their looks below, followed by some inspiration for if you want to try out a statement nose ring and you're not a bride!

Sonam Kapoor wearing a gold and white sari by Anamika Khanna

Vidya Balan wearing Sabyasachi

I think most people will agree that Sonam carried off the look much better than Vidya did, so what can we learn from this?

• What other jewellery to wear
  If you're going to wear a statement nose ring keep the rest of your jewellery to a minimum - especially if you don't want to look like a bride.

• Hair and Make-Up are important too
  Take your hair styling and make-up into consideration as this could make or break your look - compare Vidya's minimal make-up and flat haired look to Sonam's more dramatic winged eyeliner and deep red lipstick.
  
• Choose your nose ring/nath carefully
  Placement and size of the nose ring can also make a big difference. With placement you have less control if you actually have your nose pieced compared to wearing a clip-on, but look how Vidya's nose ring falls below her lips whilst Sonam's looks like it's placed much high up on her nose. Personally I'd go for a nose ring with as little dangling parts as possible.
  

Here are some nose ring/nath looks to inspire you:

Asiana Wedding Summer 2013

I got my copy of Asiana's latest issue this week and I have to admit at first I wasn't immediately taken by the cover image, but with my new found appreciation of the statement nose ring I really like this look. I love the sultry eye make-up, the pink lips and the fact that the rest of the jewellery is very simple. The cover look was by make-up artist Annie Shah, buy the mag to get a breakdown of what she used to create this look and visit Asiana's online beauty finder for more beauty looks.

Gaurang at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2012

Obaid Sheikh at Pakistan Fashion Week 3 London 2012

Vineet Bahl at Wills India Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2013

Have any of these statement nose rings inspired you? Personally I'd be tempted to try one out at the next wedding event I go to - it would make a difference compared to all the jewelled hair accessories worn by the other guests!

Great Gatsby 1920s fashions from Pakistani designer Karma Pink

With the release of Baz Lurhman's film The Great Gatsby this weekend and 1920s style fashion EVERYWHERE right now, I thought it would be the perfect time to share this 1920's themed collection by from Pakistani label Karma Pink.

This collection was showcased at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week in Lahore last month.

The detail on these trousers looks amazing, I wonder how heavy they were?

I think some of the outfits like this blue one didn't exactly fit the 1920s theme as much as the others, but it goes to show how you can add some 1920s styling to your existing asian outfits.

I'm really drawn to this jumpsuit, such little embroidery but it looks very chic.

Now onto the flapper dresses!

As with those trousers above, it's really in the close up detail that you see the beauty in these outfits (click on the pics to take a closer look)

This last outfit was probably my favourite out of the flapper dresses as it's the one which I think best fuses both the 1920s style with the Pakistani style.

You can view the full collection here.

Which is your favourite?

Indian inspired jewellery and accessories on the high street

Recently I've been noticing a lot of asian-looking jewellery and accessories in the most unexpected places, from the range of tikkas available to buy online at Asos, to hand chains (panjas) in Oasis and hair chains (like matha pattis) at River Island.

Here are some of my finds!

Hair Chains/Matha Pattis

River Island has a lot of what they're calling "hair chains" in at the moment. They're a lot more boho style than a matha patti/shingar patti but I think you could get away with wearing some of them with an asian outfit. I went to check these out in store and ended up trying a few on!

Flow Hair Chain £8 from River Island

Gold Tone Hair Chain £15 from River Island

The first one has more of a summer music festival feel to it whilst the second has more of an asian feel to it (despite the missing stones!).
I was surprised at how easy these were to put on, I usually struggle with styling hair accessories but these were really lightweight. Just imagine how much better they would look if I'd styled my hair properly to wear it!

What do you think?

Accessorize also has something similar which they're calling the "Bombay Princess Head Dress" for £15.

Hand Chains/Panjas

River Island are calling these panjas, whilst othe shops have them labelled as hand chains. Here's a selection of the ones I've found online from high street stores:
Gold and Cream Pearl Flower Handchain (top right in the pic) - £6.99 from New Look
Gold Tone Victoriana Panja (bottom in the pic) - £8 from River Island
Three Stone Hand Chain (top left in the pic) - £10 from Oasis

Tikkas

Asos Tikkas
Asos have a range of tikkas in at the moment, some more traditional in styling and other a bit more radical! I like this traditional style tikka:
Eye drop tikka hair clip - £15

However I'm not such a fan of this tikka with an ear cuff. It just seems a little impractical with the chain going all the way across your face!
Petal tikka and ear cuff - £10

Final find - earrings

I just had to post a photo of these "gold tone chandelier earrings" from River Island which reminded me of kaleeray.
As you can probably imagine they're quite heavy and very long! I would love to see someone wearing these out, I'd imagine you'd need quite an understated outfit to make the most of them...and having a long neck may help too!


Would you buy any of these asian-inspired accessories? Do you think you could wear them with your asian outfits?

Personally, the prices would play a big part in my purchase decision, I'd probably buy some of the less expensive pieces knowing that if I didn't wear them very often it wouldn't be a huge waste. Quality is also an issue, for example the second hair chain had stones missing.

Let me know what you think and if you're found any asian-inspired accessories in any unexpected places.

Rizwan Ahmed at Alchemy Fashion Show London 2013 | Photos + Video

Rizwan Ahmed was the final designer to showcase a collection at the 2013 Alchemy Fashion Show in London. Here's a closer look at the dresses and video from the finale showing how the dresses move.

I like the detail on the backs of the dresses:

As much as the "swishiness" of these gowns looks great on the catwalk, I do have to wonder how much swishing around a real person wearing these dresses would do!

The collection also included some dresses with less layers to show off your legs:

Here's a video from the end of the show, including the designer himself on the catwalk:

Hair - Nisso International
Make up - Sadaf Khan
Photography - Shahid Malik
Produced - Riwayat

Sophia Mehta at the Alchemy Fashion Show London 2013

Here's the collection from Sophia Mehta which was showcased at the 2013 Alchemy Fashion Show in London this month.

What I liked about this show was that it wasn't just made up of with long flowing dresses, yes long flowing dresses featured but there was a bit of variety. I loved the jackets, scroll down to the end to see them, but first we'll start with the dresses:

I didn't really like these next two assymetrical outfits, the overall look seems a bit "messy" to me, and the first outfit with one sleeve looks incomplete, what do you think?

This next outfit also wouldn't be something I'd buy, to me the print seems a bit too much like it belongs on a piece of furniture and I don't like the fringing either!

Now onto the jackets which I really liked, especially the cape jacket. I don't think I'd have a use/occassion to wear either of these but they're still my favourite items from this show!

Hair Styling was by Nisso International
Make up was by Sadaf Khan
Photography by Shahid Malik
The Show producer was Riwayat

Khush Wedding Magazine new TV ad and fashion editorials sneak peek

A few months ago I posted the front cover of Khush Wedding Magazine's first issue which provided a preview of what could be expected from newest Asian Bridal magazine in the UK.

The magazine will be out soon and here's a look at their new TV ad and some more preview pics which they have shared on the Khush Magazine Facebook page.


Here are some behind the scenes pics from their fashion photoshoots:


I'm liking what I've seen from the previews and can't wait to see the first issue!

Zainab Chottani at the Alchemy Fashion Show London 2013

The Alchemy Fashion Show took place in London this month and featured asian fashion from designers in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Here's the collection by Zainab Chottani (formerly known as Zainab Sajid).

I'm used to seeing heavy bridal outfits from this designer, like this collection from the 2011 Rhythm of Asia fashion show, so it made a change to see this more subtle collection.

I loved this first outfit, I'd definitely wear something like this and to go for a more stand-out look I think the top could be worn with coloured leggings...in my head I'm picturing hot pink!

A series of long flowing gowns followed:


This next dress with hints of blue was my favourite from the gowns:

There were also some outfits which had less of a traditional feel to them, like these unusual trousers.

I liked this jumpsuit, it has a fun feel to it and even though there's a lot of skin on show I think it looks chic.

Again lots of skin on show with this final outfit, but I really like the look of it. If you wanted to cover up a bit more you I think the mini dress would still look good worn with leggings or churidar bottoms.

Here are the credits for this event:
Hair Styling - Nisso International
Make up - Sadaf Khan
Photography - Shahid Malik
Show producer Riwayat