Top 5 Asian Fashion Moments of 2013

For my final blog post of the year, here are my top 5 Asian Fashion Moments of 2013!

5) Karma Pink does Great Gatsby 1920s Style

The Great Gatsby was one the most stylish films of the year and 1920s fashion felt like it was everywhere - even on the catwalks in Pakistan!

Karma Pink showcased this 1920s-inspired collection at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week in Lahore in April. View more from the collection here.

4) Asian Fashion on TV - New Girl and Made in Chelsea

Popular TV shows "Made in Chelsea" and "New Girl" both featured asian fashion, with a Bollywood themed party and an Indian wedding.

The MIC cast's outfits were worthy of being worn by a bride or groom, whilst on New Girl I think they made Cece look at little too traditional! View all the MIC outfits here, and the New Girls outfits here.

3) Manish Malhotra fashion show in London

This year the UK held host to a number of fashions shows from high profile Indian and Pakistani designers. The show which made the biggest impact on me though, was a show by Manish Malhotra for the charity The Angeli Foundation.

I've seen so many copies of these outfits since the event and I'm sure you have too! View more from the show here.

2) Asian Fashion at Cannes 2013

The Cannes film festival was full of Bollywood stars including Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, all wearing an array of Indian and western outfits!

The designers who dresses these beauties included Sabyasachi, Manish Malhotra, Anamika Khanna, Shehla Khan, Tarun Tahiliani and Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. View more of the asian fashion at Cannes 2013 here.

1) Amir Khan and Faryal Makhdhoom's wedding

Love them or hate them, for British Asians, this was the celebrity asian wedding of the year! The bride chose Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani for both of her events:

The couple's wedding pictures appeared in Hello! Magazine and of course there was much discussion over all the details, especially her outfits, from the choice of designer (many thought she should have chosen a Pakistani designer), to her styling and make-up.
This celebrity wedding was definitely my guilty pleasure of the year and I even made a correct guess about Faryal's outfit choice on the Asian Fashion Blog Facebook page way back in February when she announced Tarun Tahiliani as her chosen designer:

You can read my blog posts about this celeb wedding here.

What were your favourite "Asian Fashion" moments of 2013?

Guide to 2014 Asian Wedding and Bridal Shows

2013 felt like a "quiet" year for me in terms of the number of weddings I attended, but 2014 is shaping up to be quite busy with lots of people I know planning to get married!

For anyone that's planning their 2014 weddings, here's my guide to the asian wedding and bridal exhibitions which will be taking place over the next three months:

AWE Asian Wedding Exhibition

Date: Saturday and Sunday 11th & 12th January 2014
Location: LONDON - Wembley Arena
Ticket Price: Adults £10, Children £5
More info and tickets: www.aweuk.com

National Asian Wedding Show Bradford

Date: Sunday 12th January 2014
Location: BRADFORD - Hilton Hotel
Ticket Price: £5
More info and tickets: www.nationalasianweddingshow.co.uk

Asiana Bridal Show

Date: Sunday 26th January 2014
Location: LONDON - Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel
Ticket Price: Exhibition only - £11 (including booking fee), Exhibition and Catwalk show - £21 (including booking fee)
More info and tickets: www.asianabridalshow.com

National Asian Wedding Show Midlands

Date: Sunday 2nd February 2014
Location: WEST MIDLANDS - National Motorcycle Museum
More info and tickets: www.nationalasianweddingshow.co.uk

National Asian Wedding Show London

Date: Sunday 2nd March 2014
Location: LONDON - Hilton Hotel Heathrow Terminal 5
More info and tickets: At the National Asian Wedding Show website - www.nationalasianweddingshow.co.uk

Asian Bride Live Birmingham

Date: Sunday 9th March 2014
Location: BIRMINGHAM - ICC
Ticket Price: £5
More info and tickets: www.asianbride.me/Live/Birmingham

Daminis at Asian Bride Live

Here's the collection by London store Daminis which was showcased at the 2013 Asian Bride Live Show.

These three were my favourite outfits, I love the colour combinations and the little details like the short capped gold sleeves on the left outfit.

Here's a closer look:

This next outfit was my least favourite, I really don't like the top, it almost feels like it doesn't match the rest of the outfit?

This black and gold dress was another favourite of mine:

A huge thanks to Shahid Malik Photography for these photos.

Khushboos by Chand at the Asiana Couture Fashion Show 2013

Here's the collection from Birmingham store Khushboos by Chand which was showcased at the Asiana Couture show in London.

There was a real elegance to the long flowing outfits from this collection.

This orange outfit was one my favourites

A huge thanks to Asia Glam for these photos!

Asian Fashion Blog at the Asian Media Awards 2013

Last month, the first Asian Media Awards took place at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester with the aim of showcasing "the very best talent working in the Asian and mainstream media".

I was lucky enough to attend the event as Asian Fashion Blog was nominated in the category of "Best Blog". I didn't win, but here's what I wore and some photos of the other attendees on the night!

Although the picture probably doesn't show it, this is a jumpsuit! I was debating whether to wear an Asian outfit or an evening dress for this event and as I'd left it too late to order something online, I decided to see if the asian shops in Manchester had anything fusion style within the budget of £100 I had available. I visited Wilmslow Road, but gave up after the first few shops as I was only seeing quite heavy outfits or big prices and I wanted something a little more understated.

By chance, I popped into a store called Vaneeza's Boutique, which I often drive past, but hadn't been into before. After browsing their rails and finding outfits I liked but which wouldn't be right for this event, the staff in store mentioned they had just got some jumpsuits in stock. I was a little unsure when I first saw it on the hanger, but I tried it on and it completely matched up with what I had in mind. I paid £95 for it and was very pleased with my purchase!

The jumpsuit itself is sleeveless and can be worn with or without the lace jacket shown in the first photo:

Here's a close-up of the detail on the top:

I like the little details like the pleats on the front and how it fits on my shoulders. I must admit I wasn't overly keen on the blingy buttons to begin with, but overall I think they add just the right amount of sparkle without going over the top. I probably could have tied the waist-tie a little more elegantly, but in my defence, I did have to get changed in the toilets at work in order to attend this event on time!

What do you think?

Here are some of the other outfits from the night:

#TwoDirection @gurjotsindhar & sona_arora_show with the gorgeous @Umbreen_Ali striking a pose @asianmediaaward pic.twitter.com/wamqMkwyZS

— Joyti K S (@GurjotSindhar) November 1, 2013

I decided to wear this to @asianmediaaward - Gold chiffon one piece saree with peek-a-boo midriff. Do u like?! pic.twitter.com/8dhaUp3Gif

— Noreen Khan (@DJNoreenKhan) November 2, 2013

Asian Media Awards were fab! Am honoured I spent my evening w/such talented industry professionals #asianmediaawards pic.twitter.com/uxXbSCJmYk

— Anila Dhami (@AnilaDhami) November 1, 2013

At the @asianmediaaward last week :) @LucyDartfordPR pic.twitter.com/lEar51zlol

— Uzma Yakoob (@uzmayakoob) November 4, 2013

You can see all the winners and clips from the event on the Asian Media Awards Youtube channel here.

Made in Chelsea, the Bollywood Party

This week saw a lot of asian fashion on TV in the UK as reality show "Made in Chelsea" featured a Bollywood-themed party, complete with stereotypical "screw in the lightbulb" dance moves!

Popular asian bridalwear designer Ekta Solanki dressed most of the cast, with hair and make-up provided by Lubna Rafiq Agency, you'll see that some pulled off the look better than others! Here's a lowdown on the outfits and what some of the same dresses look like on models:

Lucy

Not one of my favourite designs by Ekta Solanki, I couldn't find an exact photo of this same outfit on a model/bride, but I found something very similar. For the most part I think she looked good, although I nearly changed my mind after seeing the final scenes of her stood at the bar with it draped very badly on the floor!

Binky

 I really liked this outfit on her, the colour suited her and she looked comfortable in it.

Phoebe

First of all the nose ring/nath was probably a bit too much for an occassion like this, and it was used as a talking point/part of the storyline for Phoebe and Lucy to insult each other! As for the dress...too much cleavage! I don't think it really suits her and even on the model it's one of those dresses that needs every single element to be co-ordinated for it to look good. I think it might have looked better with her hair more open.

The Guys

I liked how most of the guys looked in their outfits (some of which you may recognise as they're by Ziggi Studio), although my least favourite would be the brown sherwani worn by Jamie, I just don't think it suited him!

Cheska

Louise

Sophie

Stephanie

I really like this outfit and think you can't really go wrong with it, it's just a shame you didn't get to see the full vibrancy of the lehenga in the dark setting of the party.

Victoria

Victoria's outfit was from Bibi London and I think she worked the "bollywood" look better than any of the other cast members. This was definitely a favourite of mine!

Did you watch the show? Which were your favourites and least favourite?
A huge thanks for Lubna Rafiq Agency for the backstage photos.

Ekta Solanki at Asian Bride Live 2013

Ekta Solanki have been on my watch list for a few years now with their bold lehenga cholis and I'm sure they'll be on a lot more people's after tonight when their outfits will be seen on TV worn by the cast of reality show Made in Chelsea.

Before I give my verdict on how the MIC ladies worked these outfits, here's a look at one of their most recent Asian bridal fashion shows - the Asian Bride Live event which took place in London on 13th October:

I've seen this blue and purple lehenga in a few magazine shoots and even though I've seen it before it still has that "wow" impact. I like the detail on the belt and contrasting orange.

This blue and red outfit was probably my least favourite from the collection, that shade of blue is just a bit too much for my tastes.

You can see in the photo above the underskirt/netting which creates the shape of these lehengas - this one in particular looks velvet to me so that underskirt is going to make all the different to how it falls and probably how easy it is to walk in!

Photo credits: Shahid Malik

Are you a fan of Ekta Solanki? Which outfit is your favourite?