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

Fashion at the Asians Awards 2013

This Asian Awards took place in London this week. I don't know too much about the event itself, but I kept a close eye on the red carpet to see all the outfits and here's my rundown!

My first impressions from the event was that there was a distinct lack of asian fashion, it was The Asian Awards after all so you'd think this would be an opportunity to wear something with at least a hint of asian inspiration instead of a normal evening gown.

Here's Preeya Kalidas in a black backless dress by Gorgeous Couture:
There's no denying she looks good, but for me this outfit would be complete with a statement accessory, like a hair piece or one of those necklaces trails down your back.

Speaking of hair pieces, DJ Neev from Kiss FM was one of my favourite looks from the event (minus the bag!) her hairstyling and matha patti really completed the look for me.

Here's what Eastenders star Nina Wadia wore, it's not my favourite asian outfit ever, but I like it on her and I think it's appropriate for this event.

Elen Rivas and Emma Noble both went for light/nude coloured outfits with cleavage!

Film director Gurinder Chadha...I have no words...

Tasmin Lucia Khan's outfit was a fusion-style gown, and whilst I like that she didn't for go for a normal evening gown I don't think it's very flattering on her.

Another of my favourites was TV presenter Alka whose dress was from Topshop!

I like the embroidery on this dress worn by designer Nina Naustdal, I'm assuming it's one of her own designs

You can view more pictures from the event over on their Flickr account here.

What did you think of these fashion at this awards show?

My Manish Malhotra inspired outfit

Last month, whilst on the hunt for a new dressy asian outfit in Birmingham, after trawling the shops on Soho Road, one outfit really stood out to me because there was nothing like it in the other shops and the style of it reminded me of Manish Malhotra's designs.

It was only after I'd bought the outfit that I did a google search for "Manish Malhotra white anarkali suit" and I discovered this outfit was more than just inspired by Manish Malhotra, it was practically a copy of the below outfit worn by Kareena Kapoor from Manish Malhotra's Lakme Fashion Week 2011 Summer/Resort Collection.

Photo Credit HighHeelConfidential.com

Scroll to the end of this post to see my version of the outfit, styled up for a close family wedding, or read below for all the details!

Copy vs Original

Aside from the obvious differences like price and quality of materials compared to if I'd bought an original Manish Malhotra suit, there were a few other differences. The first was the colour, whilst the original had gold at the bottom, my version had the addition of a deep red/maroon velvet.

This part of the outfit was what drew me to it in the first place, that and the fact that it was a little different to the netted anarkali suits which I'd seen in all the other shops and which I already have two of in my wardrobe.

My version of the outfit also had full sleeves, a slightly higher neckline and a much higher cut-out at the back. As I was having alterations made to have dress fitted anyway, I asked them to partially cover the back. Rather than my choice being out of modesty, it was more for practicality, I didn't want to have to worry about my underwear showing and with the current cold weather in the UK I also didn't fancy being exposed more!

In my mind I imagined the cover-up would be more sheer/transparent, a bit like these outfits but I didn't specify and by the time it came to final fittings I was satisfied enough with how they covered it.

The shopping experience at Komal Design Studio

The shop I bought the outfit from was Komal on Soho Road. It's not a shop I had heard of before my visit to Birmingham that day and they don't appear to have a website or social media pages. They're not exactly a stand-out shop, but they had that one special outfit I was looking for, even if some of their other outfits weren't to my taste. I'd say they're more an example of how sometimes you can find a gem of an outfit in the randomest of shops if you have the time to browse.

When I first tried the outfit on, it was paired with dark orange churidar bottoms which didn't look right to me at all. I had these swapped for a pair of cream churidar bottoms, which were unfortunately a few sizes too big. One of the sleeves also had a rip near the shoulder which they promised to fix when they fitted it for me.

I paid my deposit and agreed a time I'd return the next day for a final fitting and to collect the outfit. The next day they hadn't completed the alterations in time and we ended up having to wait around for an hour which was annoying, especially as we'd already browsed all the shops on the previous day and it was raining!

I paid £210 for this dress and they didn't charge any extra for the alterations. I love the outfit, but there are a few issues with quality - the sleeves feel like a bit of a liability, firstly there was the rip which they repaired, but after wearing the outfit just once another tear has developed :(

How I wore it

I wore this outfit to the third and final event of a close family wedding. For the first two events most of the ladies had very voluminous hair, adorned with jewelled accessories including necklaces, tikkas and matha pattis (I wonder if any of them read my post on how to wear a matha patti!)

I wanted to go for something a bit different and so I went to the Manish Malhotra facebook page to see what hairstyles other celebs and models had worn with their MM outfits.

Kareena's open hairstyle when she wore the original outfit seemed a bit too casual for my event, however I was immediately taken by this photo of Malaika Arora Khan at last year's Marrakech International Film Festival.

My hair isn't a long as Malaika's, but I knew my chosen MUA Huda Ahmed would be able to work her magic on my hair and fix up my skin. It also helped that I had access to my mum's jhoomer which made a change from all the swarovski-covered hair accessories everyone else was wearing!

Here's a close up of the hair and make-up:

And finally...here's a full length photo of me in the outfit!