A Vasai Wedding

For our last post the Who Couture? team decided to go all out: On-location shoot , a whole host of models and a Wedding theme to top it up. 

In the 21st Century, weddings have become tedious affairs laden with hassles and intensive details, the main sentiment of the celebration is lost in all the hoopla. It’s time to stop for a minute and have a piece of that cake.

We shot at a beautiful, dilapidated fort in Vasai, dressed in clothes breaking away from the usual traditions. In most weddings the bride is customarily dressed in white and the groom in black but we went with a black-white-and-red colour scheme. 

The bride, Trinolda looked ravishing in a tailor-made red, satin corset dress with a matte gold brooch hung as a necklace.

The bridesmaids were dressed in uniform black outfits- Here (from L to R) Barkha is seen wearing a satin and net tube dress from Promod, Neha wearing a zip up lace dress with scrunched sleeves from Sarojini Nagar and Susanna in an A-line dress from Annabelle. They accessorised with red satin ribbon and flowers in their hair.
The Groom‘s look was quirky and minimalistic, dropping the usual Tux for a formal shirt and red suspenders with a Van Heuson 

The groomsmen wore matching white shirts and crème trousers, Neil sported pants from Allen Solly and added a little something by wearing a Palestinian scarf tucked into the collar. Rahul wore a satin cravat along with fitted pants from Van Heuson. Vikrant wore a skinny tie and tailored pants.

High Street or High Fashion?

For many of us, High Street and High Fashion sound interchangeable. The stark price difference is the only determining factor between the two- High Fashion being designer clothes from luxury brands and exclusive, custom fitted clothes while High Street outfits are affordable to the average person yet keeping with the latest fashion trends.

The aim of the shoot is to let you, the reader, decide which one is which before we divulge any details. Give it a shot!

High Fashion: Sanjana (L) was wearing High waist pants from Promod, an inner from H&M and a lace top from Mango. Shoes from Atmosphere and a Chanel bag and belt completed the high fashion look.


High Street: Trinolda (R) wore a printed top from Code, men's trousers altered and stitched to look feminine and a White thick belt from Bangkok worn high up at the waist and heels from Inc. 5

"Classy meets Comfort" with Priyanka Bose

For this post we decided to make things interesting by styling a celebrity. Meet the gorgeous Priyanka Bose, female lead for  the movie, Gangor which was a part of the Rome International Film Festival in 2010.

One can never go wrong with a Sari.

      Priyanka looked stunning in a simply draped sari and a backless blouse from Kala Niketan.

The traditional Rajasthani Kundan Jewellery completed the Sari look.

“Italy is the best place f or shoes. They are well designed , beautifully crafted and quite durable”, Priyanka said. Her Vintage Prada shoes from Milan were impeccable with the Maxi dress from a thrift store in Australia.The necklace from Accessorize added hues to the Maxi look.

Naima, her 3 year old daughter complemented Priyanka for this one.              

The outfit is from Gini and Jony and the baby shoes from Zara.

When asked about her personal style, Priyanka told us that she always goes for the simple and chic look. Denims and dresses are her most sought after outfits. Hues in Bandra  is one of her favorite stores for shopping. “It has an amazing collection of clothes including beautiful dresses and tops at really affordable prices.”

Jeans being a staple fashion item  , we designed an everyday look for Priyanka. This included a pair of skinny jeans from Mango,  a psychedelic Dorothy Perkins top from London   and the blue lace up shoes made by an authentic shoemaker in Rome by the name Mauro Leone.

One would think that celebrity styles are usually extravagant and bold, but Priyanka emphasized on comfort. To complete her look, Priyanka uses make-up from Chanel. According to her dear friend Mickey Contractor, “ We need to buy 2-3 different shades of base make up since our skin tone changes every forthnight”.

It was a great pleasure working with Priyanka and getting acquainted with her personal style and her take on fashion.

Hitting the Books

As the academic year heads to a close,we checked out the raging trends in colleges in the city. We, however, chose to focus, not on clothes, but on accessories. Not just any accessories, but on those that are most closely identified with students- notebooks!

Even if every other form of stationary is by-passed, and consequently, borrowed, every student strives to own one of these. And since your college years are all about creating an identity and finding your passion, notebooks are now being used as a strong yet subtle statement of just that.
You can now literally judge a person by the cover of his Notebook!!

Zocchuan Mawii keeps it simple but bold, 'just like me!'-she says!

Vikrant Balakrishnan's sporty notebook carries a strong social message and 'speaks' entirely for itself!

Sadhvi Mehra brings out her 'quintessential nerd' self with an elegant red-green embroidered Folder(because All the pages in a single notebook just won't do!).

Nandan could wear out a storm with his brown leather bound note book while staying close to his strong socialistic ideals through its rustic appeal.

Reel Fashion

In 1961, Audrey Hepburn popularised the LBD (Little Black Dress) through her movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. The LBD has become a wardrobe staple since then, featuring in every woman’s must-have list. There have been more such examples of movies influencing fashion and vice versa. Marilyn Monroe’s iconic white dress in The Seven Year Itch, James Dean’s punk look in Rebel Without a Cause,  Zooey Deschanel’s feminine, indie clothes in (500) Days of Summer and Kiera Knightley’s lush, bottle green satin gown in Atonement are just a few examples of Film’s finest fashion moments.

We took some of our favourite movies and reinvented the characters’ styles, giving them a fresh and trendy new look. Inspired by the article featured in Harper’s Bazaar Jan- Feb 2012 Indian issue on recreating iconic moments from Martin Scorsese’s films, we felt that it was time to show how you too can sport these looks using clothes lying in your own wardrobe:

·        Almost Famous

Kate Hudson plays a whimsical, glamorous hippie with clothes to match. This character established Hudson as a style icon and had girls pining for Penny Lane’s fur trimmed coat and rocker chic boots.

The model was given a hippie chic look- a Burgundy jacket lined with faux fur, a steel gray lace tank top and well fitted dark denims. An over sized peace and heart necklace and pink Lennon glasses were used to accessorise the look.

·        Dirty Dancing 

A movie about the love story between the young “Baby” and her dance teacher (played by the gorgeous Patrick Swayze) , Dirty Dancing featured typical 60s fashion- pale, floaty dresses, vest tops and high waist denims.

Ripped denim jeans replaced the shorts that the character wore in the movie, with a tie-dye stoal used as a belt and short-cropped, striped off shoulder  top. The male model was given a contemporary  street look, sporting  the super stylish Air Jordans which were the highlight of the look. The drab vest top was given a fun twist with colour splotches and a patterned scarf was draped around the neck.

·        A Clockwork Orange

A sociopath with a walking stick and fondness for milk spiked with stimulants? Bring it.

We thought it would be fun to use a girl to portray Alex’s character and to experiment with his overall white and single eyelash  signature style. The model was dressed in a Zara shirt and a fitted blazer and high waist trousers and a felt bowler hat. The single green eyelash was used to recreate his look with a funky touch.

·        Pulp Fiction:

From the stylish mafioso look to a modern reinvention of Mia Wallace, we went a little crazy with this shoot, adding fun elements like toy guns and crazy wigs. Mia's classic white Man-shirt was jazzed up with a wide red belt worn high up to add some shape and the cropped capri pants were replaced by tights while the flashy wig and blue pumps added character to the entire look.

The boys had fun dressed as modern day mobsters with tailored suits and cartoon print ties,armed with their toy guns of course. 

Iski Topi, Uske Sar!

We are big fans of Indian History and so we thought of interpreting/accessorizing one of the most popular symbols of the same: The Nehru Topi.

Everybody loved Nehru. The kids loved him, his followers loved him and we loved his topi!

It was a fairly simple and fun task to jazz up the humble topi and make it look contemporary. We created bright funky Indian prints that really reflect the clothes and personality of our models!

Alisha Pais looks like she’s lying in the fields of Punjab with a beautifully painted polka dotted topi. The leather jacket from Hong Kong and cotton dress teamed with the gorgeous Doc Martins, also from Hong Kong, complete her contemporary Nehru look.

With our male models, Bharat and Noel, we kept it simple. Bharat’s red topi and Aztec like pendant clubbed with a simple scarf from London makes an interesting picture.

Noel, on the other hand clubbed his red and black scarf and his Nehru topi with his amusing expressions!

Sinead tried a slightly gothic punk look with the topi through her make up. The long feather eye lashes from New York, heavy eye make up and black lip colour is quite dramatic. The white Peace printed top, hot pink stockings and maroon laced shoes complement the topi.

 The best thing about the Nehru topi is its versatility. It blends well with both colourful and simple garments.

So go ahead, jazz up the Nehru topi, re-invent the Nehru look!

Sexy Back!

Every woman’s ultimate wardrobe ambition is to find that piece of clothing that satisfies the precarious combination of sexy, classy, erotic and sophisticated. The garment that can make both the boys and their mothers smile (for two completely different reasons, obviously!)

This perfect combination can be found in the perfect backless. A dress for the more adventurous and a top for the less daring, the backless look does not necessarily have to be taken literally. A full lace or net back works just as perfectly as a peek-a-boo, a cut away or a strappy back.

Here we show you three such looks that show most clearly that, “Sexy Back” is so hot!

Barkha:  The LBD!

·         Dress: AND

·         Hat: A store in Bangkok

·         Shoes: Boutique in Paris

Trinolda: Lace Me!

·         Lace top: Forever 21

·         Shorts: Marks and Spencer

·         Shoes: Charles and Keith

·         Bag: Charles and Keith

Reshma: Straps R Us!

·         Top: Blanco, a store in London

·         Jeans: Marks and Spencer

·         Nude Gladiators: Tresmode

·         Bag: Forever New

Meet Nerdinder Singh and Nerdina Kapoor

You don’t need to be a fan of The Big Bang Theory to know that the world’s currently obsessing over all things even remotely nerdy. From the Bath and Body Works hand sanitiser range that proclaims “I love Geeks!” to underwear embellished with the Space Invaders motif, the fashion world’s love affair with Nerd Fashion cannot go unnoticed. Over sized eyewear, suspenders and plaid print rule the roost on the runway.

We decided to do a complete overhaul of the trend and add a little local flavour by introducing Indian influences.
For the first look, the quintessential waistcoat was replaced by a Khadi vest teamed with linen trousers and matching loafers. To jazz up the otherwise neutral outfit, the model Sonam wore a traditional Gujarati Bandhini dupatta draped as a scarf and a classy leather satchel.

Our other model Chandini revamped the fashionable dhoti pants by wearing them as jumpsuit. We had some fun with our tailored waistcoat by making her wear it back-to-front, adding an interesting neckline to the look and completing it with a funky wooden belt. Burnt orange pumps were paired with silver payals and we used a beaded purple necklace as a bracelet.

We went with a more authentic Indian style for the next look. Chandini looked ravishing in a deep purple cotton-silk ghagra with matte gold block print, a gold cummerbund, the same waistcoat (worn the right way!) and Jodhpuri shoes. The accessories were minimal- a kada worn as an arm band and an authentic silver keychain from Rajasthan as a hair accessory.
Sonam wore simple black dhoti pants with a Jack and Jones Lumberjack shirt, a rust coloured scarf, Kohlapuris and a classy beret.
The shoot was hijacked by the model’s pet dog Lazer who decided that it was time for some Doggie Fashion.

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Fun fact: The nerd glasses that the models wore were of Zero power. Both usually wear high power glasses so we had to shoot with temporarily blind models, a minor handicap.

The Bicycle Thieves

Given the task of covering fresh new style in Street Fashion, WhoCouture? decided to hit the streets of Bombay armed with what we thought was a cool new accessory- The Bicycle.
It is inspired by the Cycle Chic trend, which essentially features fashionable, casual clothing while riding bicycles. Vintage bicycles were carried along with us while we scouted for the perfect models.
We loved 23 year old Susan’s 50s-inspired look, reminiscent of the Hawksian woman- with high waist linen shorts teamed with the classic white shirt from Zara, tied at the waist. Her accessories on the other hand, had a contemporary bohemian feel, modernising and adding colour to the otherwise neutral outfit. Susan wore a bright charm necklace from Accessorize and block coloured bangles from Colaba Causeway with a beautiful flower head piece holding her hair in a side ponytail.

Mudit, a student at Jai Hind College, looked like he belonged to a modern day adaptation of the popular novel ‘Oliver Twist’. Combining thrift and High street fashion, he wore a beret from Zara, skinny jeans and chestnut brown ankle boots which he says were a street buy during his recent trip to Amritsar! A quirky corkscrew neck chain added an element of fun to the entire look.
Neil caught our eye with his trendy plaid Fedora and grey loafers. The bright sweater over a collared top and tailored trousers complete the Prep fashion-inspired outfit.

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