Outfit Square - Pakistan Ladies Fashion Blog

Depending on the region of Pakistan or India you dwell in, sarees are considered fashionable, be it for semi-formal wear, parties, weddings or even daily routine. When it comes to Pakistan, you will still get to see your cotton and banarsi sarees in your grandma’s wardrobe and in your mother’s closet few formal, heavily embellished ones, for in Pakistan, sarees have become more of a special event attire than every day wear. They say that after partition, the people who migrated to Karachi brought the saree-wearing tradition with them to Pakistan. But if one talks about India, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh then you’d get to see women wearing, as it a part of their culture, cotton sarees with printed borders in their daily routine. Saree or sari patterns (hey, we need one definite spelling for that word) have had a confused evolution with time. With the conservative lot, you’ll get to see saree blouses which don’t reveal the whole back and navel area rather they’re long enough to cover the woman’s body till waist. They wear such blouses with full, three-quarter or cap sleeves, showing as less skin as possible yet looking elegant and graceful in the chosen attire. However, some tend to wear short blouses, exposing their navel and waist, with  no sleeves or at times with full sleeves as well depending on their choice. Others have the option to wear backless blouses or hi-neck, sleeveless blouses as well. With this they either wear saree with a lot of drapes which gives volume to the lower area and this style is good for the weak ones. Whereas, some wear slim sarees with less volume, then there are lengha style sarees where the pallu or drape that falls off from one shoulder, tends to have a not so long pallu with a slim-skirt like bottom. There are various designers who are popular in making elegant and beautiful sarees. In our culture, nothing says “sophisticated female” as the ability to properly wear a saree. Much of our younger generation has been influenced by constant stream of dramas from Star Plus. Almost all of these dramas are plot-centric advertisements for all sorts of saree cuts, showcasing which cut would enhance which body type. Bollywood is another big contender in promoting sarees. A staggering majority of the old bollywood movies had a key plot point where the girl would wear her brand new saree and either catch the eye of the supposed hero, trigger a dream-like song and dance sequence (filled with more sarees) or finally have the wedding she wanted. Keeping that in mind, young impressionable kids might begin to think that sarees fulfill one’s dreams. If that’s the case, then Neeta Lulla, and Manish Malhotra sell guaranteed dream fulfillers. Nomi Ansari is another name worth mentioning, one of the handful of amazing Pakistani saree designers out there. Remember, sarees bring happiness.

Since the dawn of civilization, trade has played an important role in various social structures. Where there is a demand for a product the economy tries it’s best to profit from it. In the beginning travelling merchants would bring their wares to communities in their area. Then came the times when people would go to shops, to purchase goods for themselves. But now it’s different, they have several options available other than the ancient method that being, they can visit the shop’s webpage, go through their product offerings, select the item and buy it by physically going to the shop or they can sit home, log on to the internet, shop online, pay online through their credit card and have their product delivered on their doorstep. Over the years, there has been development in online shopping; now you’ll come across an online shop for almost anything and everything. In this age of information, transactions are quick, and secure. Fashion is all about setting new trends and innovating existing trends to  create a distinct product. Naturally, with the advent of online shopping, the fashion industry has successfully tried to make a niche for itself. Pretty soon visits to the boutique and the darzi will become obsolete and online shopping would replace it completely. Nowadays you can even order your bridal dress online or a party wear dress. There are various sites for it such as bargello.com and cbazaar.com which sells a variety of traditional eastern wear or eastern wear infused with western cuts. Bargello has all sorts of anarkali suits, bridal dresses, party wear, evening wear, sarees, shararas, lehenghas, ghagras, kurti tops and lawn prints. They don’t only cater to the women segment rather they also accommodate the men by selling sherwanis, shalwar kameez, kurta shalwar and even turbans to go with the sherwanis. Whereas, cbazaar is an Indian Online store which caters kids along with women and men. Both these websites sell jewelry and accessories as well. Cbazaar promotes local Indian brands a lot. If you are in the mood for saree shopping, then saree.com is by far one of the better options available to you. They have a vast collection of sarees categorized by event, color and everything in between, and their new arrivals and top sellers web-pages are a must see. Finally, another worthy mention is salwar.com. Salwar.com is an Indian clothing outlet that is on par with cbazaar.com and bargello.com, with a wide range of traditional clothing options for men, women and kids, with categories such as anarkali suit, party wear, custom designed suits, sherwanis and bollywood replicas for those who consider themselves as the next Ashwariya, Rekha, or Sushmita. When one talks about online shopping, payment is secure and quick. Paypal has made online shopping easy worldwide. Acting as a middleman between the supplier and client, they ensure that you receive your product before the supplier gets paid. Contrary to what ill-informed people say, online shopping is pretty safe, and you do get what you paid for.

You switch on a Pakistani channel early morning and you’ll find Shaista Wahidi, Fiza Ali, Juggan Kazim, Faisal Qureshi, Fahad Mustufa, Nida Yasir on different channels hosting morning shows. This trend actually became popular when Nadia Khan started appearing on Geo Tv in the mornings, calling different guests every day and then later other channels started following her by employing celebrities to host morning shows for their channels. These morning show hosts would call guests from different backgrounds. One day you’d find Pakistan’s top gynecologist explaining various complications that could arise before or after pregnancy, the next day you’d see the cast of an on-going celebrated drama serial sharing their views on their work experience with the team and the director or a renowned oncologists advising on ways to combat cancer or bring a yoga expert to share her personal tips and trick to survive past a hundred years old. The list is never ending. These hosts are never hesitant in sharing social issues in their shows, calling people from diverse walks of life, making them talk about their experiences and tragedies. And if God forbid, Pakistan has been hit by a natural disaster then these hosts conduct shows related to such dreadful events, encouraging the citizens to help the ones infected by the calamities. There came a time when these morning show hosts ran out of guests and then Nida Yasir brought in the trend of celebrating weddings on set. She’d literally have a bride and groom with maybe pseudo or real parents on the show, rejoicing the wedding of their supposedly beloved daughter. They’d get the sets designed by professionals, makeup artist for the bride, designer wear dresses for the bride, groom and their parents and a few fake friends to dance on the mehndi. Another trend that has started, is the inclusion of fitness regimes with their instructors sporting the brightest spandex body suit available, topped with a kameez for modesty’s sake. Designers trying to make a name for themselves see these shows as an opportunity, as not only can the showcase their designs in front of millions of housewives, but if they make enough of an impact, or the host runs out of guests, they can even get to be in the spotlight themselves, discussing about the latest trend in shaadi wear, party wear, or the hottest Pakistani designer dresses they look to for inspiration. During winters, a focus on shaadi wear, with the latest bridal dresses is reason enough to watch various morning shows, similarly during the days before Eid, party wear is given its moment to shine. Tend to look properly and you’ll find you like all those hosts who look amazing and fresh early in the morning, who show a sense of cultured style. You have to admit, for people oozing with happy-bubbly-ness so early in the morning, they sure pull it off in style.

They say no one is too old to learn about fashion. Fashion designers are taking advantage of people’s need to stay fashionable by gradually turning their attention to kids. While we are still a long, long way away from a toddlers jumpsuit by Deepak Perwani, brands like Khaadi have started their own range of Pakistan designer dresses for kids. Take for example a wedding or party in the family and you’ll see the mothers as much worried for their kids’ clothes as they are for themselves. There was a time when mothers would just make them wear anything respectable (and clean), irrespective of the occasion’s significance but now this has changed, mothers go crazy thinking of their children’s outfit for each day. They give special attention to the designing of the clothes and that the outfit should sync with the event. Like men wear Kurta Shalwar or Shalwar Kameez on Eid, Kurta with Chooridar Pajama on Mehndis, Sherwani suit on the Baraat and Full Suit on the Valima similarly kids are seen wearing miniature versions of the aforementioned dresses on such events, looking no less than grown up men, accessorizing their look with a fancy watch and styling their hair with gel. As for the little women, oh! I mean young girls; they are spotted in as heavy dresses as their mothers are, with a small tikka, necklace and colorful bangles in their arms. Some insist on wearing lipstick and nail color as well and I know no girl who doesn’t love putting henna on her hands. This little princess is seen in heavily embellished pakistani ghagra choli, lehenga or even sarees. Making miniature versions of popular traditional dresses is good business. You see tiny kids, barely two-and-a-half feet tall, roaming the aisles of Generations or Khaadi dragging their mothers behind them pointing at clothes with various cartoon characters printed on them that catch their attention. Clothes on hangers so far up in the sky it’s a miracle how those tiny kids manage to spot them. Yet the dark side to this sudden influx of fashion amongst kids is around the corner in the playground, on a swing. Unlike adults, who have had years of training to accept themselves for how the look and what they wear, kids are far more impressionable, and sensitive. Not wearing designer labels may tend to get your kid shunned by a clique or two, wearing knock-offs would however, have a worse result should your kid be found out. Brand loyalty (or slavery) segrigates society into the haves and have nots. Those who can afford brand name merchandise, make sure that they tell those who can’t how much better they are. Kids can be cruel. As a parent, your responsibility is to make sure that whether you can afford designer-wear for your kid or not, he / she should not discriminate against his / her peers, or feel bad about not having branded clothes. Your kid should be happy regardless of what brand he / she wears.

Fashion is always been about pushing boundaries to the point where said boundaries are about to snap. So considering a society slowly breaking free from its conservative roots, it is natural that fashion tests the limits of our culture and then takes a small step back just to be safe. If you look at the anarkali you’d realize what we mean. Before we continue with the comparison, a small lesson on the eytomology of the word anarkali is due. Anarkali dresses got their name from the famous Anarkali who’d dance in the courtroom of the Mughal Emperor Jalaluddin Akber. She would wear pishwaas, now commonly known to all as Anarkali Suits, with chooridar pajama. Back then long anarkali suits were worn with the sleeves and edges embellished. These suits are fitted till the bodice and then loose afterwards, like a big frock with lots of flare. There was a time when you’d only get to see girls wear this on  weddings or mehndis but then designers revived this fashion and you could see the women wearing them even in their day to day life where one requires a semi-formal suit. This revival brought forth a subtle change in the design as well, for now, embellishments cover pretty much every inch of the dress, with emphasis given to the bodice and back. For the weddings, girls usually wear heavy Anarkali suits, embellished with semi-precious stones, crystal buttons, delicate and detailed embroideries in zardozi, makaish, sequins, kundun, mirror work etc. A formal or semi-formal Anarkali suit can be produced in crepe, silk, chiffon or even linen but usually you’ll see women making Anarkali suits in chiffon as it has better fall for the dress. However, for daily routine wear girls use linen and cotton more but we’d say linen is better as it doesn’t only have more flare but is also good for summer as well as winter wear. Long anarkali suits are quite impractical for casual wear. Therefore, for casual wear, you’ll see the Anarkali frock a shorter knee length variant that retains the allure of an anarkali dress while fusing it with the freedom of a kurti. Anarkali frocks are embellished with wooden buttons, screen printing on one side, or even both, or big borders of laces to enhance the edges of the frock. Some leading designers use patches of velvet on the bodice of the Anarkali suit just to make it look slightly different and stylish. Usually, girls wear their casual Anarkali dress with jeans or tights. This trend of casual anarkali has added the concept of affordable party wear that is good to look at, and makes one feel good as well. It has made its niche in the Pakistani party dresses along with stylish kurtis, sarees, designer shalwar kameez and chooridars. The casual anarkali is a choice favorite amongst teens looking to be unique and stylish during parties while showcasing their traditional roots, since tradition is what makes or breaks a society.

 What does one wear to an office picnic, or a Saturday brunch, or a small get together for a friend leaving the country? These are occasions when women need outfits which are somewhere in the grey area between casuals and formals, commonly known to all as ‘semi-formals’. It’s not like this is a unique and confusing category of clothes where totally different cuts and styles are worn that challenge the limits of casual and formal clothing, it’s just that this range is lightly embellished with not so many dramatic looking cuts. Any sort of style such as a saree, kurta, shawlar kameez, chooridar pajama, kurta shalwar can be classified as a semi-formal, given that it is a party dress with less traditional embroidery, light embellishments and more stylish cuts. Semi-formals usually have light diamantes or sequins work around the neck, cuffs and/or shirt edges. Some designers have been using broaches in their semi-formal range, placing them right beside the neckline, at the back of shirt, below any one of the shoulder, or a pair at the daaman (end part of the shirt) of the kameez or kurta. These broaches are made of crystals, semi-precious stones and diamantes. Wearers tend to experiment with the fabric a lot in case of semi-formals, they use animal prints, cotton material, chikan,  sometimes they use material with fall, depending on the cut they plan to wear, they even use patches of velvet over which the embroidery is done, just to make the embroidery stand out. There are various Pakistani designers who specialize in making party-wear dresses such as a Maria.B, Deepak Parwani, Funk Asia, Generations, Khaadi Khaas etc. All these designers have their own signature style however they all have one thing in common when it comes to semi-formals  i.e. they’re not gaudy outfits. The best part of semi-formals is that not only are the clothes a notch above the casual lineup when it comes to style, but they are  significantly more comfortable and require less maintenance than a formal outfit. Can you imagine the annoyance you would face if you wore a sharara to a semi-formal event? Maria.B, Deepak Parwani, Generations and Khaadi are notorious for having a wide price range. Depending on your budget you can get from a simple kurti, to one from their elite lineup. Pakistani designers are considerate in that sense. They want their product to be available to the masses. The more easily available their clothing line is to the public, the more popular they get. You can get amazing affordable semi-formal wear that with the right accessories can be easily passed on for formal wear. That is the benefit of buying from the grey area of fashion. Some tips to remember when wearing a semi-formal outfit; keep accessories to a minimal. One piece of chunky jewelry like a pendant, or a bracelet is more than enough. Over loading yourself with trinkets is counter-productive. You don’t need much to pull off a semi-formal outfit. Just a sense of timing and accessorizing.

Be it adults, young kids or even oldies, you’ll get to hear everyone say this one line repeatedly, “times have changed”, but no matter how much they do, there’s one thing that’s never going to change and that is the love for brides to wear a red lehenga. Red has always been associated with weddings and love. A bride wearing a red dress is one of the oldest traditions of a Pakistani wedding. There were times when brides would wear choli and lehenga around shades of red, orange, gold or yellow on all the three days of her wedding but now even if today’s bride is spotted in pink or white & gold lehenga on her valima, you’d still get to see her in red bridal lehenga on her big day, that being, the barat. While it is true that women have started opting for a non-traditional color for their bridal wear over the last few years, the majority is still stuck on having a red wedding, and it would take fashion designers a really long time to convince them otherwise. Fashion designers have tried to bring modern style to the red sarees, ghararas, and lenghas, and then experimenting with different  colors and naming their creations their “bridal lineup”. They coat the cloth with embroidery, sequins, and what not, essentially enhancing the look. Yet no matter how good or detailed the embroidery is these days, it cannot compete against the embroideries from old times. Even today, if you pick your mum or granny’s old shalwar kameez, dupatta or their bridal dress, you’ll see that the work still looks fresh and hasn’t decayed with time. Back then, a bridal dress was made under the watchful eye of the mother, by a terrified darzi (tailor) who slaved at his workbench meticulously stitching each rosette and vine. I may sound like my grandmother, but in this age of technology, mass produced fashion has lost its durability. Most people are focused on their bottom line. Even the tailors now have the audacity to ask potential clients to make appointments. If you want to go for quality, you would rather opt for a unique, custom made bridal jora by designers such as Elan, Ammar Shahid, Maheen Karim, Nida Azwer, or Tena Durrani. Keep in mind that it is your big day, so it’s okay if it is slightly on the expensive side. If you budget is tight however, then the next best thing is to find a decent darzi and ask him to alter or cannibalize your mothers own bridal dress (with her permission ofcourse). Not only is this cost effective, but also good for the environment and it would match the traditional jewelry designs lying in you mother’s cupboard or bank-locker. Its a win-win situation. Men are lucky in this aspect, since they just need a simple sherwani suit that matches with your outfit. No need for them to worry about color combinations, or styles or cuts, since you have the power to override their decision. It is your special day after all. 

These days women are incomplete without accessories. Clothes are not enough to perfect their look rather they require latest designer bags, branded watches and shades, elegant yet stylish stilettos or flats with minimal jewelry such as a ring, bracelet, tops or/and a pendant in a chain.  Looking at the trend, the market has started catering the needs of the women by providing them all sorts of bags. Bags have always important in a girl’s life from childhood to old age; it’s just that the type of bag one uses changes with time. These bags come in different shapes, colors, sizes, brands, quality and designs. There are many branded and non-branded shops in Pakistan which accommodate women from all walks of life with different needs and tastes. Girls in their teens are seen carrying around sturdy cloth bags  with various slogans, artists or bands printed on them, carrying notebooks, wallets, pens etc, these bags once loaded, make formidable weapons to ward off pesky irritants. Once a girl is done with her schooling, she migrates to leather bags that are of the latest style; after all she doesn’t require carrying a lot. If she starts a job, she will opt for a design that is fashionable yet practical. For formal events, a clutch bag gives a sense of maturity and sophistication, it practically screams about the owner’s dislike for material baggage. Pakistani shops carry merchandise for all types. Go to any handbag shop and you will see a scene similar to a shoe store with bags lining the shelves, boxed up against a wall or hidden in the attic, with styles ranging from what your grandmother would have bought in her youth to the latest bags circulating the world of fashion, Pakistani handbags are for everyone. While not branded, Pakistani bags are a force to be reckoned with, imitating the latest designer bags with a few minor alterations, they answer the need for affordable fashion. Hardcore fashionistas aside only a skilled proofreader would be able to spot the differences between Chanel and Channel. The rest, don’t even care. Once you enter a handbag shop, and that first whiff of polished leather hits you, all notions of brand loyalty get thrown out of the window. Large bags, small bags, shiny bags, sparkly bags, bags with buckles, bags with zippers, bags with a tiny bag for you phone, the possibilities are endless. The shopkeepers are quite convincing when it comes to selling their merchandise. They will fight tooth and nail to convince you that the bag you passed over as tacky is in fact their hottest item. And they give out such compelling arguments that you are forced to wonder whether they get advance copies of SHE Magazine, or are psychic. With bags generally falling in the same price range as cloth for a good jora, handbags are becoming increasingly popular as gifts. All you have to do is, find a friend who has a knockoff bag you like, compliment her on her “latest designer bag” and then invite her to your birthday, Eid, Christmas, New Years or your cousin’s in-law’s wedding and hope for the best.

Who is the most important person or group of people during a wedding? If you said the caterer, you would be right, and one can guess you are a Pakistani. We love our food. But let us get serious for a moment. As the bride to be, your primary focus would be training your special-ops unit, commonly referred to as the bridesmaids. Bridesmaids have and will always be of great importance, be it in a Pakistani or a gora (English) wedding. They are in the limelight, either dancing from the girl’s side on the mehndi, fighting with their jeeja-ji (Brother-in-law), helping the bride carry her lehenga, or help her eat food without smudging her lipstick. Their single most important task however is the joota-chupai rasm, a tradition where the groom’s shoes go through a hostage situation ending up in outrageous ransom demands – it serves the dual purpose of conditioning the groom to part with his money at  the behest of his sister-in-laws, and testing his bargaining skills. All these activities on the big day of their best friend, sister or cousin’s wedding make them the center of attention; of course after the bride and groom, so she makes sure she’s properly dressed for such a big event. The darzi (tailor) isn’t less tortured by the bridesmaid either, she gets new dresses stitched for each day and if she cannot afford a designer wear, she always has the option to wear a designer rip-off. There was once a time where if the bride would wear a red lehenga her bridesmaids would be expect to wear a pink lehenga each, or other shades that matched. Now days, the bridesmaid has more variety on what she wears to the wedding, color co-ordination aside, depending on her role, she can choose to wear a velvet anarkali chooridaar, a shimmery lehenga or a brocade saree. These choices bring a lot of variety to the bridesmaids. There was a time that red was the primary color for a bride to be, that made the bridesmaids color spectrum limited to the red-yellow side. With the leaps and bounds in bridal fashion over the last few years, more and more brides have moved away from the traditional red to pretty much any colour imaginable, be it bottle green lenghas to match the bridesmaids’ greenish Anarblue net sarees or mauve gharara with blueish shararas. The bridesmaid has another subtle role to play in the wedding. She has to make sure that her choice of clothing accentuates the brides. She should not for any reason, look better than the bride, although accidents sometimes tend to happen at such hectic events. The Pakistani bridesmaid has evolved a great deal from her humble roots, and so have her clothes. Though not many people will admit it, bridesmaids usually contain a couple of eligible girls whose parents are looking for rishtas. After all, what better way to subtly show off how pretty your daughter is, than have her roam around looking her best in a designer lehenga in front of a thousand people. And fashion has made the rishta hunt easier for everyone.

A long time ago, women used to stay indoors. Education and careers for women was a foreign concept in our society. Then the fashion industry bombarded us with images of women in clothes that were too good to be wearing while doing house work. Gradually, women and fashion left the house and after attending a decade of kitty-parties, finally went to work. The working woman class of Pakistan has not only made a mark in society with her emerging roles, she also has a thirst for fashion, and can more often than not, afford to quench that thirst. They are a big segment for the fashion designers to cater to. They wear subtle yet casual clothes which are not funky and flashy rather they are simple kurta shalwars, long tunics with palazzos, jeans or tights. However, you might spot a woman or two wearing cotton sarees to work but usually you’ll find them wearing shalwar kameez. It has been observed that the office wear differs greatly according to the season, for instance, you’ll see women wearing floral lawn prints, cotton kurtis, malai-linen long kurtas and elegant tunics, sophisticatedly designed in pastel colors, lightly embellished with pearls and diamantes buttons or lace. The kurta designing industry has been capitalizing on making semi-formal cotton kurtas  for women who work. These may range in color, cut and price, but they are quite good at not standing out. For winters, the working woman prefers to wear thick materials in dark colors, reflecting the change of season or hi-neck shirts with woolen capes or sweaters and jeans. Fashion designers, for some strange reason, have morphed the image of a working woman into this trendy, energetic, radiant beauty with glowing skin who looks good in their line of semi-formal clothes. While this marketing strategy works in gathering more customers by giving them a subconscious idea that maybe, wearing our brand would keep you fresh and perky during your 9 to 5 job, it misleads the rest of society. Sure, depending on how stressful your job is, that glowing skin and perfect hairdo lasts for around a couple of hours before cracks start to appear in that façade. That is when the clothing starts actually helping your image. What we need is people understanding, that just because we come to work, wearing nice clothes and are women, we don’t get the easy track in life. We work almost as hard as our male counterparts, and deserve to be given some respect, not to be ironically referred to as “laddisss”

Fashion and women’s rights have progressed so far ahead in other countries, that society sees both men and women as equals. Whereas here, women’s rights start and end at getting ahead of a queue, and fashion is a tiny treat for women who slave away at jobs trying to support their families, or trying to stand on their own two feet.