Finally, the festival season ended!

With Navaratri and Dussehra celebrations over the past few weeks, Hyderabad was busy with mall and in store promotions, bonanzas, store openings etc etc. Along with the stores, the most busiest people this season were our tollywood heroines inaugurating all kinds of stores and showrooms. They came in all kinds of sarees for these promotions.

Here are Samantha, Tamanna, Manjari and Kajal



Wedding hair style - Aishwarya Rai

Some things never go out of style and further more, the traditional styles are gaining popularity everyday. The south indian wedding hair style remained intact with minimal variations over the centuries. A bride doesn't look like one without a long braided hair with flowers arranged on or around the hair. I personally love mogra and thought Aishwarya's hair on her wedding day looked simple and fab.

Her Mehendi day style though is different and unique

Basra Pearls

Pearls……As you know Hyderabad is famously and rightly known as the “City of Pearls”, and the city has a number of reputed pearl dealers/jewellers who deal in pearls. Any talk about traditional Hyderabadi jewellery is just not complete without a mention of the famous BASRA pearls, and for those of you who always wondered how the name Basra originated….. jewellery that was made with Basra Pearls means that the pearls originated from the pearl banks of the Persian Gulf that were found on the Arabian side of the Gulf, particularly off the coast of Bahrain, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Oman, and off the coast of Lavan-Kish island group on the Persian side of the Gulf. A hundred years ago Basra was a regional center for the marketing of Persian Gulf pearls; hence all pearls produced in the Persian Gulf irrespective of their country of origin came to be known as Basra pearls.

So, if you have any jewellery that was handed down from your parents/grand parents and that was made with Basra pearls….HOLD ON TO THEM, because they are the real deal and were made with the real natural pearls, the supply of which STOPPED about 50 years ago ( ever since oil was found in the gulf region, making the oil industry much more lucrative than pearls.). Given below are two really beautiful necklaces made with graduated Basra pearls, the first one has rather round and perfect pearls making it a unique piece.
 

Another traditional Hyderabadi pearl jewellery item is the Sath Lara ( Seven Strands ) shown below. The Saath Lara can be quite an over powering piece when made with larger pearls and I personally prefer them much simpler with smaller pearls or with lesser strands such as teen lara or the panch lara .

Here are some designs for Sath Lara.....click on the pics for more detail.





 

I am also including a link to an excellent article that talks about Hyderabadi pearls and the pearl trade.

http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199805/city.of.pearls.htm



Anarkali Designs

Anarkali dresses have been in fashion for ages now and will be for a long time to come. They can be very grand or drown you right in if it doesn't suit you. We will explore some of the designs in the coming weeks and which style suits the kind of body type to pick the right one for your next party.

As you can see here for Vidya Balan, the yellow one suits better than the green one, which makes her look plumpy and short.

Kalamkari kurtas for kids

The cotton kalamkari kurtas are always a good choice for kids for small pujas and traditional functions. They give them the necessary freedom and style. You can get them anywhere in Hyderabad but if you would like to go to just one place, Kalanjali carries a good variety of them.

Tamanna at Vodafone

The peach color was good but the saree itself is very old fashioned. The color was great on her and the earrings looked pretty on her. Waiting to see some of these actresses wear some good designer cottons for a change.

Richa and Shriya inaugurates Kalamandir

Richa showed up in a net saree but with a front open blouse that I am not a big fan of. Otherwise the saree looked good and she looked great.
Shriya from what little we can see is wearing a net dress with embroidery. I am not so sure of the dress but her makeup looked little over the top. Toning it down a bit will help with her look in the outdoor events.

Multi colored kanchi silks - gaining momentum

Lately the multi colored kanchi silk sarees seem to be gaining momentum. We see so many of these in the weddings and other functions these days. The colors have become better and so did the designs for these sarees but I am not a big fan of these and hope the fashion goes away sooner than later. The traditional kanchi silk sarees always have the charm of their own.

Here are some of the multi colored kanchi silk designs from sakhifashions.com

Here are some from vijayalakshmisilks.net

Amala at NDTV ladakh exhibit

Amala showed up in a white collared kurta and white cotton pants at NDTV ladakh exhibit. I loved the dress and the simple multiple colored beaded necklace to go with the dress.

Vishnu and Veronica Manchu at Soundarya Rajnikanth's wedding

Vishnu looked totally out of place in his not to be fit for a wedding outfit. The jeans, the shoes and the black socks with them, the vest, nothing seemed to work together. Jeans is not an acceptable outfit for an event like wedding, even if it looks perfect on you. This would have looked decent if it were some social event that is not very traditional.
Veronica looked good but the white pattu saree with diamonds is a complete washout. Just a little color in her jewellery would have made it better. Love the mogra in her hair.

Trisha and Rana at Fimfare south awards

Trisha and Rana looked great at the Filmfare south awards. Rana was looking especially handsome with trimmed beard and nice stripped suit. Hope to see a full length picture of him at the event sometime soon.

Anushka in a black floral kurti

Anushka was wearing a very casual black floral kurti at Vanaam (tamil remake of Vedam) movie press meet. The colors looked good but I don't think I like the kurti. What do you think?

Shriya Saran's Necklace

Shriya seems to like this traditional necklace that elevates her beauty and makes a big impact on the overall look. She wore it on two different occasions and looked gorgeous at both the events.

At Filmfare south awards..                                           At the Toronto festival an year ago...

Tusshe - Hyderabadi traditional Jewellery

Today I am going to blog about jewellery since jewellery is an intrinsic part of the overall fashion sense. Specifically, I will talk about traditional old Hyderabadi Jewellery and I think traditional jewellery never really goes out of fashion. I am going to be showing you some pieces that my aunt ( a lady with a very refined taste and of course, lots of money ;-)  was kind enough to share and allow me to photograph. The first item that I really adore is a variation of the choker and is called a Tusshe or Laccha. I am showing two variations and I have seen some that are much more grander than the ones below, but I personally like these, because they are simple, classy and elegant…..very Hyderabadi!

Tusshe originated some hundreds of years ago from the Nizam's choker called Laccha. It is put together by tightly tying several similar pieces of Jewellery, usually zigzag in shape, with a thread in between. Tusshe is usually made with gold and can go very well when worn on sarees with zaree on them.

Lacchas.....

Antique Tusshe - More than hundred years old

Note : This is one of the many posts that I will write about jewellery from and around the Hyderabad area. Also, if you happen to have any traditional Hyderabad jewellery, PLEASE send me a pic along with any history about the piece so that I can put it on the blog for the world to appreciate... because every piece of  jewellery has an interesting story to tell !! .

Half Saree - Now gone national

Half saree has been in fashion in Hyderabad for the last few years now. With the recent Lakme fashion show, it seems like the fashion has now gone national. Most of the designers at the Lakme fashion week festival displayed their half saree creations. Neeta Lulla, Satya Paul, Vikram Phadnis are a few to name. Hyderabadi's still stick to the benaras or kanchi silk half saree creations but the new trend might change the designs of these and we might get to see a lot more varieties of these in the coming months.

Here you can see some of the designer creations including Neeta lulla in a half saree at the far right

Here is Bindu Madhavi in a traditional Hyderabadi style half saree

BIBA - for fusion and ethnic wear

BIBA in Banjara Hills City Center mall carries some western, fusion and ethnic wear that are priced higher than sultan bazaar shops but far less than the other designer shops in the area. The designs are nice and you can mix and match the variety of dupattas, churidars and kurtas available to make a salwar of your own. The prices usually range from Rs300 for dupattas and churidars to Rs10000 for some nice ethnic salwars. The store is not big making it easier to shop and find what you want ....for the time conscious.

More fashion at South Scope Cinema Awards 2010

Apart from Shriya, the other star who looked fab is Mamatha Mohandas. She wore a black mini cocktail dress that goes well with her new short hair do. Sridevi looked beautiful in a pink saree and Anushka came in her usual awards outfit, a white salwar with sheer sleeves (check out her dress at MAA TV awards).

Rana Daggubati vs Ram Charan Teja

Rana disappoints big time at the South Scope Awards function wearing a drab outfit. Rana and Charan showed some decent fashion sense through out the year so far but Charan seems to maintain it consistently by showing up well-groomed at these award functions. Charan looks fit and handsome at the South Scope Awards.

Shriya at South Scope Cinema Awards 2010

Shriya scored big again by wearing a unique designer half saree to the awards. It wasn't so much that the half saree was great but it was different from the usual designer sarees and salwars at the function.

Shruti Hassan in Satya Paul

Shruti Hassan walked the ramp showcasing Satya Paul's designer saree at the Lakme Fashion Week festival. It was not the best of his sarees displayed that evening. There were more bright colors and designs and some rather did look good but there wasn't much novelty in the designs.

Sheer sleeves are in - latest trend

Whether it is a saree blouse or a salwar or a kurti, the sheer sleeves are in now. They can be long or short or mid length based on the saree design or the salwar but sheer sleeves are the latest fashion in Hyderabad and every where else in India.

Madhurima in a pink net saree

Madhurima showed up in a pink net saree at the Hyderabad miss fresh face. I loved the saree and the blouse style except for few things that needed to be taken care of like the black bra strap in the rare view picture and the hair (looks messy).

Mamatha Mohandas at south scope - Good or bad?

Mamatha Mohandas looked good in a short hairdo and great figure at south scope yet her overall look is not working well for me. I guess its the missing belt or the shirt color but something a miss. What do you think?

Samantha and single shoulder dresses

Somehow Samantha is stuck on the single shoulder mini dresses. They do suit her and looks good on her but interesting to see the style she selected for public appearances after getting popular for her look in sarees.

Blouse Design - Kajal Agarwal

Kajal Agarwal looked good in a pink saree at the Brindavanam audio launch. The blouse design was different, well fitted but it was just a little too tacky for my taste.The neck border is little bigger than what you want it to be.

Suhani Pittie for unique accessories

If you are looking for unique accessories to go with your outfit and want to make a statement with your jewellery, you can go to Suhani Pittie's store in Banjara Hills Road No.1. Suhani Pittie is a well known jewellery designer, who believes in big, bold and chic fashion. She creates the accessories like chains, cuffs, earrings etc with silver as the background material and by adding various unique materials. The prices start at Rs.1000 to I believe probably in low lakhs for some of these unique sets.

Here are some of her jewellery creations...

source:www.suhanipittie.com