Seasons India collection two at the Asiana Bridal Show Birmingham

After dazzling the audience with their first collection at Birmingham's Asiana Wedding show, Seasons India had a lot to live up to with their second show. It was definitley different, and they started off with saris and long cigarette holders:

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get any clear shots of these saris, cause the models were dancing too much! But you can get an idea of the designs, all with tiny blouses. (you can get a closer view of the black sari from the last picture by checking out the Seasons India website by searching for product id 11-1220)




Next up was this blue dress, which I really liked. It looks elegant and the design is quite original. I like the way it hangs and the skirt swishes when she walks. (The product id for this outfit is 11-1226)






The next two outfits were pretty. I'm liking the white with a hint of green and gold colour scheme, although I'm not sure about the fitting of the top...the way it looks depends on your chest size I suppose!


They ended the show with the same outfit they finished with at the London Asiana Show, it must be one of their most popular outfits! What do you think?

Spring 2008 trends from the Suits Me catalogue

At the beginning of the year I posted a review of online catalogue Suits Me, (you can check out the review by clicking here).
Since I made my first and only purchase, I now receive their catalogue through the post. I was having a flick through their latest catalogue, issue 8, and two things stuck out to me - boleros and babydoll sleeves!

Boleros

As you can see from the three outfits above, there's a big difference in how you can wear a bolero. Here's what I think about the Suits Me designs!
The first outfit (green) is the front cover of the latest catalogue, but sadly it's my least favourite of the 3!! I think there's too much detail underneath the bolero and I don't like the way it closes at the front.
Outfit number two looks slightly better from afar, but close up it's just not that nice! Again, I don't like the way it ties up at the front.
Finally, outfit three is what I think looks best - it's minimal, chic and doesn't cover up the design of the suit.

Babydoll sleeves


I'm undecided on whether I like the babydoll sleeves look. On the first outfit, it's almost hard to notice they're even there because that flower print takes all your attention! You can see them more clearly on the second and third outfits. What do you think?

Mairs at the Asiana Bride Show in Birmingham

Red is probably the most popular asian bridal colour, and the Mairs collection at the Asiana Bridal Show in Birmingham started off by filling the stage with red dresses!!

Luckily, they gave us a chance to check out each outfit individually, so here are some modern dresses in a traditional colour:


I like the idea of the outfit above - a fitted corset top with a flowing skirt, although I've seen nicer corset tops than this one and there's no jewellery/accessories. Perhaps they were hoping the red veils and hairpieces would be enough to complete these bridal looks.



This next outfit was more of your traditional asian bridal outfit. I liked the skirt, with it's train but as with the corset outfit, I think the top really let this outfit down - I'm not keen on the square neckline.



Up next was this dress. I really like the shape of the dress but think the embroidery could have been more distinctive - it looks a little bit too standard and boring!



The first thing I have to say about this outfit is that it's badly fitted! I'm not sure how the top is supposed to look, but it doesn't look right to me. I like the embroidery details on the back, although the red veil looks scary!!



Finally, an outfit which I can find no fault with :) Perhaps the skirt might be considered too plain for some brides, but I like it anyway.




This was probably the most traditional of all the outfits from Mairs. As far as full-on traditional bridal outfits go, you could do a lot worse, but I think you could probably get something nicer than this one.



The last two outfits, showcased a bit of menswear. The bridal outfit above is so-so in my opinion, but I like the menswear a lot, even though I think the bright white looks a bit too sharp in contrast with the red...perhaps cream and red would be easier on the eye.


Finally, there was this pink outfit. After all the reds it seemed a bit odd to me to end with quite a plain pink outfit. The show started very strongly with all the reds on stage at the same time, however the ending didn't have as much impact.


So, what's the verdict on Mairs? Well, it appears they know how to create a great shape, with their full skirts and dresses with netting underneath, however the details on the accompanying tops aren't so great. If you can afford made-to-measure than you've got no problem - you can chop and change the tops to suit your own preferences, but if I was buying readymade from Mairs I'd make sure the outfit, especially the top fit perfectly before buying.
For more info on Mairs, visit their website, it doesn't have much in the way of outfits/pics, but it can tell you the address of their stores if you fancy a visit!

Khushboo's at the Asiana Bridal Show in Birmingham - part two

For their second slot on the catwalk at Birmingham's Asiana Bride Show, Khushboo's by Chand showed some lighter coloured shimmery outfits, which were a big change from the deep solid-coloured collection in their earlier catwalk show. They also had a bit of dancing...

It's a shame I didn't manage to get any better shots of the first four outfits,cause I love the sparkliness of the fabric, and I think they were gorgeous.


The rest of the outfits were just as sparkly, but with much shorter tops, and open backs:






This light blue off-the-shoulder outfit was my favourite:




I liked both collections from Khushboos, although this second set of outfits had more of a spring/summer feel to them whereas the deeper colours from the first show looked like they would work well for a winter wedding.
I think the styling with matching hair pieces worked really well too, but what do you think of flower bouquets for asian brides? Is a bouquet a better accessory than a matching handbag?

O & P at the Asiana Bride Show Birmingham

O & P started off their show with 3 churidar suits too, although they weren't as dazzling as the Seasons India churidars, they had a more party kinda feel to them rather than a bridal feel.

Up next were 3 saris, which had a bit more sparkle to them - I'm really loving the green one:







The two final outfits looked like they could have been bridal suits, although I think they made the wrong choice of colours - neither of these outfits stood out to me, and I'd even go as far as to call them boring!






So there it is, the O & P collection. Overall the outfits were nice and I didn't dislike any of them but equally I wasn't rushing to go and visit their exhibition stand because of what I saw on the catwalk. There was too much of the same colours - reds, greens, golds and creams...with shows like this you need to do something to set yourself apart from the other designers, even if it's just one really spectacular outrageous outfit at the end. O & P failed to do this, and that's probably one of the reasons I don't have much to write about their clothes!!
Anyway, they're based in Birmingham and have a website with a bit more variety, so check out the O & P website for more info.

Seasons India collection one at the Asiana Bridal Show Birmingham

I'd seen some of Season India's stuff before, at the London leg of the Asiana Bride Show, and was keen to see if they'd show us the same stuff or have some new outfits to dazzle us with!

3 was the magic number at the start of the show as 3 dazzling anarkali churidar suits came down the catwalk all together. I didn't manage to get a snap of all 3 outfits together, but I'll tell you they made quite an impact! I really can't decide which one I like best!!

The churidar suits were followed by a bit of menswear, some dancing and these two blue outfits



Three was the magic number again at the end of the show, with these heavily embroidered skirt suits. As you can see, all the models wore naths. They're not everyone's favourite bridal accessory, and some of the models suited them more than others, but I like the fact that everyone wore them - it certainly made this collection stick out in my mind.








I think the thing I like about the Seasons India designs is the details in the embroidery. With heavily embroidered outfits, there's always the danger that it looks likes someones just covered the whole thing and not thought about a pattern, but I think the Season's outfits look good up close and from far away.

I've had a quick browse on the Seasons India website and they appear to have any of these outfits on there yet, but check it out cause they update quite regularly!

Khushboo's at the Asiana Bridal Show in Birmingham - part one

Khushboo's by Chand are a Birmingham-based retailer, they had two slots on the catwalk at the Asiana Show, and I've managed to find a pretty decent/clear video copy of their show. Take a look at the video, and then check out my photos for up-close details!

The first outfit on show didn't really appeal to me very much, yeah it's nice but nothing spectatular:


I liked the second outfit though, especially the funky sleeves - they look a bit medieval style.



I didn't manage to get a clear photo of this outfit, but as you can see it's a very traditional-style outfit. Although I usually prefer more egdy/original outfits I think this one is beautiful! In my opinion it's a traditional bridal outfit done very well, the colours work, and the embroidery design suits the shape of the outfit.




I like the colour combo on this next outfit too:



I wasn't too keen on the next two outfits. This shade of pink with all it's shinyness just looks really tacky to me!



Then there was this sickly yellow/gold outfit. The style of the outfit isn't too bad and I actually like the look of the skirt from the front, but the colour puts me off completely! What colour jewellery would you wear with it - more gold??




This red outfit, was the final piece and correct me if I'm wrong but don't designers usually save the best for last? I don't have much to say about this outfit, except that it wasn't my favourite from the collection...I've switched the order I've posted these a little bit in order to show you MY favourite last!




So here it is, my favourite outfit from the collection. The main reason I like it is cause of the cut-out bits on the sleeves. I also like that the skirt is heavily embroidered at the top, and more less embroidered on the bottom, I think it creates a really nice shape.



Khushboo's don't have a website *yawn* they should probably get one? Even if it's a one-page thing with just their address on it. For anyone that's interested I think they're on Ladypool Road in Birmingham.

So, which outfit was your favourite??

The Arinder Bhullar collection from the Asiana Bridal Show catwalk in Birmingham

I was really looking forward to seeing the Arinder Bhullar collection at the Asiana Show, I've been a fan of their designs ever since I saw them at Asiana's Bridal Show at the Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford, way back in 2006!
Did this season's collection live up to my expectations? Take a look for yourself!

The show was composed mainly of modern outfits which tended to have less embroidery and be more "flowing". The outfits were accessorised with masks and western menswear from Pronuptia.

There were two main colours being shown on the catwalk: Red and Gold! Both quite traditional bridal colours, but there was nothing traditional about the style of the suits!





I like the shape of the skirts, and I think the reason that the skirts tend to be lightly embroidered is because heavily embroidered skirts just don't hang in the same way? Although, the second outfit above makes her hips/bum look big!



I'm not sure if it shows on the photos, but the outfit above had a train on one side, rather than at the back.

The final outfit definitley made an impact! I don't think you'd ever catch a bride wearing it, but it had that "wow" factor!



I think the catwalk collection only showed one side to the Arinder Bhullar collection, and after the show I visited their exhibition stand and was really impressed with the range of colours and styles they had on offer...so much so that 3 weeks later I visited their store in Leicester and ordered my wedding outfit from them! I'll be posting up a review of my wedding outfit shopping experiences at some point in the future, so look out for that :)

Variety Silk House at the Asiana Bridal Show in Birmingham

Variety Silk House, the london-based store were the first clothes designer on the catwalk at Asiana's Birmingham bridal show, and they started off dramatically with a dancer in a green, gold and purple churidar suit, complete with matching hat:

The rest of the outfits had a very traditional look to them, and followed a very similar colour theme - pinky purples, greens and reds.











Most of the outfits had open backs...








If I'm being completely honest, purples and greens are not my favourite colour! But I have to say these outfits were really beautiful and with a lot of asian boutiques I'd imagine they do made-to-order, so you can always order an outfit in a different colour. Visit the Variety Silk House website for more info on their collection (although it hasn't been updated recently so don't expect to see any of these outfits on there!)

Asiana Bridal Show Birmingham - Kyles Collection

Here's the start of my review of the catwalk show from Asiana Bridal Show at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham, in March.

The stage set-up was pretty similar to the Asiana Bridal Show in London, both events were organised by Ooops Media.
It all kicked off with some jewellery from one of my favourite shops Kyles Collection. Unfortunately I had issues with my camera and the lighting and the start of the show, so only managed to snap a few pics, but the Kyles website has a very good range of products online so check them out for more info.

I really like the Kyles hairpieces, and all the rest of their jewellery is beautiful too. If you can't get away without wearing gold on your wedding day, then I'd definitely suggest going to Kyles for your Registy, or Engagement jewellery.

Anarkali Churidar Suits - where to buy online!

Anarkali-style churidar suits are this season's hot outfit! Bollywood fashion blog High Heel Confidential first picked up on these outfits being worn by the stars way back in November last year (check out the post here).
Now they're everywhere in the UK, and there were loads on show at this year's Asiana Bridal Shows.
There are vast differences between what's available out there, from quite plain suits to full-on bridal anarkali churidar suits. I've put together a little round up of some Anarkali suits which are available to buy online:

First up, these suits are from Kaneesha.com (click on images to go to site). They're a US-based company, but deliver worldwide, these outfits range from $169-$249 or £90-£135

Another online store, which ships worldwide, has some anarkali churidar suits for you to browse and buy is Home India, which has dressy/party suits from £80-£250, and casual suits from £60-£100.

UK based Khushbu Fashions has a VERY small collection of anarkali suits but they're worth a mention cause the suits are beautiful! this blue suit is my favourite.


Does anyone know anywhere else that has anarkali suits available to buy online?