Shine this Eid!

Eid is just round the corner and all we want is to shop. Eid-ul-Fitr brings with it loads of shopping, long salon hours and much-awaited Eid festivities. Shopping enthusiasts must be already going crazy with all the shopping for the three days of Eid. However, there are many who like to celebrate Eid for a week long, which means putting up at least five looks and their matching paraphernalia - jewellery, bag, shoes, et al. Add to it five lunch/brunch and five hi-tea/dinners, in such extreme scenarios, you might need ten outfits or maybe more. Let’s not panic, you can now look forward to our picks from the recently concluded Telenor Bridal Couture Week (TBCW). If you still have not been able to put together your outfits for Eid, and don’t know where to go, the style guide below will help you head in the right direction.

Some of our top picks for this upcoming festive seasons, Eid and Summer weddings, are:

1 HSY presented a heavily embellished bridal collection in fresh blooming colours for Spring Summer 2015. You can definitely take colour inspirations for your Eid outfits and blindly trust those sarees for the upcoming weddings. The hair and makeup are something you should definitely try - Saba Ansari of Sabs salon gave a very traditional centre part half way on the top with a chignon roll at the back. This was complimented by dusky eyes and a dewy finish with bright rose pink lips.

2 Zainab Chottani’s ivory based collection was so summer apt, keeping Karachi’s heat wave in sight. You can order her bridals if you are getting married in a couple of months, since these heavy pieces won’t be readily available. Her separates - embroidered pants, fun jackets and short shirts - will definitely make you stand out during the festivities.

3 If you love whites and ivories, Adnan Pardesy is another go-to designer this season. His minimalistic, sheer and high fashion take on bridals and formal wear is to vouch for. You will love the easy breezy yet the fancy, embellished look. Keep your hair loosely tied in a knot or go for a volumizing blow dry. On healthy hair and scalp, a blow dry on ‘chaand raat’ could last for 48 hours approximately.

4 Opt for Rizwan Ahmed’s outfits if your addiction to volume, layers and gold on white is never ending. Rizwan has some fun, frilly separates and ensembles for the upcoming Eid and wedding season.

5 Gold hues, accents of red and intricate embroideries sum up Mifrah’s TBCW collection. There are options for your Eid as well as wedding season looks. From short tunics paired with straight-up cigarette trousers to long shirts and clean, crisp silhouettes.

6 Asifa & Nabeel with their forte in evening wear and heavy formals came forth with a dreamy collection. Midnight intonations, shades of salmon silver moving towards greys and splashes of peach and rich red comprising fusion silhouettes with short shirts, anarkalis, long panelled shirts and, of course, some gorgeous sarees. The makeup was natural and hair was done in modern pinup.

7 If you are into vintage embroidery techniques, antique fabrics and ornate embellishments then you could definitely find something suitable for yourself from Erum Khan’s line of wedding garb or Sarah Gandapur’s quirky take on saree-dresses. 

8 Umsha by Uzma Babar is a smart move if you are a to-be-bride or will be getting hitched in a couple of months, you can order in advance so that it can be made and customized for you. What you can adopt for Eid is the inspiring makeup look, dark eyes with exaggerated liner and sharp eyebrows, complemented with a maroon pucker. This is definitely going to make you outshine especially if you are going to wear shades of skin, baby pink or caramel gold. Pucker up!  

9 Amina Yasmeen by Mansoor Akram was the most inspiring collection this season. It not only had a bold colour palette, but it was also executed nicely. I personally love how Mansoor does sarees and those choli-blouses, there are very few people who understand the dynamics of saree and how it should emphasize and highlight a woman’s body and not overshadow her curves. You can go visit his store at Zamzama and surely you will find something appropriate for the Eid shenanigans.

10 Ayesha Ibrahim has a great sense of colour-on-colour. She presented primarily a bridal trousseau collection with lots of offerings for the future bride. The hair was quite a trend-stealer, you can get the good old braid done and have an old silver necklace pinned up to your braids as some fancy hair jewellery.

11 Sana Abbas had options for a summer bride, an autumn bride and few but fabulous options for wedding guests, which can of course be used as your Eid outfits as well. Look out for short shirts in jamawar; straight-up cigarette pants with edgy motifs and completing the look are those jackets which can also be used as separates for not very festive occasions.

Apart from these, if you have time on your hand and you might just want to prepare for the Eid-ul-Azha way in advance, you can start doing your homework now. Plus, there are zillions of ready-to-wear Eid collections in store by Zaheer Abbas at Ensemble, Sania Maskatiya, Deepak Perwani, Shamaeel Ansari, Nomi Ansari, Nida Azwer, Misha Lakhani, Zara Shahjahan and several others at their respective studios and outlets.