India is a country of royalties who loved rich silks, long flowy fabrics, rich thread embroideries, gold embroideries, traditional handmade ornament detailing on the fabrics. We are blessed with an ever evolving incorporation of those into modern day fashion. There are endless choices when it comes to women’s Indian ethnic wear, there is a classic style salwar-suit and numerous modern twists of it. There is but one garment that will never go out of style and always will be the most sensuous one to make any woman look beautiful, that is Saree.
While Saree is the most popular , wearable and hands down winner on the ramp of traditional Indian wear, salwar-suit has to be the most practical, sensible and easy to wear Indian ethnic wear for women. Salwar-suit has caught the fancy of womanhood abroad too.
Here are a few tips on choosing the Right type of salwar-suit –
- Salwar suits are like air-conditioners, they can be made to adjust your body type. Depending on the fit, they can make you look slim or plump. Basically, salwar-suit makes a woman look slimmer and shapely.
- If you are a bit on the bulky side, choose fabrics like soft silk, crepe, soft cotton, linen, georgette. Polyester or chiffon would hang away from your body making you look bigger. Silky fabrics that cling just a bit, are a good choice for you.
- Also fabric blends with spandex; lycra like stretchable fabrics should be chosen very carefully, as they will tend to stick to the curves of your body accentuating them in bad manner.
- If you are too slim and would want to add some volume to your figure, go for heavy silks, jute, thick cotton, spandex blend cotton. You can do ok with chiffon and polyester too.
- Avoid sleeveless, deep neck or open back designs of the top, if you are heavy. Flesh protruding out of the dress is not flattering.
- Avoid frills, layers, too much detailing, glitter work around the part of your body which you would not want to emphasis.
- If you are pear shaped, meaning your bottom part is bigger than the top part, have your suit made with a yoke. The yoke ends just below the bust, giving it some lift and accentuating it more and creating a visual balance between the upper and lower part of body.
- If you are too skinny, long, flared Anarkalis would make you look beautiful. But since Anarkali designs are not apt for casual wear, you can opt for A-line cuts with little added flare.
- If you are tall, you can easily wear short tops with pleated Patiala bottoms. They would give a shapely volume that balances your height.
- If you are short in height, wear straight fit tops that end 2-3 inches below your knees to elongate your frame. Strictly avoid tops that end just below the hips, or tops that are too long. Same goes for the women with bulky frame.
- When choosing a tunic or a Kurti, let them be a bit loose over the leggings or even jeggings. Tight, short tunics over leggings are a major faux-pas.
- The all-time favorite salwar-suit cut for the top that flatters all body types, is the knee length, straight fit, with side slits, worn over pleated bottoms or leggings or churidar salwar.
- When it comes to prints, the rules are universal for any attire. Small prints for bigger frames, bold prints for tiny frames, vertical stripes for short ones, horizontal for tall ones.
- When considering the colors, bright, bold, shiny colors for thin frames and subtle, earthy, rustic, dark colors for broad frames. Although go ahead and experiment with colors since they have a lot to do with your mood and attitude. With the right attitude, you can carry off any color.
Ultimately, there is only one fashion mantra for dressing in Indian Ethnic Wear, that is the ‘Perfect Fitting’. No matter what style you wear, it will look fabulous on you if the fitting is Perfect….not even good or nice, but only Perfect.
