Oscar's 2016: Best and Worst Outfits & That Gold Snakeskin Dress

I wasn't intending to blog about The Oscars but I consumed so much media about it yesterday, from the moment I turned on the TV and saw Red Carpet interviews over breakfast, to during the day, when every time I glanced at social media I saw 'That Dress'....the Gold Dress by Tom Ford, worn by Margot Robbie, which 'looks like an Oscar' itself. 

It doesn't just look like an award statue though, the gold snake print fabric she's wearing is not too dissimilar to the gold snakeskin dress I wore on the Red Carpet for the Asian Media Awards back in October 2015. Hmmmm....has someone been copying my style?

TRENDS

Pluging necklines were the biggest Oscars trend this year with the majority of women walking the red carpet wearing dresses that drew attention to their cleavage. Personally I think my own gold dress with less skin on show, is far classier. Not that I'm against showing cleavage, it makes you feel amazing when you have a decent dress and a bit of boob showing, but it is sad that so many women feel they had to do this on the one day they'll get photographed most in their life. 

It's a sorry state of affairs that women need to show their skin while the men are in dapper suits, to get noticed in their careers. The biggest reason it's so important to dress well at The Oscars is that an actor/actress gets noticed, and cast in their next role but why is baring skin so important for this? The Oscar's have been going for 88 years and still this is what women are expected to do. Women who wore outfits that weren't as revealing were told they look dowdy and old fashioned - because modernity is all about looking semi naked right?

Choosing what one is wearing to The Oscars is clearly a big deal. Everyone in attendance will have faced every fashion dilemma going when it comes to choosing their outfit ...but some made much better decisions than others.

I won't di-sect every single outfit (you can do that on Google, there's enough opinions and photos out there to see what people are saying,) I'm just going to comment on what I think was the best outfit and the one that was a real disappointment...

Dress: Armani Prive

BEST OUTFIT: Cate Blanchette

Cate's was more than just the best outfit, it's the overall look. Every single element compliments her, the hair and make-up are equally as important. The the dress has character and personality and the colour is original and suits her complexion. It's the perfect dress for 'Cate.'

Dress by Zuhair Murad

MOST DISAPPOINTING OUTFIT: Priyaka Chopra

I LOVE PC as an actress, she's one of Bollywood's finest. Previously a model, her early acting career was pretty bad, but she's grown so much into a natural, intelligent and creative actress who's give some incredible performances. 

Despite this being the 88th Academy Awards there is a huge lack of South Asians represented at them. (Don't even get me started on the fact Bollywood films don't make it into the international category).

Priyanka being at the Oscars wasn't just her elevating her career, whether she liked it or not, she was representing Indians on a global scale. Ok that may sound unfair but she does carry some responsibility as an ambassador, especially as she was on the stage handing out an award. Even though she identifies as being part-American - she studied there, launched her pop career there and recently starred in US serial Quantico - the biggest success in her career has been starring in Indian cinema. 

In that world there are some incredible fashion designers, and she herself has worn some absolutely gorgeous colourful couture work - the kinds of designs Western audiences don't get much exposure to.

This was an opportunity to show the best in Asian fashion to the world and she chose to turn up in a simple, safe white dress with hair pulled back into a pony tail - which to me is the opposite of Cate's look - bland, and with zero personality. 

Priyanka has never been the most 'stylish' of actresses but she looks sooooooo much better when she appears at Indian functions in India, her attempts to do Oscar's glamour in a traditional gown are for me, a real disappointment.

Dress: Elizabeth Kennedy

Mindy Kaling, the other female South Asian icon at the Oscars looked remarkably better than Priyanka because although she wore a classic black dress, the detail of the blue  bow at the back is what gave it some personality and the overall look suited her. 

I'm not saying in anyway that because someone is Asian they should wear Asian clothes - but in Priyanka's case she has access to the best in Indian designers, so her choice was a wasted opportunity.

As for what I would wear to The Oscars, well I recently bought a red carpet dress (above) which has a gorgeous shimmer to it. It's the only long dress I own and I bought it in the January sales from Joy because it was reduced from £120 to £28 and fit me perfectly so I took it as a sign that I had to own it. It's what I would wear if I had to pick something from my current wardrobe right now.....but if I could get dressed by a designer, hands down it would be Manish Arora, Indian designer and fashion visionary. 

I can but only dream about wearing a creation of his One Day....

For this particular blog post I had to use images found online which aren't credited because there are so many versions of them - so thanks to whoever took them, I hope you can see this is a wee blog and I just needed them for illustrative purposes. Thanks.

British Asian Fashion: Has it finally got its own identity?

Asiana Couture Catwalk (L-R Mani Kohli Khubsoorat, Ashan's and Aada by Gudu G) Image: Rafyl

I've recently entered my 5th year of working on a British Asian fashion magazine. I've lost count of how many fashion catwalk shows I've been to, the number of trend reports I've written and the thousands of images I've sifted through. 

The fabrics, designs, colours and embellishments are always extraordinary but unless you pay attention to detail, it's hard to sometimes tell them apart. There are some key designers who set the trends each season but over and over again you see the same things happening. It's like fashion in general: trends go around in circles so to someone who doesn't know much about Asian fashion their immediate reaction may be...'it all looks the same'...and truth be told I wouldn't blame them. 

If you were to look back at the last decade of British Asian fashion you'll spot similar things occurring: red Latin inspired ball gowns, red and gold churidar suits, heavy Mughal embroidery...is it because British designers are too lazy to start setting new trends, they keep going back to the old ones?

This doesn't happen in India; their designers seem to be far more progressive. Take Manish Arora...

These snaps were taken at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month and customary with his signature style they are are bright, quirky and have personality.

Similarly the calibre of designers who exhibited at Lakme Fashion Week in India also in March this year were at the top of their game for being influential. In fact if the mainstream fashion press ever do want to look at the what's happening in South Asian fashion they'll go straight to these established designers in India and won't even thinking about looking at UK talent.

Well it's time they did. 

A couple of weeks ago a new kind of fashion show took place in Birmingham bringing with it evidence that British based Asian designers are finally realising the importance of developing their own style. The Asiana Couture Catwalk held at Edgbaston Cricket Stadium was a showcase of contemporary fashion for men and woman and for the first time showed signs of originality and 'trends' emerging which could so easily impact on the wider, mainstream fashion industry.

I felt the standards were good enough to compete on an international scale. I don't mean that to sound patronising...I just honestly think the clothes have got better to the point they don't look like 'British Asian clothes for British Asian people', but have wider appeal. 

Here are some of the outfits to explain what I mean:

Mani Kohli - Khusboorat (London)

Bombay Stores (Bradford)

Gul's Style (Ilford)

Adaa by Gudu G (Birmingham)

Arinder Bhullar

Kiran's Creations

Ahsan's (Birmingham)

Kyles Collection (London - jewellery)

There is absolutely no reason a Western A'list celebrity shouldn't wear one of the bold, red evening dresses by Kiran's Creations, that a slender popstar star can't wear the gold lace catsuit by Gudu G or a British woman of any ethnicity wear one of the floaty, summer festival themed kaftans available from Bombay Stores. 

Similarly I've met white English men fascinated by Asian men's sherwanis - they aren't all cream and gold and made for weddings; this darker pair have a smart theme to them which could easily crossover as an 'acceptable' form of menswear in public by again, a man of any ethnicity, without him looking like he's just come back from travelling, or leads an alternative/New Age lifestyle.

So what does this actually mean and does it matter?

Well sadly I think we are still many years away from a mainstream Western fashion magazine featuring clothes by Asian designers...but if these designers continue to keep their standards high, try and push boundaries and 'design' rather than copy each other or rely on past collections then I hope one day they'll gain wider recognition and become a more valued part of the British Asian industry as a whole. 

And that's just for starters...

As for what I wore to the fashion show, I'm currently going though what I'm calling my orange 'Oompa Loompa' phase and this ensemble kind of just came together from things already in my wardrobe. I'm pictured with the best-dressed man at the show, jewellery designer Anees Malik. Whenever I see him he always looks unique, also I so rarely meet (or see) Asian men that have perfected their own original image so he deserve a special mention!

If you're interested in finding out more about what's happening in the world of British Asian fashion then you should check out Asian Fashion Blog, Author Nazma does a sterling job of keeping abreast of the industry and her blog is packed with great pictures and keep an eye on Asiana.TV. Enjoy! 

All catwalk images taken by Rafyl 

Highlights: Asiana Bridal Show & Catwalk 2014

It's that time of the year again when I get to blog about the Asiana Bridal Show (which took place yesterday). For the initiated it's an annual wedding show aimed at Asian couples and features four catwalk shows during the day featuring the glitziest, most sparkling outfits you'll possibly ever see.

I fell in LOVE with the catwalk as soon as I saw it! I have a thing about lights and the colour red but this combination designed by decor company Maz of Leicester hit the spot and set the theme for a Moulin Rouge-Bollywood-Dhoom 3- Ram Leela inspired extravaganza.

The gorgeous hair for the show was styled by Aamir Naveed who also did my mop, while the make-up was provided by Ambreen and her make-up team. They also had their own catwalk segment, pictured above. Despite the fact I am happy with my current cropped hairdo, it did give me a pang of jealously about having long hair. Still, I've not ruled out having extensions one day! 

I arrived at 8.30am when catwalk rehearsals were underway...

...as was hair and make-up. My first task was to track down, with the help of fellow lifesaver Amna, breakfast for the models. (Yes they do eat crossaints and most amazingly they even eat fried toast...and fruit and healthy stuff like boiled eggs or course!)

Then I got mic-ed up and set to work! My task was to present the official Asiana Bridal Show video, a role I also took up last year. (Was rather sweet that so many members of the public stopped me to say hi as they recognised me, bless them!)
My crew was from Kat Films and together we got through 40 interviews over 4 floors...all whilst wearing heels. OUCH!

It involved stopping by some of the major exhibition stands including make-up artist Ambreen who was demonstrating her skills on some of her previous real life brides.

Like this one. In the photo behind is the bride on her wedding day and here she was again several months later, having the chance to wear her wedding outfit and get her make-up done again!

The catwalks shows were chockablock - and inevitably the entire audience were snapping away throughout!

In true Asiana style, it wasn't just fashion on the runway but some rather chic entertainment too like a hot male fire eater...

...and even hotter models carrying a gorgeous floral canopy. I saw it afterwards back stage, it was made by Flower Escent and it smelt divine as well as looked lovely. 

They also created stunning floral umbrellas too which aren't really captured well on my camera, if I can find a better photo from someone else I'll share later.

Being with a film crew also gave me special access backstage where I was amidst the crazy world of stying, last minute touch-ups and rail upon rail of gorgeous clothes. 

Anisha Vasani, pictured next to me, the Editor of Asiana Wedding Magazine was the Creative Director of the show. She styles incredible fashion shoots, one day I'm going to blog about some of my fave as they really are works of art; her vision for the catwalk was just as mind-blowing. It's great being able to work with such inspiring colleagues. 

The full catwalk line up was:

Kyles Collection
Frontier Raas
Frontier Bazaar
Khushboos's By Chand
Sona's Couture
Bibi London
Ziggi Studio
Ahsan's
Stuush Studio
RDC London
Monga's
Amir Naveed and Ambreen MakeUp Artiste

When the official photos are up on Asiana.TV I'll share the links. In the meantime here's a peek at what happened in a short video by Implausible Blog. Enjoy!
p.s my GORGEOUS dress is from Jones & Jones my fave dress designers!

Asiana Bridal Show 2013: Catwalk & Event Gossip!

Model Sabeeka Imam wearing Nicky B

This January marked my 4th visit to the Asiana Bridal Show and once again I'll be writing the official catwalk report that will appear in the summer issue of the magazine... but that's a long way off!
So in the meantime I thought I'd do my own report of my 17-hour day working there!
It involved waking up super early to ensure we filmed and photographed the models in hair & make-up:

Young & talented hairdresser extraordinaire - Aamir Naveed

Getting my own make-up done by a member of the official catwalk make-up artist Ambreen's team:

Thankfully Rumana loves glitter too!

 Catching catwalk show rehearsals:

Interviewing approximately 50 exhibitors, fashion designers, sponsors and guests for the official video that I'm presenting:

The crew from Studio 4 Photography

Breaking my sandals: 

: (

Eating a curry:

Catering by Madhu's

Meeting high profile bloggers Nazma from AsianFashion Blog and Rabbia from Asian Wedding Ideas:

Check out Rabbia's report of the day here. Nazma is working on several posts but here's her first thoughts.
Posing with The Dreamboys: 

Get your hen & stag do organised by Asiana Events

Getting in the way backstage (I eventually got chucked out!) :

And of course catching the incredible show itself.
Celebrating the glamour, beauty, uniqueness, colour and sparkle of Asian Fashion, this isn't just a show where pretty people strut on catwalks, as Stephen Walker the choreographer told me, it's like a West End Show but with more style!    
As well as 14 collections from over 10 designers there was a snake:

Fire eater:

Khatak dancer:

Live performance by Rishi Rich:

 As well as music from tabla players, Japanese drummers, a violinist, amazing props and accessories and of course utterly gorgeous clothing.

I'm no professional photographer, so to see proper photos follow these links to see the catwalk collections accompanied by my trend reports:
RDC London
Nicky B
Kyles Collection
Charmi Creations
Yuvna Kim
Ziggi Studio
Frontier Raas
Frontier Bazar 
Harkiran's
Khushboo's By Chand
Monga's

There were some seriously stunning outfits with so much attention to detail and oh my....how they shimmered under the runway lights. 
The Creative Director of the Show was Anisha Vasani, pictured here with Style Coordinator Puja Mathia:

These girls, plus Backstage Production Manager Sonia and all the dressers worked non-stop for over three days to get the show in shape and it was spectacular. I'm not even being biased. I know I work for the company who produced the show but I have very balanced opinions on things and when I hate someone I say so!

Although it's labelled a bridal show, it's an annual catwalk show that really captures the flamboyance, eccentricity, fun and frivolous side of Asian Fashion. You don't get many chances or really any chances to see Asian clothes on the catwalk in the UK...so if you want to know more about it, make sure you visit next year!

It was  also a real honour to be the Presenter for the official video, when it's up I'll add the link!

In the mean time here's how I ended the night.....despite being on my feet for what felt like forever (wearing heels that were too big for me after my own sandals broke) I still had the energy to strike some poses in the Asiana Foto Pod...well when you've spent your day at a fashion show, model behaviour is bound to rub off! 

The Asiana Bridal Show 2013 took place at the Riverbank Park Plaza Hotel on Sunday 27th January.