Breaking Fashion Rules Part-4

By : Juhi Bansal

Fashion Rule no. 272: Dress code for Sangeet – a shiny embellished Lehenga Choli

When you are attending a North Indian Sangeet ceremony, the rules are pretty simple- if you are the bride or groom’s sister/mother/aunt or first cousin, you should wear a lehanga choli with lots of embellishment and embroidery using gold thread. The options you have are- zari, zardosi, gota patti, mukesh, phulkari etc.

I recently attended my cousin’s wedding ceremonies in Jaipur and the rules are even stricter there. While deciding the outfit for Sangeet, I gave the lehenga choli a serious thought. Don’t get me wrong, I love everything about the attire and have proudly adorned it in many an event. But, I wanted a change or at least a little twist. So, that got me thinking. What is lehenga choli essentially? It is a crop top with a long skirt and a dupatta. Ofcourse, the colors and the worksmanship make it a very formal attire.

And..Bingo! I decided to wear a westernized version of the lehenga choli- a fusion if you may.

Needless to say, I stood apart from the rest of the party (if that was good or bad is a question best left unanswered 🙂 ).

I couldn’t click pictures at the wedding. Infact, this was the only picture we took. So, when I got back home, I dressed up exactly the same as I did in the Sangeet (for the record, I hate to repeat my styling) and clicked a few pics.

Also, the theme of my outfit is “Elephants”- very reminiscent of Rajasthan :). The top has an elephant pattern on the hem and the earrings have elephant drops!

Hand Painted Clutch: Anusha Lalwani (Buy Similar)
T-strap Stilletoes: Charles & Keith
Knuckle Rings: Forever 21
Elephant Earrings: Amrapali Jewels (Buy) ( Check out the Elephant Parade Collection at Amrapali)