A fresh restart, for me and fashion too!

I dream of Phuket: Sanam Chaudhri’s coconut white collection is a dream of tropical textures.

Summer’s officially over, in Karachi at least. For me the biggest joy is packing the boys off to school so I have the best part of the day to myself. They sleep early for school, so I have the best part of the night to myself too. I love school and I love new beginnings. It’s grade 9 for my elder son, grade 5 for the younger one and a whole new range of possibilities (fashionable of course) for me to explore!

The choices in eid clothing are exciting me this year because there is so much ready to wear retail, and that means no trips to the tailor. Truth be told, the last time I went to a tailor was in 2008. I’m a bit lucky in the sense that I have friends in the right places (rather professions) so I usually request for what I see in on the racks and get it in my size. Moreover, some of them even go the extra mile and style any fabric that I happen to purchase, especially if it’s from their collection. I am blessed.

But back to eid shopping, I’m loving the fact that sartorial dynamics are changing. It’s no longer essential or necessary to don the 3 piece jora, with the matching shalwar/trouser and the complimenting chiffon dupatta. For women with style, eid will be about creating their own ensembles and customizing their own, original looks. So a lot of designers are putting out tunics that can be paired with shalwars (why not?), trousers (drainpipe are back in the game), churidars (by all means avoid the stretchy, pre-stitched jersidars) and more, if you’re experimental.

So far I’ve seen and loved:

Things are always trendy and tasteful at Sonya Battla’s I am the proud owner of both these tunics 🙂

1. Sonya Battla’s eid range, new stock trickling in everyday. You can check out the new Sonya Battla Facebook page for details. Have I bought? Yes.

2. Sanam Chaudhri’s coconut collection of whites served with a splash of fruity cocktails. Can’t say I agree with the long length but I love the empire/bubble sleeves and the juxtaposition of various white chikans. Plus, there are shorter tunics up too. Do I want? Yes.

That’s all I’ve checked out so far. This weekend will serve up Nomi Ansari, Body Focus and Maheen Khan. Plus I do plan on checking out Maheen Karim, Sania Maskatiya, Nida Azwer and Sadaf Malaterre. I can’t buy clothes with only eid in mind; for me clothes are about  fashion weeks/events/launches etc (that take up most space on my calender) and therefore traditional takes a back seat.

Watch this space for more mini-previews…