Indian Fashion Style: Sarees V's Gowns

We are recently seeing a lot of photographs on  social media with the specific tag #100sareepact. It is two innovative women who have started this new buzz, as they want to encourage the fact that wearing saree in the workplace is a great and stylish option.

This new virtual platform created by these two women is a space where people can celebrate their memories of sarees. All participants in this pact are attempting to wear a 100 saris before the end of this year. Since the creation of this website, there has already been 4000 visits and 1400 women who have participated. The concept is really simple, the person has to post a picture and explain how they feel when wearing a saree into the workplace.

But obviously, the pair want to go further with this, and not just wear sarees in the office, but begin to bring the saree back on the red carpet, instead of seeing the same thing over and over again: gowns. We used to see a lot of sarees on the red carpet with the previous generation of Bollywood actors such as Hema and Rekha Malini, who always showed up for ceremonies in stunning Kanjeevarams or subtle chiffons.

Before, Bollywood celebrities wore what they liked and looked good, based on their tastes instead of following all trends, what people wore was not so important. Nowadays, it’s different as everyone tends to follow trends of the moment to look stylish.

At Cannes 2015, we saw the Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor make an outstanding appearance with her voluminous gown. After this appearance, she then attended a press conference wearing a extremely unique fluffy outfit, although this choice of outfit was not such a success. The look was more suited for a teenager going to prom night!

The idea of bringing back more traditional clothes on the red carpet is for Bollywood celebrities to generate further attention from the international press. For this kind of big event such as Cannes 2015, every look is perfectly planned and thought out. Obviously, with all the paparazzi around celebrities, the stable black gown will be the safe choice, however, it will miss the brilliance and condition of making someone stand out. But, for the first time it will be difficult to convince Bollywood divas to be different and not follow the trends, because it will also mean taking the risk of stirring the fashion police, as all celebrities hate this kind of “bad” judgment.

When we look at Aishwarya Rai and Sonam Kapoor looking perfect in Elie Saabs and Oscar De la Rentas during Cannes 2015 Festival, we know that it was to stand out from the crowd. These two Bollywood divas ultimately looked extremely glamorous, and are obviously outstandingly beautiful,   but maybe the looks were slightly too much.

It’s always better for everyone to have fun with their fashion and not stress about what they will look like. For example, we saw the actress Nandita Das, in a simple black and red saree, she looked very natural and it had a greater impact. 

It’s the right time for the designers to rethink about the approach to red carpet dressing. It will might be better to make people look comfortable, natural and fun loving with their outfits and not superficial.