Pink, Blue, Red or Black all are just beautiful if your favourite person wears it. Well today we shall be discussing Dresses & Styles!
In the past few months I have been travelling and have had a lot of occasions to dress and enjoy. Be it a Birthday party, a wedding or just a special outing with friends or family, dressing up is always fun ( well for ladies…). Especially with the current lockdown, we do not mind to get dressed and sit at home. It is a morale boost.
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It’s as well a special moment when you are credited for looking good or great by your darling. It makes the recipient’s face glow. “Beautiful”, this word triggers a magic response in our system bringing on a radiant smile.
I still remember while in school, participating in dance programs for annual day, dressing up, applying makeup, little lipstick was the moment we used to wait for. That energy will by itself make the dance better. :). As well, a few weeks ahead of school event, we used to get to pay a visit to the tailor, what a feeling, it was some magical VIP moment.
A few dresses are remarkable and stay at the back of your mind, even if it gets worn out we tend to try get a similar dress soon. I still remember a pink lehenga I used to love wearing back in school, but never found anything similar. So what is your dear darling dress you cherished wearing and remember till date?
 I can recollect a beautiful Tamil saying “Aal Padhi Aadai Padhi” – it translates as the impression you make credits half to the person you and half to the dress you wear. Thus a dress does have high amount of significance 🙂
I also have heard from learned people that, the dress also adds to your “AURA” and gives a particular energy.
Well ladies have a lot to choose whilst men have a handful only is what I have seen and heard. But just came across a good long list in the recent past. To name a few:
- Shirt + Pant
- Full hand Shirt / Formal Shirt
- Cardigan
- Polo Shirt
- Turtleneck Shirt
- Hawaiian Shirt
- Hoodie
- V neck T shirt
- Short sleeves Shirt
- Kurta + Pajama
- Veshti + Shirt
- Shirt + Shorts
- Buniyan + Lungi
That was a new change of perspective for me in men’s clothing. Many do not use all types of shirts, but stick to a basic collection of – Formal Shirt, V neck T shirt and maybe a Polo Shirt, but a few men make this handful a great collection by playing with the colours and matching the trousers to shirts in a beautiful way. But always the man look great in the Vella Vetti Vella Chattai… Oru Mapla Looku la… 🙂
As a kid and till now I have not been bitten by the shopping bug, I do not tend to spend more than 1 hour at shopping, well if I happened to spend more than that, I need a week off… 🙂 But I know friends, who would love to go window shopping and end up purchasing the whole store, be it really a necessary item or not, they love it so they buy it. This is where we need to be careful. Dresses are Non Degradable items, they stay good for long, hence we need to plan our wardrobe so that we buy whenever we need not in an impulsive way.
Weddings are a showcase of all traditions as well a great place to collect know how on dressing. The bride and groom are busy in their activities whilst the public get to relish various dresses or sarees as well retrieve a lot of stories from the past.
I was at a wedding recently and we really enjoyed as we got to spend time seeing the saree collections of close relatives and chatting a lot. As well my aunt’s were in a busy discussion themselves, to whose blouse design is lovely and how and where they got it done. The contact for the same and Blah Blah Blah…. So with women and dress it just goes on and on…
Wedding organizers also have come up with themes to match the dress colors of the bride and groom. When you ask for the background decoration for a function, they will ask the color of clothes the wedding couple will be wearing to tailor the decoration to match the same.
Speaking of weddings I remember the special occasions at home. Life was so simple earlier, where the rate of consumption of new dress was much slower. The families used to purchase dresses on:
- Birthdays – The kid or person whose birthday it is gets the new dress/
- Anniversaries – The couple buys new dress for themselves.
- Diwali / Pongal – The whole family enjoys the festive spirit with the purchase of new dresses.
- Family Function – If a marriage, the parents of the to be wedded couple buy dresses as gifts for all their relatives.
This was how the dresses accumulated, but at present the interest in clothing, development of new varieties of clothes, Cinema and TV influence on Clothing [The hero has worn a flower design shirt, I also need one] have made the ability to avoid purchase a very big challenge.
Relating to the TV/ Cinema influence – I happened to love the saree Trisha wears in “Anbil Avan” a song from Vinnathandi Varuvaya – A beautiful Maroon Saree with Green and golden border, with intricate temple design in the border. I found a seller in Bangalore, she happened to say she was not ready to ship it. But I got hold of a relative to go and purchase the same for me. But it turned out to be a faded pink, with no temple design. Thus we did not purchase it. But this was my experience to impulse of buying. What was yours?
Well movies and media seem to portray a lot of dresses and styles. It is actually very tough to select what to mention. My Favourites again:
Well to begin with I can still remember Madhuri Dixit in Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, as the movie had a lot to do with wedding the dress collection was exquisite. Her green choli set in jhoote dedo paise lelo song is unforgettable. Speaking of Madhuri, I can remember the white saree and many more costumes in Devdas. What a collection.
But she seems to have stiff competition from co actresses, like Kajol – be it dilwale dulhania le jayenge or Kuch Kuch hota hai ( her tomboy tracksuit or feminine saree towards the end of movie, it was magical).
Similarly in the present Deepika padukone or PC AKA Priyanka Chopra steal the show with their beautiful attire. Especially both co starred in Bajirao Mastani , a movie based on epic what a feast for the eyes. Ranveer Singh, starred as the lead hero, his scenes were perfected with perfect Maratha Clothing, making the movie an Epic Success.
There are many actors and actresses who have been taken as inspiration for dressing by the generations who watch them as role models:
- Marilyn Monroe – The most spoken about feminine lead of hollywood, her structure, delivery, expressions and most importantly her Dressing sense was a key turner in the generations prior to us.
- Kamal Hassan – Flying down to South India, ‘Ulaga Nayagan’ Kamal Hassan is a star who happened to deliver many movies with a twist of his dressing sense. I am sure his Sigappu Rojakkal, Guru and even his later movies such as Panchathanthiram, had a very good touch of dressing sense followed by many youngsters of the 80’s through 00’s.
- Rajinikanth – “Super Star” of Kollywood, he happens to have his peculiar style of walk, talk and expressions, but his epic dressing sense has inspired many youngsters to follow his style and gear up their wardrobes. To me his most memorable dressing combination would be “Mannan” I can still visualize the Clock Bag in the introduction scene. I wish i had one of those. 🙂
- Sridevi – The Late Mrs. Sridevi has been a classic inspiration for most of the world in the 1980’s and post. Her dressing in the South of India was perfect, which along with her acting skills took her to Bollywood. She had an epic presence on screen and her color combinations were lovely. I can still remember the “Vazhve mayam” or “Guru” Sridevi, she also had an amazing dressing sense in the classic “Mr. India“.
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- Simran – She was a recent darling of South India, her presence in Tamil films, sizzled and the audience loved the moments she came on big screen. Her touch to fashion is really big, I can think of the movie “Aval Varuvala” – the song Selaiyila Veedu Kattava, was spoken up and about for years to come.
- Leonardo Di Caprio – The “Titanic” star , a hero who good looks and style happened to capture one and all. His dressing sense has always been really capturing. The film “Catch me if you can” is a perfect example for this.
- Sharmila Tagore – She is a very well known actress, who was perceived to be a great beauty and her dressing sense inspired many young ladies of the 60’s to follow up. Her hairstyles and salwar sets were epic. But the most spoken about film is “An evening in Paris“.
- Kareena Kapoor – From the beginning of her career Kareena Kapoor starred in films with a beautiful dress selection, Her introduction in Refugee was completely different but the movies that followed made her a Darling. Her costumes in Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Ghum were the talk of the town for many years. The most dear film for many, with a perfect blend of Kareena in the plot was Jab We Met. A pure Geet wala movie.
- Revathi – A stunning example of beauty. Be it her Mouna Ragam salwars, her Thevar magan homely look, her manvasanai “gramathu style” look, her Magalir Mattum Stylish look. She has owned every moment she was on screen. Till date her style stands out always.
The list just keeps on going, the influences of Vijay, Ajith, Surya, Aamir Khan, Sharukh Khan and more are always felt. There are so many stars to be named that it is difficult to complete in one blog.
Last but not the least, closing with my favorite mention – Jothika. Be it her saree special “Kakha Kakha” Teacher Maya, “Sillunu Oru Kaadhal” Kundavi (I love her haircut in the film) or Dum Dum Dum special Ganga, dhavani special homely look. All were epic and still she seems to stand out with “Rakshasi” Rani, the strict but lovely HM.
So lets have a classic time watching our dear actors, enjoying their styles, do remember to share your facorite actors dressing style in which movie you enjoyed the most.
What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.
Miuccia Prada
teacoffeetiffan 
Wow! Wonderful write up about your darling dress.I like that quote in tamil ” aal padhi, aadai padhi” which is a strong statement.Also one feel a cool breeze as one travel through your article.Keep Writing.It is the best way to express yourself.
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