Safarnamay: PLBW 2016: How I Dressed for Less

Looking good without burning big holes in your pocket

When I found out that I will be covering PLBW 2016 for the magazine I write for, the first thing I was worried about was my wardrobe. The fact that I will have to leave my daughter behind in Karachi for 4 days was the first runner up in the hierarchy of worries, and the fact that my husband will be the babysitter was the second. Anyway, I was quick to switch off in the runner up departments and move to the real issue at hand – how to produce myself a three-day wardrobe fit to attend Pakistan’s biggest annual bridal week in the capacity of a decent-looking reporter.

The masla in life was that my wardrobe is packed with innumerable lawn kurtas only. Reasons are many; number one being that I have converted from being a pakki lahori to fully Karachiite - so I kinda dress up less now. Second, my main line of work has been teaching since I graduated eight years ago so my outfits involve simple kurtas and nothing more. Third, all my friends are also very naukri paysha types and happy in their Daamans and Generations, so yeah, fortunately or unfortunately I’ve never needed anything more than lawn. Plus, if I had designer friends or one million followers on Instagram maybe I could play the borrowing game and look all – kya kahoon….designered(?). But I don’t have either, so had to do some samjhotas with the haqeeqats of life. (This is where you help btw by following me on Instagram.)

Anyway, after being a little tensed up about this major wardrobe issue and visiting a few designers for some understated but stylish evening wear, wisdom hit me. I decided not to run down on my savings because spending money makes me the happiest only when it’s spent on a big fat annual vacation and on my yearly all-purpose handbag. So, I shook hands with the faisla that fashion is all about your personal style, and of course raiding your mom’s cupboard as and when needed.

I’d rather be under-dressed than look like a complete chammak challo for any particular occasion and with that motto, I proceeded with confidence. So here’s what I cooked up for PLBW 2016 and I THINK I did pretty okay. After reading, you may leave a comment if you have nice things to say. If you don’t, make ghubaaras of your bubblegum and let your silence be my support.

Day 1

A few weeks back I made this random and purposeless (at that time) purchase of a jacket from Generation for 4K. Since I had nowhere to wear it I was all drowned in guilt at that time. Still bought it, what a creep I am. Anyway, this purchase made me really proud finally when I was figuring out the sawaal das crore ka. I dug out this pair of formal pants I got from River Island some time back for my brother’s graduation (okay, a long time back) but they were as good as new so there! I had my day 1 clothes sorted. Teamed up with soft waves, dark purplish lipstick and New Look black heels, this is what I looked like. Not such a disaster, kya khyaal hai?

Style Summary:

Jacket: Generation

Pants: River Island

Shoes: New Look

Bag: DKNY

Lipstick: KIKO Amaranth, shade 914 (P.S. if you don’t know of this brand, get to know it. It’s Italian and amazing. They have a shop in London too now on Oxford Street and are coming to India soon, and, hopefully, to Pakistan as well)

Nail Polish: A random purple one I picked up in Bangkok 3 years ago. It still works very nicely so quality pretty good eh?

Bracelet: Platinum Mall, Bangkok (spilling all my dress for less deets just for you here)

Earrings: nothing exceptional so let’s skip

Hair: My own

Day 2

Since dusty pink is trending big time (and I was proven right over the 3 day show) I decided to buy this layered piece from Daaman, which is one of my favorite shops for kurtas. It was around Rs.3500 in crepe-type material so I was beyond excited to find it. I got matching pants made from my darzi who was new but did a pretty good job (Thanks mom for the intervention). Since the color I was wearing wasn’t too flashy, I decided to get my hair done to add some excitement to my look. Btw, if you are a Cavalry-Ground dweller in Lahore, try out ‘Cutting Edge by Amna’ there. It’s a big but non-busy place with great service. Thanks sister in law for the discovery because going all the way to DHA for this would’ve killed me before my LONG evening even began.

Style Summary:

Shirt: Daaman

Pants: Master saab

Shoes: VINCCI

Bag: Fashion ComPassion, you can check out their website here.

Lipstick: REVLON Colourburst, shade Unapologetic, 210

Nail polish: Barry M Hi Shine Nail Paint, shade Grapefruit

Cuff bracelet: Sapphire, for a 1000 bucks, it's pretty great

Earrings: Saphigo, check out more from this amazing brand here.

Hair: Again, my own, done by Cutting Edge by Amna’s, Cavalry Ground Branch

Day 3

I tried to find day 3 clothes from another brand for some variety in life, but what the heck, I just got this one from Daaman too because i) navy blue is very in, ii) I loved the cut and the flowey material, and iii) it was for Rs.3800 and kinda easy on my pocket. Again, master saab made my pants with organza strip detailing and voila, clothes all tayyar. I couldn’t have done my hair third day in a row so just kept it simple and straight. This look is my favorite and I also have other nice memories from day 3. My boss was the happiest with my coverage on day 3 and my story for the night also turned out pretty good, if I may add that myself ;) You can read it here if you like. If you don’t, still read it bhai.