Be a showstopper at every party by repurposing your bridal wedding outfits these ways.
South-Asian weddings are grand, no matter the part of the world you have them in, which makes the part about wedding planning all the more crucial. It is, after all, one of the most important days of your life. At the very heart of making this special day is how you dress as a bride, and that’s why the brides meticulously plan their wedding attire well in advance. South-Asian weddings are known for their heavy embellished bridal dress, and it can take many weeks, if not months, to get the final wedding outfits ready. Bridal wedding dresses are one of the most thought-out and often the most expensive investments a Bride makes. But, the utility of the dress after the wedding day does cause concern to many Brides. Almost always, the wedding dress ends up stored away in a box and locked up in your cupboard. Do you ever look back at your outfit wanting and wish to wear it again but can’t figure the right occasion for it? Do you think about having spent so much on your traditional South-Asian wedding dress only to later keep it tucked away in the wardrobe? If the answer to any of these questions is a yes, we are here to help you repurpose your wedding dresses and lehengas.
Repurposing your Indian Wedding outfits
With the wedding season taking over, this is the perfect opportunity to experiment with different ways to wear your bridal dress instead of buying a new one. With a few styling tweaks, your versatile bridal wear can easily make a swift transition into your festive wardrobe. We put together five ways you can get it done:
Re-style your Blouse
Traditional wedding blouses or cholis are heavily embellished and sequined. You can easily pair them up with a plain skirt and look stunning and ready to attend a cocktail party or reception. If you are looking for something more formal yet chic, you can pair it with some classy palazzo pants instead of a skirt. Add a small and fancy clutch bag, and you are all set. Read more about Clutch Bags – A Perfect fit for this Wedding Season.
Indo-western twist with a shirt.
If you do not like a heavily embellished blouse, you can switch it up by using your wedding lehenga as a skirt paired with a western shirt or an unconventional top. Wearing a modern, western shirt with a lehenga makes the outfit look both casual and trendy — the best of both worlds. A simple hack here is to get a white button-down shirt as it goes well with every pattern, colour and fabric. It is better to wear a monotone coloured shirt if your lehengas are fun and colourful like lehengas you usually find on mayun and mehndi. But if you want to experiment and go out of your comfort zone, pair your lehenga with a crop top, laced or embroidered tops with unconventional necklines. Use a funky top that compliments the colour combination of your lehenga. To further glam up the look, you can go for a shirt that has some tassels and pleats.
Reuse the dupatta
The best thing about bridal outfits is that each piece of the dress has a charm of its own, which allows you to not only repurpose the blouse and lehengas but also the shawl or dupatta. The dupatta, just like the entire bridal outfit, is also pretty embellished with works of Gotta Patti, Cut Dana, Taar, Zardosi, Booti work, intricate Resham or Zari embroidery etc., which makes it perfect to pair up with simple shalwar kameez or a straight shirt and pants giving you an elegant yet fancy look. This way, you can put your wedding dupatta to use with minimal effort. Traditional dupattas have the quality of transforming any simple Kurti or kameez into festive party wear.
Saree to a lehenga and Vice versa
It is easy to turn a saree into a lehenga and a lehenga into a saree. Whether you wore a saree or a lehenga on your wedding day, this hack works both ways and helps you change up your look. Drape your lehengas dupatta like the pallu of your saree and see the entire look transform. Read more about 7 Different Ways to Drape a Saree and find the one you like the best.
Restitch into an outfit
Beyond all the different ways to repurpose your bridal dress, you can always get it restricted if you are still unsure or not entirely convinced. Most people have sentiments attached to clothing items, especially bridal wear, but if you are not that person, then it’s time you restitched your traditional wedding dress into something different. A wedding dress can be a very versatile garment, and the options to restitch it into something new are truly endless. For instance, you can have your blouse and lehenga turned into a jumpsuit or maxi dress, you can use the blouse and dupatta to stitch yourself a brand new saree, or you can turn your outfit into a fancy jacket and add some pants to complete your look. Restitching gives you the complete creative freedom to go any way you like.
Get the Latest Trends and Designs Under One Roof
Atiya Choudhury is an authentic South-Asian fashion brand based in the multicultural city of Birmingham, the UK. It offers clothing, jewellery, accessories and a range of other beautifully crafted products. From the intricate patterns to the eye-catching colours, South Asia is a region rich in fashion designs, making it the centre of unmatched beauty and luxury. Atiya Choudhury brings together the traditional and modern fashion elements and offers its customers a unique experience of feeling themselves as a canvas for authentic artistic expression. So, if you want to pair some lehengas, blouses or dupattas to existing bridal outfits, then Atiya Chaudhury is a one-stop-shop for this wedding season.