a “Punjabi village” themed mehndi? A friend/colleague is having a themed mehndi and has suggested that the guests dress according to the theme. Ironically, neither she nor her fiance is Punjabi or from a village.
She’s shown me photographs of decor and the like, so I have some idea of what she has in mind (it’s quite colourful and vibrant). I’m still not sure what type of outfit would be good for such a function though. Usually, when attending Pakistani weddings, I typically wear western gowns or floor length anarkali-type gowns like this one:
Nooo that’s not Punjabi village at all! lol. If you have access to stores that sell Indian Punjabi style shalwar kameez, buy a nice bright colored suit from there. The shalwas are the typical punjabi style. The shalwar I’m talking about. Colors should be absolutely bright, like oranges, bright pinks, yellow, parrot greens. Nothing muted, or dull. If you can’t buy a shalwar kameez, then you can opt for a short-shirted lehnga ensemble. Typically the shirt’s more worked on than the lehnga. With hair a paranda is a must.
^^ That’s actually pretty close. Punjabi culture has different types of shalwars.. well the Indian side does which we call patiala shalwars.
I don’t see them in Pakistan though that often, some people in Karachi call them dhoti shalwars. :s
The paranda is a good idea, braids are pretty common, and bright colourful clothing for the Mehndi.
There’s also traditional punjabi ghagras, that’s pretty village-y lol.
Dhoti shalwar is such a terrible name lol. Patiala shalwars were very in a few years ago in Pakistan. These days I only see women from India Punjab wearing them.
For jewellery you must do a tikka. An exaggerated huge tikka I think looks gorgeous, and I've seen pictures of Sikh brides wearing them, and they look gorgeous IMO. Earrings should be long and chandeliery
Dhoti shalwar is such a terrible name lol. Patiala shalwars were very in a few years ago in Pakistan. These days I only see women from India Punjab wearing them.
For jewellery you must do a tikka. An exaggerated huge tikka I think looks gorgeous, and I've seen pictures of Sikh brides wearing them, and they look gorgeous IMO. Earrings should be long and chandeliery
LOL I know I laughed at dhoti shalwars when my SIL told me that's what they call them. I wore patiala shalwars during my visit to KHI and most people knew I was from India when I would go shopping just based on that lol. But ya the tikkas look pretty too.
I would definitely wear *paranda, *couple of dozen plain glass bangles on both hands, tikka and slightly prominent looking nose pin, slightly fitted three quarter sleeves, thick jumkha or baliyaan. But above all, a radiantly happy and fun loving face will be your best accessory and tribute to Punjabi culture. Be prepared to raise your bangle laden hands in the air for bit of bhangra and gidda.
I’m tempted to recommend the ‘Saima Chaudry’ style impeccably fitted shalwar kameez. For those who know what I’m talking about, I think the fitting of her clothes was absolutely spot on, that was very much part of her* mutteyaran* look.
Not necessarily the complete looks, but I’d use these pictures as inspiration:
Traditional Punjabi dressing is all about bright, bold and block colours. We typically love yellows, orange and dark green for mehndi. Magenta or hot pink is also considered a very popular choice, it’s second to bridal red, really.
Btw, traditionally Punjabi village girls would have their heads covered, lol.
That’s a very romantic picture depicting the old school Punjabi wedding celebrations. I actually wouldn’t mind pulling this look. I can be hopeless romantic.
I think this picture truly deserves to be in your other thread. Will post it there as well.
Too bad you are in UK, there is no way you’d get traditional Punjabi ‘gotta wala kaam’, as I have hopelessly searched the entire UK for that, not so long. I absolutely love gotta work, it’s indigenous form of embroidery in Punjab, if I were specifically asked to pay a tribute to Punjabi culture and heritage, I’d wear gotta work. Below are few examples of gotta work:
(Get rid of the lengha, replace the flowers with paranda, and that’s quintessential Punjabi look)
After having a look around the shops, I finally found an outfit I quite liked. It’s quite similar to this (same colour combination):
It’s incredibly similar except that it has three-quarter sleeves, a more fitted top, and the bottom part is not as puffy.
I found glass bangles and a paranda that match it quite nicely. I’ve decided to keep the jewellery simple and just go with long, chandelier-type earrings (they are part of a set and include the tikka and necklace but I think wearing the entire set might look a bit OTT for a guest). I’m also keeping the hairstyle more toned down so that it doesn’t look like too much as the paranda is quite colourful with little mirrors and other dangly baubles.
Megs.. I was just gonna say time to pull out the patiala shalwar and shake that tooh. :coolios: by the way.. I like the patialas to have puffiness.. or it just looks like a regular shalwar
^It does have a bit of puffiness just not as much as the one in the picture. What type of shoes look nice with them? I've seen them worn with heels but I'm not terribly sold on the heel look.
^^ I agree, you can definately rock a punjabi jhooti, just colour coordinate with the suit and you'll look great. I always find heels with patiala shalwars look odd because the shalwars are so puffy and the heels get lost somewhere lol.
