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This article was first published 13 years ago

Top fashion disasters -- and how to avoid them!

Last updated on: April 4, 2011 16:37 IST

Image: The high street look doesn't always work -- opt for desi cool instead!
Photographs: Sanjay Sawant

Fashion designers share the rules you must follow to avoid these wardrobe blasphemies!

Remember the time when that hot celeb you've always admired and thought would never, ever make a bad fashion statement walked the red carpet and made you go 'What the hell was s/he thinking?'

Everyone has days when they don't necessarily end up looking as fashionable as they want to, days they'd rather spend hiding under a wet blanket than be seen in what they're wearing.

Here, three designers -- Anupamaa Dayal, Rimmi Nayak and Arpan Vohra -- tell us what to keep in mind to avoid such faux pas.

Anupamaa Dayal: 'Go for India-inspired'

"Many women want to go for the high street look," says Dayal. "What they don't understand is that the Mangos and Zaras don't necessarily work with our body types. When you have to dress for an occasion, go for India-inspired."

Dump the wedges

Image: Consider a pair of flats or Kolhapuris rather than wedges
Photographs: Courtesy R&P: Edelman

Continues the designer, "Not a lot of women pay attention to their footwear. They go for four inch heels or wedges when they could actually spring for flats or local footwear like Kolhapuris."

Give the jeans a rest once in a while!

Image: Dayal says that you may be better off dumping the jeans for something more feminine
Photographs: Sanjay Sawant

Dayal adds, "There's an overkill of jeans. Girls want to wear them practically everywhere they go. Jeans aren't necessarily feminine or beautiful!"

They WANT to follow fashion -- desperately

Image: Jumpsuits and sequins may be hot trends -- but they may look awful on you!
Photographs: Uttam Ghosh

Kolkata-based designer Rimi Nayak says, "Blindly following a trend, not knowing whether it will look good on you or not, is a bad idea. You'll end up looking terrible rather than stylish."

Too much matching-matching

Image: Consider wearing contrasting colours
Photographs: Sanjay Sawant

Nayak continues, "For some reason, a lot of women I've seen take colour coordination to a completely different level. They'll insist on matching colours, which doesn't look good all the time."

'We don't know what fits us well!'

Image: Choose garments that suit your body type
Photographs: Rajesh Karkera

"The problem is we don't know what our body type is, so we don't understand what fits us well," Nayak says. "One must wear things that go well with one's body type."

Do NOT over-accessorise!

Image: Just because you have jewellery doesn't mean you must wear all of it!
Photographs: Hitesh Harisinghani

Rimi Nayak concludes, "For some reason, women in India like to wear all the jewellery they own in one go. It doesn't matter if it goes with the dress or not, or even if it looks good. We just want to wear every single piece of jewellery we own."

Can you carry off those high heels, madam?

Image: They only look great if you've got great balance!
Photographs: Courtesy Perfect Relations

New Delhi-based fashion designer Arpan Vora says, "A lot of women like to wear high heels because they think they look good. To carry off a pair of heels you must be able to walk properly in them, which most women don't seem to understand!"

Midi-length skirts are a no-no!

Image: Unless you have great legs, don't wear midi-length skirts!
Photographs: Dominic Xavier

"Here's something you need to have good legs for. If you don't have good legs, don't wear midi-length skirts. And yes, don't wear chappals under these skirts. I've seen a lot of women do that. Doesn't look good," Vohra says.