How to mix and match Indian Ethnic and Western pieces

In the age of globalization and fusion in everything, fashion doesn’t fall much behind in the evolution it has witnessed over time. Our clothes and their pairing have increasingly become flexible with a scope for and options of new experiments in our sartorial choices.  Many new trends and combinations have emerged owing to our mix & match of ethnic and western pieces. Not anything paired with any random piece of clothing is likely to look good. There’s a sensibility to be applied while we pair western and Indian ethnic together. Let us discuss a few methods to be kept in mind.

• Compliment & Contrast: Ethnic or Western, whatever you wear; you shall make a connection between the two pieces or styles. You clearly are not making a strong statement if the pieces of dress are highlighted separately. Your pair should have an individual statement. A pair of denim jeans with a heavily embroidered long kurti is likely to be an eyesore. Whereas denims look regular, dark, muddy and simple in attitude; a heavily embroidered long kurti  is flashy and bright and this won’t even be a pleasing contrast because the purpose of the dress won’t be clear. However, if you try wearing a yellow cotton Lucknawi kurti with blue denims, the contrast would be parallel and the trendy, comfy, urban look will come 

• Make it New: Novelty always wins over the regular. More than any other thing, fusion and pairing demand it the most. When you are experimenting, you must also assess how dated your experiment is. Kurti & jeans were a fashion statement back in the 70’s but today probably they won’t make that bold a statement because maximum people wear jeans with kurti instead of pajamas. Probably wearing floral shirts with dhoti pants will look better for the sheer novelty it brings to the eyes.

• Effort to make it effortless: The purpose of mixing and matching is basically to make your dress look casual, comfortable and easy. Make sure whatever you wear, you feel confident in it and it doesn’t stress you. This is not your marriage gown or sari and neither is it your board meeting as an investment banker that you carry the burden of formal hierarchy in how you dress. If you are wearing harem pants then instead of wearing stilettoes, probably try out kolhapuri chappals. Always remember the purpose behind your mixing and matching of dresses and why ethnic Indian and western pieces blend in and marry comfort, style and aesthetics together to build you an identity.

•  Dress as per your body: Don’t copy dresses or try wearing what looks good on others. Everything you mix, you match, you choose or you wear should fit you above all. If you have flabby thighs then it is obvious that tight jeans with short kurtis will make you look odd and instead a dark shaded, long printed-skirt paired with a light-coloured long kurti will add the perfect dimension to your sartorial demeanour. If you are skinny then a deep cleavage will just not add the perfect oomph to your dress.

• All elements matter: When we talk about pairing Indian ethnic with Western, we commonly understand only the pairing with the clothes that we wear ignoring the different accessories and styling components that significantly enhance our look. See whether your floral shirt and harem pant will look good with a pony or open hair, will bindi gel well with your tank top, how do glass bangles look with a cotton knee-length dress? These considerations and experiments keep Indian ethnic-western pairing so trendy because each new piece of clothing creates a different identity when paired with another new piece of dress.