Be a Vintage Bride: Using your moms bridal outfit ?

We  have said it before- real brides are our ultimate style icons ..and while Kareena Kapoor may have started the trend by wearing Sharmila Tagores vintage sharara on her nikah, Indian brides are following suit !  Meet Ishita - she was one such bride who looked like she stepped out of a Jodha Akbar set because her lehenga was actually worn by her mom originally more than 20 years ago.

So Ishita, why your moms lehenga? The outfits worn these days are quite different from the ones our mums wore..curious to know what made you go for that...

Ishita: Well I did the customary rounds of all stores in Delhi and while there were some beautiful options there, I just felt everything looked the same by the end of it. They were all the same panelled lehengas that everyone seems to wear and I wanted something different. I knew if I tweaked my moms lehenga, I could get something classic and timeless as I was going for a royal , vintage look. Not to mention the sentimental value attached

Ever since we put your photo on Instagram, we have had people telling us you look like you stepped out of Jodha Akbar. But how did the process of refurbishing the lehenga actually take place??

Ishita: Well we definitely switched up somethings to make it relevant to 2013 . In short this is what we did

- The original lehenga did not have a can-can so we added that to make sure I got a subtle flare

- We changed the blouse completely. I went for a plain silk blouse that I felt was a modern contrast to the work on the lehenga

- The original lehenga looked a bit dull, so I told my designer to add  a bit more work in places to make the gold shine through- a few sequins were added on top of the gold wire

- We even added additional borders at the bottom of the lehenga to make it longer and also to make the entire look come together

- Dupatta -I completely changed up. I just took the border of my moms dupatta along with 4 corner motifs and placed them on top of new fabric to give it a new look

Too bad we dont have a photo of your mum ... Also think your jewellery really complemented the whole feel...

Ishita: Yup. I went for pure gold - a Rani haar, and a piece closer to the neck. With the vintage lehenga, polki's etc migght not have matched as much and this gave a very royal look I felt- not to mention that gold is a much better investment than Polki anyway. Apart from that my Nath- which was gifted by my mama was really unique and initially I was very apprehensive about it but it  actually pulled the look together !

Tips for brides who want to reuse their moms lehenga:

• First step would be to check the fabric. Fabrics like silk tend to hold up over time, however most of our moms actually wore tissue lehengas which can get torn over time  and there is not much you can do with that
• You could either use the lehenga and add embroidery over it like Ishita did, or you could get your designer to pick up parts of the embroidery and have them patched on to newer fabric like velvet/ georgette / richer raw silks
• Adding a new dupatta and blouse can completely transform the whole look.  So can adding details like a  can-can, tassles and additional borders to complete out the whole look.
• Adding a fresh color can really modernise the entire look- experiment with adding a contrasting color border to the lehenga. or having a dupatta with a contrasting color.
• Even if you have already got your own lehenga , you can use your moms bridal outfit on your brothers wedding- they make great shararas and Shararas are super in nowadays anyway. Just use the skirt, get a modernish knee length top with a dupatta and you have a very royal feel to the whole thing

Did your mom/ grandmom / aunt wear a lovely bridal lehenga or kanjivaram? Send us photos at submissions@ wedmegood dot com - we would love to do a vintage lehenga series!

Photos: Sunanda Agarwal Photography